Nativity Of The Lord – Proper I, December 24, 2009
Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20

² The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.
³ You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
and its people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest
and like warriors dividing the plunder.
⁴ For you will break the yoke of their slavery
and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
You will break the oppressor’s rod,
just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
⁵ The boots of the warrior
and the uniforms bloodstained by war
will all be burned.
They will be fuel for the fire.

⁶ For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!

Nativity Of The Lord – Proper II, December 24, 2009
Isaiah 62:6-12; Psalm 97; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:1-20

Isaiah 62:6-12

⁶ O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls;

they will pray day and night, continually.
Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord.
⁷ Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work,
until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.
⁸ The Lord has sworn to Jerusalem by his own strength:
“I will never again hand you over to your enemies.
Never again will foreign warriors come
and take away your grain and new wine.
⁹ You raised the grain, and you will eat it,
praising the Lord.
Within the courtyards of the Temple,
you yourselves will drink the wine you have pressed.”

¹⁰ Go out through the gates!
Prepare the highway for my people to return!
Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders;
raise a flag for all the nations to see.
¹¹ The Lord has sent this message to every land:
“Tell the people of Israel,^[a]
‘Look, your Savior is coming.
See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.’”
¹² They will be called “The Holy People”
and “The People Redeemed by the Lord.”
And Jerusalem will be known as “The Desirable Place”
and “The City No Longer Forsaken.”