Tuesday, March 25

39Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,

40and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.

41And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

42Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

43But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

44For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

45Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.'

46'My soul magnifies the Lord,

47And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

48For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

49For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name.

50And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation.

51He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

52He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly.

53He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty.

54He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy,

55As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.'

56And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.

1O Lord my God, I will glorify You; I will sing a hymn to Your name, for You have done wonderful things, an ancient and true counsel. So be it, O Lord.

2For You made cities into a mound; You made the foundations of their strong cities fall. The city of the ungodly shall not be built forever.

3Therefore the poor people will bless You, and the cities of wronged people will praise You.

4For You were a helper to every humbled city, and a protection to those who were disheartened by reason of poverty. You will deliver them from evil men, and be a shelter of the thirsty and a breath of life to the wronged.

5They will bless You as discouraged people, thirsting in Zion because of ungodly men to whom You delivered us.

6Then the Lord of hosts shall do this to all the nations on this mountain. They shall drink in gladness; they shall drink wine; they shall anoint themselves with ointment

7on this mountain. Deliver all these things to the nations, for this is the counsel for all the nations.

8Death prevailed and swallowed them, but again God wiped away every tear from every face; He took away the disgrace of His people from all the earth; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

9Then it will be said in that day, 'Behold, this is our God, in whom we hoped and rejoiced exceedingly; and we shall be glad in His salvation.'

8Then God spoke to Noah and his sons with him, saying,

9'Behold, I am establishing My covenant with you and with your seed after you,

10and every living creature with you: the birds, the cattle, and all the wild animals of the earth, of all that came out of the ark with you.

11Thus I will establish My covenant with you, and never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; nor shall there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth.'

12Then the Lord God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you, and every living creature with you, for perpetual generations:

13I am setting My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

14It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;

15and I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16My rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will certainly remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh on the earth.'

17Again God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant I established between Me and all flesh on the earth.'

8The mouth of a man of understanding is praised by a man, But the slothful of heart are treated with contempt.

9It is better for a man in dishonor to serve himself Than for him to surround himself with honor while in need of bread.

10A righteous man has compassion on the lives of his cattle, But the affections of the ungodly are without mercy.

11He who works his own land will be satisfied with bread, But those who pursue vain things are in need of discernment.

12He who is gladdened by wines in passing his time Shall leave dishonor in his own strongholds.

13The desires of the ungodly are evil, But the roots of the godly are in strongholds.

14By the sin of his lips a sinner falls into snares, But a righteous man escapes from them.

15He whose looks are gentle will show mercy, But he who contends in the gates will afflict souls.

16By the fruits of his mouth, the soul of a man will be filled with good things, And the recompense of his lips will be given to him.

17The ways of undiscerning men are right in their own eyes, But a wise man hearkens to counsels.

18A man without discernment immediately proclaims his wrath, But an astute man hides his own dishonor.

19A righteous man declares his honesty openly, But the witness of the unrighteous is deceitful.

20There are those who wound with a sword as they speak, But the tongues of the wise heal.

21Truthful lips establish a testimony, But a hasty witness has an unrighteous tongue.

22There is deceit in the heart of a man who devises evil things, But those who counsel peace shall be glad.

1Now Moses was tending the sheep of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. Then he led them to the back of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

2Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he saw the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.

3So Moses said, 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not consumed.'

4When therefore the Lord saw him turn aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, 'Moses! Moses!' Then he said, 'Here I am.'

5So He said, 'Do not come any closer. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.'

6Moreover He said, 'I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' Moses then hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7Then the Lord said, 'Indeed, I have seen the affliction of My people in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrow.

8So I came down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Gergesites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

22If I declare to you the things that happen daily, I will also remember to recount the things of old.

23The Lord created me in the beginning of His ways for His works; He established me in the beginning before time,

24Before He made the earth, and before He made the abysses, Before the going forth of the fountains of waters,

25Before the mountains were created; And He begot me before all hills.

26The Lord made the fields and the uninhabited places And the inhabited heights under heaven.

27When He prepared heaven, I was present with Him, And when He set apart His throne upon the winds.

28When He made strong the things above the clouds, And made sure the fountains under heaven,

29And made strong the foundations of the earth, I was working beside Him;

30I was He in whom He rejoiced; Daily and continually I was gladdened by His face.

11For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,

12saying: 'I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.'

13And again: 'I will put My trust in Him.' And again: 'Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.'

14Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

15and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

16For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.

17Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

18For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

24Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying,

25'Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.'

26Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

28And having come in, the angel said to her, 'Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!'

29But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.

30Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.

32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

33And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.'

34Then Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I do not know a man?'

35And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

36Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.

37For with God nothing will be impossible.'

38Then Mary said, 'Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her.