Thursday, December 24

2Therefore He shall give them up until the appointed time for her to give birth, and then the remnant of their brothers will return to the sons of Israel.

3And He shall stand and see, and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, and they will dwell in the glory of the name of the Lord their God, for now they will be magnified unto the ends of the earth.

4And she will have peace; for when the Assyrian comes into our land and goes up upon our country, then seven shepherds and eight attacks from men will be raised up against them.

1God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,

2has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

3who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

4having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

5For to which of the angels did He ever say: 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You'? And again: 'I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son'?

6But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: 'Let all the angels of God worship Him.'

7And of the angels He says: 'Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.'

8But to the Son He says: 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

9You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.'

10'You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

11They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment;

12Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.'

18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.

20But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

21And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.'

22So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:

23'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us.'

24Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,

25and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.

35He called them and they said, 'Here we are!' They shone with gladness for Him who made them.

36This is our God; no other shall be compared to Him.

37He found the whole way of knowledge and gave it to Jacob His servant and to Israel His beloved.

38Afterwards, He was seen upon the earth and lived among men.

1She is the book of the commandments of God and the law that endures forever. All those who keep her will live, but those forsaking her will die.

2Return, O Jacob, and take hold of her. Walk toward the radiance of the presence of her light.

3Do not give your glory to another or the things that are of advantage to you to a foreign nation.

4O Israel, we are blessed, for what is pleasing to our God is known to us.

23But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.

24Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

25But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

26For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

1And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

2This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.

3So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

4Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,

5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

6So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

7And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

10Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

11For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

12And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.'

13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14'Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'

15So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.'

16And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

17Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.

18And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

20Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

10Moreover the Lord added this to Ahaz, saying,

11'Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.'

12But Ahaz said, 'I will not ask, nor will I tempt the Lord.'

13Then Isaiah said, 'Hear now, O house of David, is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary the Lord also?

14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Immanuel.

15Butter and honey He shall eat before He knows to prefer evil or choose the good,

16for before the Child knows good or evil, He refuses the evil to choose the good; and the land you fear because of the presence of the two kings will be abandoned.

17But God will bring the king of Assyria upon you, your people and your father's house—days that have not yet come, from the days Ephraim took away from Judah the king of the Assyrians.'

18And it shall come to pass in that day, the Lord will whistle for the fly that rules over part of the river of Egypt, and for the bee in the land of Assyria.

19All of them will come and rest in the ravines of the country, in the clefts of the rocks, in the caves and every crevice and tree.

20In that day, the Lord will shave—with a large and blood-drenched razor belonging to the king of Assyria beyond the river—the head and the hair of the legs, and will also remove the beard.

21It shall be in that day, a man will rear a heifer and two sheep.

22So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give, everyone left in the land will eat butter and honey.

23It shall happen in that day, wherever there could be a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, it will be a barren land with thorn-plants.

24Men will enter there with bows and arrows, for all the land will be barren and with thorn-plants.

25Every mountain shall certainly be plowed, and there shall be no fear there from barren land and thorn-plants, for it will be a pasture for sheep and a place for oxen to roam.

1Moreover the Lord said to me, 'Take for yourself a large new book, and write on it with a man's pen concerning making a swift plunder of spoils, for it is near at hand.

2Then make witnesses for Me of faithful men: Uriah and Zechariah, the son of Berechiah.'

3Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son, and the Lord said to me, 'Call his name Quickly Despoil, Swiftly Plunder;

4for before the child shall know how to call for his father and mother, one shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria.'

5The Lord also added this for me to speak as well, saying:

6'Because this people did not choose the water of Siloam that flows quietly, but chose Rezin and Remaliah's son to be king over you;

7therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon you the mighty and abundant water of the river, the king of the Assyrians, and his glory. He shall come up over every ravine of yours and walk over all your walls,

8and take away from Judah every man able to raise his head or accomplish anything. His encampment will fill the breadth of Your land, O God with us.

