Advent Promises and Arrival in 25 Days

¹Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

²The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden,

³but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴“You will not surely die,” the serpent told the woman.

⁵“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

⁷And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.

⁸Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

⁹But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

¹¹“Who told you that you were naked?” asked the LORD God. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

¹²And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”

¹⁴So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life.

¹⁵And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

¹⁷And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

¹⁸Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

¹⁹By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

²⁰And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all the living.

²¹And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

²²Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”

²³Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

²⁴So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life.

¹Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.

²I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

³I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”

⁴So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

⁵And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

⁶Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oak of Moreh at Shechem. And at that time the Canaanites were in the land.

⁷Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

⁸From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.

⁹And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.

⁸Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

⁹Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.

¹¹He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹²His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.

¹⁵The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.

¹⁶This is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire anymore, so that we will not die!”

¹⁷Then the LORD said to me, “They have spoken well.

¹⁸I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.

¹⁹And I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name.

²⁰But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.”

²¹You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?”

²²When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

¹Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

²The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One:

³“Let us break Their chains and cast away Their cords.”

⁴The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them.

⁵Then He rebukes them in His anger, and terrifies them in His fury:

⁶“I have installed My King on Zion, upon My holy mountain.”

⁷I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by the LORD: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.

⁸Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession.

⁹You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.”

¹⁰Therefore be wise, O kings; be admonished, O judges of the earth.

¹¹Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

¹²Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

¹Endow the king with Your justice, O God, and the son of the king with Your righteousness.

²May he judge Your people with righteousness and Your afflicted with justice.

³May the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills bring righteousness.

⁴May he vindicate the afflicted among the people; may he save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.

⁵May they fear him as long as the sun shines, as long as the moon remains, through all generations.

⁶May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.

⁷May the righteous flourish in his days and prosperity abound until the moon is no more.

⁸May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

⁹May the nomads bow before him, and his enemies lick the dust.

¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.

¹¹May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.

¹²For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.

¹³He will take pity on the poor and needy and save the lives of the oppressed.

¹⁴He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their blood is precious in his sight.

¹⁵Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him; may they bless him all day long.

¹⁶May there be an abundance of grain in the land; may it sway atop the hills. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon, the people of its cities like the grass of the field.

¹⁷May his name endure forever; may his name continue as long as the sun shines. In him may all nations be blessed; may they call him blessed.

¹⁸Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.

¹⁹And blessed be His glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen.

²⁰Thus conclude the prayers of David son of Jesse.

¹⁰Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying,

¹¹“Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”

¹²But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask; I will not test the LORD.”

¹³Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God as well?

¹⁴Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

¹⁵By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey.

¹⁶For before the boy knows enough to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.

¹⁷The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since the day Ephraim separated from Judah—He will bring the king of Assyria.”

¹Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those in distress. In the past He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honor the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations:

²The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.

³You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people rejoice before You as they rejoice at harvest time, as men rejoice in dividing the plunder.

⁴For as in the day of Midian You have shattered the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor.

⁵For every trampling boot of battle and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

⁶For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

¹Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

²The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.

³And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,

⁴but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.

⁵Righteousness will be the belt around His hips, and faithfulness the sash around His waist.

⁶The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and young lion and fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them.

⁷The cow will graze with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

⁸The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest.

⁹They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is full of water.

¹⁰On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His place of rest will be glorious.

¹“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.

²“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.”

³A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.

⁴Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.

⁵And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

⁶A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.

⁷The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.

⁸The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

⁹Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”

¹⁰Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm establishes His rule. His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him.

¹¹He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.

¹“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.

²He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the streets.

³A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

⁴He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”

⁵This is what God the LORD says—He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:

⁶“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,

⁷to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.

⁸I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.

⁹Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”

¹Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

²He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.

³He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

⁴Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.

⁵But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

⁶We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

⁷He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.

⁸By oppression and judgment He was taken away, and who can recount His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for the transgression of My people.

⁹He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

¹⁰Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

¹¹After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.

¹²Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

¹Now, O daughter of troops, mobilize your troops; for a siege is laid against us! With a rod they will strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.

²But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.

