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Psalm 116

1  I love the Lord,
      for he has heard the voice of my supplication; ♦︎
   because he inclined his ear to me
      on the day I called to him.
2  The snares of death encompassed me;
      the pains of hell took hold of me; ♦︎
   by grief and sorrow was I held.
3  Then I called upon the name of the Lord: ♦︎
   ‘O Lord, I beg you, deliver my soul.’
4  Gracious is the Lord and righteous; ♦︎
   our God is full of compassion.
5  The Lord watches over the simple; ♦︎
   I was brought very low and he saved me.
6  Turn again to your rest, O my soul, ♦︎
   for the Lord has been gracious to you.
7  For you have delivered my soul from death, ♦︎
   my eyes from tears and my feet from falling.
8  I will walk before the Lord ♦︎
   in the land of the living.
9  I believed that I should perish
      for I was sorely troubled; ♦︎
   and I said in my alarm,
      ‘Everyone is a liar.’
10  How shall I repay the Lord ♦︎
   for all the benefits he has given to me?

Psalm 89

1  My song shall be always of the loving-kindness of the Lord: ♦︎
   with my mouth will I proclaim your faithfulness
      throughout all generations.
2  I will declare that your love is established for ever; ♦︎
   you have set your faithfulness as firm as the heavens.
3  For you said: ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one; ♦︎
   I have sworn an oath to David my servant:
4  ‘ “Your seed will I establish for ever ♦︎
   and build up your throne for all generations.” ’
5  The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, ♦︎
   and your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones;
6  For who among the clouds can be compared to the Lord? ♦︎
   Who is like the Lord among the host of heaven?
7  A God feared in the council of the holy ones, ♦︎
   great and terrible above all those round about him.
8  Who is like you, Lord God of hosts? ♦︎
   Mighty Lord, your faithfulness is all around you.
9  You rule the raging of the sea; ♦︎
   you still its waves when they arise.
10  You crushed Rahab with a deadly wound ♦︎
   and scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11  Yours are the heavens; the earth also is yours; ♦︎
   you established the world and all that fills it.
12  You created the north and the south; ♦︎
   Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.
13  You have a mighty arm; ♦︎
   strong is your hand and high is your right hand.
14  Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; ♦︎
   steadfast love and faithfulness go before your face.
15  Happy are the people who know the shout of triumph: ♦︎
   they walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance.
16  In your name they rejoice all the day long ♦︎
   and are exalted in your righteousness.
17  For you are the glory of their strength, ♦︎
   and in your favour you lift up our heads.
18  Truly the Lord is our shield; ♦︎
   the Holy One of Israel is our king.
19  You spoke once in a vision and said to your faithful people: ♦︎
   ‘I have set a youth above the mighty;
      I have raised a young man over the people.
20  ‘I have found David my servant; ♦︎
   with my holy oil have I anointed him.
21  ‘My hand shall hold him fast ♦︎
   and my arm shall strengthen him.
22  ‘No enemy shall deceive him, ♦︎
   nor any wicked person afflict him.
23  ‘I will strike down his foes before his face ♦︎
   and beat down those that hate him.
24  ‘My truth also and my steadfast love shall be with him, ♦︎
   and in my name shall his head be exalted.
25  ‘I will set his dominion upon the sea ♦︎
   and his right hand upon the rivers.
26  ‘He shall call to me, “You are my Father, ♦︎
   my God, and the rock of my salvation;”
27  ‘And I will make him my firstborn, ♦︎
   the most high above the kings of the earth.
28  ‘The love I have pledged to him will I keep for ever, ♦︎
   and my covenant will stand fast with him.
29  ‘His seed also will I make to endure for ever ♦︎
   and his throne as the days of heaven.
30  ‘But if his children forsake my law ♦︎
   and cease to walk in my judgements,
31  ‘If they break my statutes ♦︎
   and do not keep my commandments,
32  ‘I will punish their offences with a rod ♦︎
   and their sin with scourges.
33  ‘But I will not take from him my steadfast love ♦︎
   nor suffer my truth to fail.
34  ‘My covenant will I not break ♦︎
   nor alter what has gone out of my lips.
35  ‘Once for all have I sworn by my holiness ♦︎
   that I will not prove false to David.
36  ‘His seed shall endure for ever ♦︎
   and his throne as the sun before me;
37  ‘It shall stand fast for ever as the moon, ♦︎
   the enduring witness in the heavens.’

Return of the Remnant of Israel and Judah

10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

11 On that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia,^* from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.
¹² He will raise a signal for the nations,
   and will assemble the outcasts of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
   from the four corners of the earth.
¹³ The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
   the hostility of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
   and Judah shall not be hostile towards Ephraim.
¹⁴ But they shall swoop down on the backs of the Philistines in the west;
   together they shall plunder the people of the east.
They shall put forth their hand against Edom and Moab,
   and the Ammonites shall obey them.
¹⁵ And the Lord will utterly destroy
   the tongue of the sea of Egypt;
and will wave his hand over the River
   with his scorching wind;
and will split it into seven channels,
   and make a way to cross on foot;
¹⁶ so there shall be a highway from Assyria
   for the remnant that is left of his people,
as there was for Israel
   when they came up from the land of Egypt.

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’^{* 29}But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. ³¹And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³²He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ ³⁴Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’^{* 35}The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^* will be holy; he will be called Son of God. ³⁶And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. ³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.’ ³⁸Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.