9Know this, O Gentiles, and be defeated. Give ear, all you to the very ends of the earth. Be defeated although you are strong, for even if you should be strong again, you will be defeated again.

10Then too, whatever counsel you take, the Lord will scatter it abroad; and whatever word you shall speak, it will not continue among you, for the Lord God is with us.'

10'You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

11They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment;

12Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.'

13But to which of the angels has He ever said: 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool'?

14Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

1Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.

2For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward,

3how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,

2saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.'

3When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

5So they said to him, 'In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

6'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.' '

7Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.

8And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, 'Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.'

9When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.

10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

11And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

6Great shall be His government, and of His peace there is no end. His peace shall be upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order and establish it with righteousness and judgment, from that time forward and unto ages of ages. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.

7The Lord sent death against Jacob, and it came on Israel.

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.

13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, 'Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.'

14When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,

15and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 'Out of Egypt I called My Son.'

16Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

17Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

18'A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.'

19Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

20saying, 'Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead.'

21Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

22But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.

23And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, 'He shall be called a Nazarene.'

1In the beginning God made heaven and earth.

2The earth was invisible and unfinished; and the darkness was over the deep. The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water.

3Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light.

4God saw the light; it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.

5God called the light Day; the darkness He called Night; and there was evening and morning, one day.

6Then God said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it divide the water from the water'; and it was so.

7Thus God made the firmament, and God divided the water under the firmament from the water above the firmament.

8So God called the firmament Heaven, and God saw that it was good; and there was evening and morning, the second day.

9Then God said, 'Let the water under heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear'; and it was so. The water under heaven was gathered into its places, and the dry land appeared.

10So God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas; and God saw that it was good.

11Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass, bearing seed according to its kind and likeness. Let the fruit tree bear fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind on earth.' It was so.

12Thus the earth brought forth the herb of grass, bearing seed according to its kind and likeness. The fruit tree bore fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind on earth. God saw that it was good.

13So evening and morning were the third day.

2Then Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

3Then he took up his parable and said: 'Balaam the son of Beor declares; The man who truly sees declares;

4The one who hears the sayings of God declares; The one who saw the vision of God in a dream, A revelation seen by him:

5How beautiful are your dwellings, O Jacob, Your tents, O Israel.

6Like wooded valleys offering shade, And like gardens by the rivers, Like tents the Lord pitched, Like cedars beside the waters.

7A Man shall come forth from his seed, And He shall rule many nations; And His kingdom shall be more exalted than Gog, And His kingdom shall increase.

8God led Him out of Egypt, And He has the glorious appearance of a unicorn. He shall consume the nations of his enemies And deprive them of their strength. He shall shoot the enemy with His missiles.

9He lies down and rests like a lion, And like a lion's cub, who shall rouse Him?

10Those who bless You are blessed, And those who curse You are cursed.' Then Balak was angry with Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, 'I summoned you to curse my enemy, and look, you actually blessed him for a third time.

11Now therefore, flee to your place. I said I would honor you, but in fact, the Lord deprived you of glory.'

12So Balaam said to Balak, 'Did I not also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, saying,

13'If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the Lord's word, to do good or evil of my own will. Whatever the Lord may say, this I shall speak'?

14So now, indeed, I am going to my place. Come, I will counsel you as to what this people will do to your people in the latter days.'

15'Balaam the son of Beor declares; The man who truly sees declares;

16The one who hears the sayings of God declares; And the one who knows the knowledge of the Most High, And who saw the vision of God in a dream, a revelation seen by him:

17I will show Him, but not now; I bless Him, but He is not near. A Star shall rise out of Jacob; And a Man shall rise out of Israel. He shall break in pieces the rulers of Moab And plunder all the sons of Seth.

18Edom shall be His inheritance, And also His enemy shall be His inheritance; But Israel acts with strength.

6'In that day,' says the Lord, 'I shall gather her who has been broken, and I will welcome her who has been exiled, even those whom I have rejected.

7And I shall make her who has been broken into a remnant, and her that was rejected into a strong nation. So the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion henceforth and forever.