³Therefore Israel will be abandoned until she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of His brothers will return to the children of Israel.

⁴He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD His God. And they will dwell securely, for then His greatness will extend to the ends of the earth.

⁵And He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land and tramples our citadels. We will raise against it seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men.

⁵In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron.

⁶Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.

⁷But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.

⁸One day while Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,

⁹he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

¹⁰And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside.

¹¹Just then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

¹²When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear.

¹³But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.

¹⁴He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth,

¹⁵for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.

¹⁶Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God.

¹⁷And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁸“How can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”

¹⁹“I am Gabriel,” replied the angel. “I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

²⁰And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this comes to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

²¹Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he took so long in the temple.

²²When he came out and was unable to speak to them, they realized he had seen a vision in the temple. He kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

²³And when the days of his service were complete, he returned home.

²⁴After these days, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. She declared,

²⁵“The Lord has done this for me. In these days He has shown me favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

²⁶In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

²⁷to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

²⁸The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

³⁰So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

³¹Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.

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

³³and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”

³⁴“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.

³⁶Look, even Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month.

³⁷For no word from God will ever fail.”

³⁸“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

³⁹In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah,

⁴⁰where she entered the home of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

⁴²In a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

⁴³And why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁴For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

⁴⁵Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord’s word to her will be fulfilled.”

⁴⁶Then Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

⁴⁸For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.

⁴⁹For the Mighty One has done great things for me. Holy is His name.

⁵⁰His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.

⁵¹He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

⁵²He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.

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

⁵⁴He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful,

⁵⁵as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”

⁵⁶Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

⁵⁷When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son.

⁵⁸Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him after his father Zechariah.

⁶⁰But his mother replied, “No! He shall be called John.”

⁶¹They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who bears this name.”

⁶²So they made signs to his father to find out what he wanted to name the child.

⁶³Zechariah asked for a tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed.

⁶⁴Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak, praising God.

⁶⁵All their neighbors were filled with awe, and people throughout the hill country of Judea were talking about these events.

⁶⁶And all who heard this wondered in their hearts and asked, “What then will this child become?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

⁶⁷Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

⁶⁸“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.

⁶⁹He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David,

⁷⁰as He spoke through His holy prophets, those of ages past,

⁷¹salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,

⁷²to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,

⁷³the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

⁷⁴deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear,

⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

⁷⁶And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,

⁷⁷to give to His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,

⁷⁸because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,

⁷⁹to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

⁸⁰And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.

¹⁸This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged in marriage to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and was unwilling to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly.

²⁰But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

²¹She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

²³“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).

²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and embraced Mary as his wife.

²⁵But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a Son. And he gave Him the name Jesus.

¹Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.

²This was the first census to take place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

³And everyone went to his own town to register.

⁴So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.

⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to him in marriage and was expecting a child.

⁶While they were there, the time came for her Child to be born.

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

⁸And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

⁹Just then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:

¹¹Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!

¹²And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

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

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!”

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger.

¹⁷After they had seen the Child, they spread the message they had received about Him.

¹⁸And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

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

²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as the angel had told them.

²¹When the eight days before His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He was conceived.

²²And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

²³(as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord”),

²⁴and to offer the sacrifice specified in the Law of the Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

²⁵Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

²⁶The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

²⁷Led by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him what was customary under the Law,

²⁸Simeon took Him in his arms and blessed God, saying:

²⁹“Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You now dismiss Your servant in peace.

³⁰For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

³¹which You have prepared in the sight of all people,

³²a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”

³³The Child’s father and mother were amazed at what was spoken about Him.

³⁴Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary: “Behold, this Child is appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,

³⁵so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your soul as well.”

³⁶There was also a prophetess named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was well along in years. She had been married for seven years,

³⁷and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

³⁸Coming forward at that moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the Child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

³⁹When Jesus’ parents had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

⁴⁰And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

²He was with God in the beginning.

³Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

⁴In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

⁵The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John.

⁷He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe.

⁸He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

⁹The true Light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

¹⁰He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.

¹¹He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

¹²But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—

¹³children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’”

¹⁶From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

¹⁸No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.