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This week’s documentation (bulletin, prayer list, hymns, etc )
The Righteous Branch
5 “Look, days are coming,” ⌊declares⌋e Yahweh,
“when I will raise up for David a righteous branch,
and he will reign as king, and he will achieve success,
and he will do justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved,
and Israel will dwell ⌊in safety⌋,f
and this is his name by which he will be called:
‘Yahweh is our righteousness.’
Comfort for God’s People
Isaiah 40:1–8
40 “Comfort; comfort my people,” says your God.
2 “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her,
that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for,
that she has ⌊received⌋a from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins.”
3 A voice is calling in the wilderness, “Clear the way of Yahweh!
Make a highway smooth in the desert for our God!
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill shall become low,
And the rough ground shall be like a plain,
and the rugged ground like a valley-plain.
5 And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed,
and all ⌊humankind⌋b together shall see it,
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”
6 A voice is saying, “Call!”
And he said, “What shall I call?”
All ⌊humankind⌋c are grass,
and all his loyalty is like the flowers of the field.
7 Grass withers; the flower withers
when the breath of Yahweh blows on it.
Surely the people are grass.
8 Grass withers; the flower withers,
butd the word of our God will stand forever.
Haggai 2:6–9
6 For thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations so that the treasure of all the nations will come, and I will fill this housel with glory,’ says Yahweh of hosts. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ ⌊declares⌋m Yahweh of hosts. 9 ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says Yahweh of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace’ ⌊declares⌋n Yahweh of hosts.’ ”
Isaiah 35:1–6
35 Wilderness and dry land shall be glad,a
and desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus.
2 It shall blossom abundantly,
and it shall rejoice indeed with rejoicing and exulting.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
⌊They are the ones who⌋b shall see the glory of Yahweh,
the majesty of our God.
3 Strengthen the weak hands
and make the staggering knees firm.
4 Say to those who are hasty of heart,
“Be strong; you must not fear!
Look! your God will come with vengeance,
with ⌊divine retribution⌋.c
He ⌊is the one who⌋d will come and save you.”
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be opened.
6 Then the lame shall leap like the deer,
and the tongue of the dumb shall sing for joy,
for waters shall break forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
Luke 1:26–35, 38
26 Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee ⌊named⌋g Nazareth, 27 to a virgin legally promised in marriage to a man ⌊named⌋h Joseph of the house of David. And the name of the virgin was Mary. 28 And he came to her and* said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly perplexed at the statement, and was pondering what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in the womb and will give birth to a son,
and you will call his name Jesus.
32 This one will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.
33 And he will reign over the house of Jacob ⌊forever⌋,i
and of his kingdom there will be no end.
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” 35 And the angel answered and* said to her,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore also the one to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
38 So Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s female slave! May it happen to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:57-79
he Birth of John the Baptist
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth that she should give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that ⌊the Lord had shown his great mercy to her⌋,l and they rejoiced with her. 59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were wanting to name him ⌊after⌋m his father Zechariah. 60 And his mother answered and* said, “No, but he will be named John.” 61 And they said to her, “There is no one of your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 So they made signs to his father asking what he wanted him to be named, 63 and he asked for a writing tablet and* wrote, saying, “John is his name.” And they were all astonished. 64 And his mouth and his tongue were opened immediately, and he began to speak,* praising God. 65 And fear came on all those who lived near them, and in all the hill country of Judea all these events were discussed. 66 And all those who heard kept these things* in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be? For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him!”
The Praise and Prophecy of Zechariah
67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited to help and ⌊has redeemed⌋n his people,
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 just as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times—
71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us,
72 to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to Abraham our father,
to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
could serve him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
76 And so you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the merciful compassiono of our God
by which the dawn will visit to help us from on high,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to direct our feet into the way of peace.”