8And you, O daughter of Zion, dark tower of the flock, on you it will come and enter in, even the former kingdom of Babylon to the daughter of Jerusalem.'

9And now, why have you experienced such evils? Was there no king in your midst? Or did your counsel perish? For your birth pangs have seized you as one in labor.

10Suffer birth pains and take courage, O daughter of Zion, and draw near like a woman giving birth; for now you will be exiled from the city, and you will abide in the flat open country, and you will have come as far off as Babylon; and from that place the Lord your God shall redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

11Now many nations have gathered against you, saying, 'We will rejoice, and our eyes will gaze upon Zion.'

12But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord nor perceive His counsel, for He gathered them like sheaves for the threshing floor.

13'Arise and thresh them, O daughter of Zion, for I shall make your horns iron, and I will make your hooves bronze. And you will cause the nations to melt away, and you will winnow many peoples. You will dedicate their abundance to the Lord and their strength to the Lord of all the earth.

14Now the daughter of Ephraim will be blockaded by a siege wall; for he ordered affliction against us, and they shall smite the tribes of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.'

1And you, O Bethlehem, House of Ephrathah, though you are fewest in number among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the One to be ruler of Israel. His goings forth were from the beginning, even from everlasting.'

2Therefore He shall give them up until the appointed time for her to give birth, and then the remnant of their brothers will return to the sons of Israel.

3And He shall stand and see, and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, and they will dwell in the glory of the name of the Lord their God, for now they will be magnified unto the ends of the earth.

4And she will have peace; for when the Assyrian comes into our land and goes up upon our country, then seven shepherds and eight attacks from men will be raised up against them.

1There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall grow out of his root.

2The Spirit of God shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and godliness.

3The Spirit of the fear of God shall fill Him. He shall not judge by reputation nor convict by common talk.

4But He will judge the cause of the humble, and reprove the humble of the earth. He shall strike the earth with the word of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the ungodly.

5He shall gird His loins with righteousness and cover his sides with truth.

6'The wolf shall feed with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf, the bull, and the lion shall feed together; and a little child shall lead them.

7The cow and the bear shall graze together, and their young ones shall lie down together. The lion and the ox shall eat straw together.

8The nursing child shall play by the hole of asps, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the den of asps.

9They shall not hurt nor be able to destroy anyone on My holy mountain, for the whole world shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as much water covers the seas.

10'It shall come to pass in that day that there shall be a Root of Jesse who shall arise to rule nations. The Gentiles shall hope in Him, and His resting place shall be honorable.'

35He called them and they said, 'Here we are!' They shone with gladness for Him who made them.

36This is our God; no other shall be compared to Him.

37He found the whole way of knowledge and gave it to Jacob His servant and to Israel His beloved.

38Afterwards, He was seen upon the earth and lived among men.

1She is the book of the commandments of God and the law that endures forever. All those who keep her will live, but those forsaking her will die.

2Return, O Jacob, and take hold of her. Walk toward the radiance of the presence of her light.

3Do not give your glory to another or the things that are of advantage to you to a foreign nation.

4O Israel, we are blessed, for what is pleasing to our God is known to us.

31'As for you, O king, you saw and beheld one great image. That image was very large and its appearance excellent. It stood before you, and its vision was fearful.

32The image had a head made of fine gold, and its hands, chest, and arms were made of silver, and its stomach and thighs, of copper.

33Its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly clay.

34You saw while a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ground them to powder.

35Then at once the clay, the iron, the copper, the silver, and the gold were like dust from the summer threshing floor, and a great force of wind blew them away; and their place was not to be found. Then the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled all the earth.

36'This is the dream, and we will tell its interpretation before the king.

37You, O king, are a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given a strong, mighty, and highly regarded kingdom.

38In every place where the children of men live, as well as the wild animals of the field and the birds of heaven—He put them all in your hand, and made you the lord of them all. You are the head made of gold.

39But after you another kingdom shall arise, inferior to yours; then a third kingdom of copper, which shall rule over all the earth.

