In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy,
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth,
a village in Galilee,
to a virgin named Mary.
She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph,
a descendant of King David.
Gabriel appeared to her and said,
“Greetings,
favored woman!
The Lord is with you!”
Confused and disturbed,
Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.
Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men,
and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared.
Then he told them,
“Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child.
And when you find him,
come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
After this interview the wise men went their way.
And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem.
It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star,
they were filled with joy!
They entered the house and saw the child with his mother,
Mary,
and they bowed down and worshiped him.
Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh.
When it was time to leave,
they returned to their own country by another route,
for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,
during the reign of King Herod.
About that time some wise men from eastern lands
arrived in Jerusalem,
asking,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star as it rose,
and we have come to worship him.”
King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this,
as was everyone in Jerusalem.
He called a meeting of the leading priests
and teachers of religious law and asked,
“Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
“In Bethlehem in Judea,”
they said,
“for this is what the prophet wrote:
‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”
And she will have a son,
and you are to name him Jesus,
for he will save his people from their sins.”
All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
“Look!
The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’”
But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born.
And Joseph named him Jesus.
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born.
His mother,
Mary,
was engaged to be married to Joseph.
But before the marriage took place,
while she was still a virgin,
she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Joseph,
to whom she was engaged,
was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly,
so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
As he considered this,
an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.
“Joseph,
son of David,”
the angel said,
“do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.
For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.“
“Look!
I am sending my messenger,
and he will prepare the way before me.
Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple.
The messenger of the covenant,
whom you look for so eagerly,
is surely coming,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“But who will be able to endure it when he comes?
Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears?
For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal,
or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes.
He will sit like a refiner of silver,
burning away the dross.
He will purify the Levites,
refining them like gold and silver,
so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord.
Come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come to him with thanksgiving.
Let us sing psalms of praise to him.
For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.
He holds in his hands the depths of the earth
and the mightiest mountains.
The sea belongs to him, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land, too.
Come, let us worship and bow down.
Let us kneel before the Lord our maker,
for he is our God.
We are the people he watches over,
the flock under his care.
Long live the king!
May the gold of Sheba be given to him.
May the people always pray for him
and bless him all day long.
May there be abundant grain throughout the land,
flourishing even on the hilltops.
May the fruit trees flourish like the trees of Lebanon,
and may the people thrive like grass in a field.
May the king’s name endure forever;
may it continue as long as the sun shines.
May all nations be blessed through him
and bring him praise.
Praise the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does such wonderful things.
Praise his glorious name forever!
Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and amen!
(This ends the prayers of David son of Jesse.)
May he reign from sea to sea,
and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
Desert nomads will bow before him;
his enemies will fall before him in the dust.
The western kings of Tarshish and other distant lands
will bring him tribute.
The eastern kings of Sheba and Seba
will bring him gifts.
All kings will bow before him,
and all nations will serve him.
He will rescue the poor when they cry to him;
he will help the oppressed,
who have no one to defend them.
He feels pity for the weak and the needy,
and he will rescue them.
He will redeem them from oppression and violence,
for their lives are precious to him.
Psalm 72:8-14
Give your love of justice to the king, O God,
and righteousness to the king’s son.
Help him judge your people in the right way;
let the poor always be treated fairly.
May the mountains yield prosperity for all,
and may the hills be fruitful.
Help him to defend the poor,
to rescue the children of the needy,
and to crush their oppressors.
May they fear you as long as the sun shines,
as long as the moon remains in the sky.
Yes, forever!
May the king’s rule be refreshing like spring rain on freshly cut grass,
like the showers that water the earth.
May all the godly flourish during his reign.
May there be abundant prosperity until the moon is no more.
