December 14

16 vRejoice always, 17 wpray without ceasing, 18 xgive thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 yDo not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise zprophecies, 21 but atest everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.

23 Now may bthe God of peace himself csanctify you completely, and may yourdwhole espirit and soul and body be kept blameless at fthe coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 gHe who calls you is faithful; hhe will surely do it.

December 13

Luke 1:5-25; 57-80

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

5 mIn the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,1 nofothe division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both prighteous before God, walking qblamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, becauserElizabeth was barren, and sboth were advanced in years.

8 Now twhile he was serving as priest before God when uhis division was on duty,9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot vto enter wthe temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people xwere praying youtside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of zthe altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and afear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for byour prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and cyou shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will drejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be egreat before the Lord. And fhe must not drink wine or strong gdrink, and ghe will be hfilled with the Holy Spirit, ieven from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and jhe will go before him kin the spirit and power of Elijah, lto turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and mthe disobedient to the wisdom of the just,nto make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

18 And Zechariah said to the angel, o“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am pGabriel. qI stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, ryou will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in sthe temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in sthe temple. And the kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And uwhen his time of vservice was ended, he went to his home.

24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, wto take away my reproach among people.”

The Birth of John the Baptist

57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord shad shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And ton the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother answered, “No; uhe shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” 62 And vthey made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63 And he asked for wa writing tablet and wrote, u“His name is John.” And they all wondered. 64 xAnd immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue yloosed, and he spoke, zblessing God. 65 And afear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all bthe hill country of Judea, 66 and all who heard them claid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For dthe hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah's Prophecy

67 And his father Zechariah ewas filled with the Holy Spirit and fprophesied, saying,

68 g“Blessed be the Lord hGod of Israel,

for he has ivisited and jredeemed his people

69 and khas raised up la horn of salvation for us

min the house of his servant David,

70 nas ohe spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

71 pthat we should be saved from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us;

72 qto show the mercy promised to our fathers

and rto remember his holy scovenant,

73 tthe oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

might serve him uwithout fear,

75 vin holiness and righteousness before him wall our days.

76 And you, child, will be called xthe prophet of ythe Most High;

for zyou will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people

ain the forgiveness of their sins,

78 because of the btender mercy of our God,

whereby cthe sunrise shall dvisit us8 efrom on high

79 to fgive light to gthose who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into hthe way of ipeace.”

80 jAnd the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was kin the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

December 12

Isaiah 35:1-10

The Ransomed Shall Return

35 tThe wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;

uthe desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;

2 it shall blossom abundantly

and rejoice with joy and singing.

vThe glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

the majesty of wCarmel and xSharon.

yThey shall see the glory of the Lord,

the majesty of our God.

3 zStrengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

4 Say to those who have an anxious heart,

“Be strong; fear not!

aBehold, your God

will come with vengeance,

with the recompense of God.

He will come and save you.”

5 bThen the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

6 bthen shall the lame man leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

cFor waters break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

7 dthe burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water;

in the haunt of ejackals, where they lie down,

the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

8 fAnd a highway shall be there,

and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;

gthe unclean shall not pass over it.

It shall belong to those who walk on the way;

even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.1

9 No lion shall be there,

nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;

they shall not be found there,

but the redeemed shall walk there.

10 hAnd the ransomed of the Lord shall return

and come to Zion with singing;

ieverlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain gladness and joy,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

December 11

Zephaniah 3:14-20

Israel's Joy and Restoration

14 jSing aloud, O daughter of Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;

he has cleared away your enemies.

kThe King of Israel, lthe Lord, is in your midst;

you shall never again fear evil.

16 zOn that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

“Fear not, O Zion;

mlet not your hands grow weak.

17 lThe Lord your God is in your midst,

na mighty one who will save;

ohe will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

18 I will gather those of you who mourn pfor the festival,

so that you will no longer suffer reproach.1

19 Behold, at that time qI will deal

with all your oppressors.

And rI will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change stheir shame into tpraise

and renown in all the earth.

20 uAt that time I will bring you in,

at the time when I gather you together;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

vwhen I restore your fortunes

before your eyes,” says the Lord.