40Then a fourth kingdom as strong as iron shall arise, and inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and subdues everything, so also it shall break in pieces and subdue all things.

41Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly clay and partly iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, in the manner you saw the iron mixed with the clay.

42Whereas the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so part of the kingdom shall be strong and part of it shall be broken.

43Whereas you saw iron mixed with clay, they shall mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.

44'Then in the times of those kings, the God of heaven will raise up a kingdom, and it shall never be destroyed. This kingdom shall not be left to another people, but it will break in pieces and crush all these kingdoms; and it will stand forever.

45Whereas you saw the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, it ground to powder the clay, the iron, the copper, the silver, and the gold. Thus the great God has made known to the king what must come to pass after this. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.'

6Great shall be His government, and of His peace there is no end. His peace shall be upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order and establish it with righteousness and judgment, from that time forward and unto ages of ages. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.

7The Lord sent death against Jacob, and it came on Israel.

10Moreover the Lord added this to Ahaz, saying,

11'Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.'

12But Ahaz said, 'I will not ask, nor will I tempt the Lord.'

13Then Isaiah said, 'Hear now, O house of David, is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary the Lord also?

14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Immanuel.

15Butter and honey He shall eat before He knows to prefer evil or choose the good,

16for before the Child knows good or evil, He refuses the evil to choose the good; and the land you fear because of the presence of the two kings will be abandoned.

17But God will bring the king of Assyria upon you, your people and your father's house—days that have not yet come, from the days Ephraim took away from Judah the king of the Assyrians.'

18And it shall come to pass in that day, the Lord will whistle for the fly that rules over part of the river of Egypt, and for the bee in the land of Assyria.

19All of them will come and rest in the ravines of the country, in the clefts of the rocks, in the caves and every crevice and tree.

20In that day, the Lord will shave—with a large and blood-drenched razor belonging to the king of Assyria beyond the river—the head and the hair of the legs, and will also remove the beard.

21It shall be in that day, a man will rear a heifer and two sheep.

22So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give, everyone left in the land will eat butter and honey.

23It shall happen in that day, wherever there could be a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, it will be a barren land with thorn-plants.

24Men will enter there with bows and arrows, for all the land will be barren and with thorn-plants.

25Every mountain shall certainly be plowed, and there shall be no fear there from barren land and thorn-plants, for it will be a pasture for sheep and a place for oxen to roam.

1Moreover the Lord said to me, 'Take for yourself a large new book, and write on it with a man's pen concerning making a swift plunder of spoils, for it is near at hand.

2Then make witnesses for Me of faithful men: Uriah and Zechariah, the son of Berechiah.'

3Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son, and the Lord said to me, 'Call his name Quickly Despoil, Swiftly Plunder;

4for before the child shall know how to call for his father and mother, one shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria.'

5The Lord also added this for me to speak as well, saying:

6'Because this people did not choose the water of Siloam that flows quietly, but chose Rezin and Remaliah's son to be king over you;

7therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon you the mighty and abundant water of the river, the king of the Assyrians, and his glory. He shall come up over every ravine of yours and walk over all your walls,

8and take away from Judah every man able to raise his head or accomplish anything. His encampment will fill the breadth of Your land, O God with us.

9Know this, O Gentiles, and be defeated. Give ear, all you to the very ends of the earth. Be defeated although you are strong, for even if you should be strong again, you will be defeated again.

10Then too, whatever counsel you take, the Lord will scatter it abroad; and whatever word you shall speak, it will not continue among you, for the Lord God is with us.'

1God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,

2has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

3who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

4having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

5For to which of the angels did He ever say: 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You'? And again: 'I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son'?

6But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: 'Let all the angels of God worship Him.'

7And of the angels He says: 'Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.'

8But to the Son He says: 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

9You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.'

10'You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

11They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment;

12Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.'

1And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

2This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.

3So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

4Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,

5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

6So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

7And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

10Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

11For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

12And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.'

13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14'Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'

15So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.'

16And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

17Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.

18And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

20Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.