Daily Readings for Tuesday, December 25, 2024, Christmas Day

6   Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,
          I have posted sentinels;
    all day and all night
          they shall never be silent.
    You who remind the Lord,
          take no rest,
7   and give him no rest
          until he establishes Jerusalem
          and makes it renowned throughout the earth.
8   The Lord has sworn by his right hand
          and by his mighty arm:
    I will not again give your grain
          to be food for your enemies,
    and foreigners shall not drink the wine
          for which you have labored;
9   but those who garner it shall eat it
          and praise the Lord,
    and those who gather it shall drink it
          in my holy courts.

10  Go through, go through the gates,
          prepare the way for the people;
    build up, build up the highway,
          clear it of stones,
          lift up an ensign over the peoples.
11  The Lord has proclaimed
          to the end of the earth:
    Say to daughter Zion,
          “See, your salvation comes;
    his reward is with him,
          and his recompense before him.”
12  They shall be called, “The Holy People,
          The Redeemed of the Lord”;
    and you shall be called, “Sought Out,
          A City Not Forsaken.”

1   O sing to the LORD a new song,
          for he has done marvelous things.
    His right hand and his holy arm
          have gained him victory.
2   The LORD has made known his victory;
          he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3   He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
          to the house of Israel.
    All the ends of the earth have seen
          the victory of our God.

4   Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
          break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5   Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
          with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6   With trumpets and the sound of the horn
          make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.

7   Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
          the world and those who live in it.
8   Let the floods clap their hands;
          let the hills sing together for joy
9   at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming
          to judge the earth.
    He will judge the world with righteousness,
          and the peoples with equity.

1Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

5For to which of the angels did God ever say,
    “You are my Son;
          today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
    “I will be his Father,
          and he will be my Son”?
6And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
    “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
7Of the angels he says,
    “He makes his angels winds,
          and his servants flames of fire.”
8But of the Son he says,
    “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
          and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.
9   You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has anointed you
          with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
10And,
    “In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth,
          and the heavens are the work of your hands;
11  they will perish, but you remain;
          they will all wear out like clothing;
12  like a cloak you will roll them up,
          and like clothing they will be changed.
    But you are the same,
          and your years will never end.”

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

10He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.