December 24 - Luke 1.57-80, Ezekiel 35-36 and Isaiah 59

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The Birth of John the Baptist

Luke 1 57When Elizabeth's son was born, 58her neighbors and relatives heard how kind the Lord had been to her, and they too were glad.
59Eight days later they did for the child what the Law of Moses commands. They were going to name him Zechariah, after his father. 60But Elizabeth said, "No! His name is John."
61The people argued, "No one in your family has ever been named John." 62So they motioned to Zechariah to find out what he wanted to name his son.
63Zechariah asked for a writing tablet. Then he wrote, "His name is John." Everyone was amazed. 64Right away, Zechariah started speaking and praising God.
65All the neighbors were frightened because of what had happened, and everywhere in the hill country people kept talking about these things. 66Everyone who heard about this wondered what this child would grow up to be. They knew that the Lord was with him.

Zechariah Praises the Lord

67The Holy Spirit came upon Zechariah, and he began to speak:
68Praise the Lord, the God of Israel!
He has come to save his people.
69Our God has given us a mighty Savior
from the family of David his servant.
70Long ago the Lord promised
by the words of his holy prophets
71to save us from our enemies
and from everyone who hates us.
72God said he would be kind to our people
and keep his sacred promise.
73He told our ancestor Abraham
74that he would rescue us from our enemies.
Then we could serve him without fear,
75by being holy and good as long as we live.

76You, my son, will be called
a prophet of God in heaven above.
You will go ahead of the Lord
to get everything ready for him.
77You will tell his people
that they can be saved when their sins are forgiven.
78God's love and kindness will shine upon us
like the sun that rises in the sky.
79On us who live in the dark shadow of death
this light will shine
to guide us into a life of peace.
80As John grew up, God's Spirit gave him great power. John lived in the desert until the time he was sent to the people of Israel.


Edom Will Be a Wasteland

Ezekiel 35 The LORD said:
2Ezekiel, son of man, condemn the people of Edom 3and say to them:
I, the LORD God, am now your enemy!
And I will turn your nation into an empty wasteland,
4leaving your towns in ruins.
Your land will be a desert,
and then you will know that I am the LORD.
5People of Edom, not only have you been Israel's longtime enemy, you simply watched when disaster wiped out its people as punishment for their sins. 6And so, as surely as I am the living LORD God, you are guilty of murder and must be put to death. 7I will destroy your nation and kill anyone who travels through it. 8Dead bodies will cover your mountains and fill up your valleys, 9and your land will lie in ruins forever. No one will live in your towns ever again. You will know that I am the LORD.
10You thought the nations of Judah and Israel belonged to you, and that you could take over their territory. But I am their God, 11and as surely as I live, I will punish you for treating my people with anger and hatred. Then they will know that I, the LORD, am punishing you! 12And you will finally realize that I heard you laugh at their destruction and say their land was yours to take. 13You even insulted me, but I heard it all.
14Everyone on earth will celebrate when I destroy you, 15just as you celebrated when Israel was destroyed. Your nation of Edom will be nothing but a wasteland. Then everyone will know that I am the LORD.

A Message for Israel's Mountains

Ezekiel 36 The LORD said:
Ezekiel, son of man, tell the mountains of Israel 2that I, the LORD God, am saying:
Your enemies sneered and said that you mountains belonged to them. 3They ruined and crushed you from every side, and foreign nations captured and made fun of you. 4So all you mountains and hills, streams and valleys, listen to what I will do. Your towns may now lie in ruins, and nations may laugh and insult you. 5But in my fierce anger, I will turn against those nations, and especially the Edomites, because they laughed at you the loudest and took over your pasturelands. 6You have suffered long enough, and, I, the LORD God, am very angry! Nations have insulted you, 7so I will now insult and disgrace them. That is my solemn promise.
8Trees will grow on you mountains of Israel and produce fruit for my people, because they will soon come home. 9I will take care of you by plowing your soil and planting crops on your fertile slopes. 10The people of Israel will return and rebuild your ruined towns and live in them. 11Children will be born, and animals will give birth to their young. You will no longer be deserted as you are now, but you will be covered with people and treated better than ever. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
12I will bring my people Israel home, and they will live on you mountains, because you belong to them, and your fertile slopes will never again let them starve. 13It's true that you have been accused of not producing enough food and of letting your people starve. 14-15But I, the LORD, promise that you won't hear other nations laugh and sneer at you ever again. From now on, you will always produce plenty of food for your people. I, the LORD God, have spoken.

The LORD Will Be Honored

16The LORD said:
17Ezekiel, son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own country, they made the land unclean by the way they behaved, just as a woman's monthly period makes her unclean. 18They committed murders and worshiped idols, which made the land even worse. So in my anger, I punished my people 19and scattered them throughout the nations, just as they deserved. 20Wherever they went, my name was disgraced, because foreigners insulted my people by saying I had forced them out of their own land.
21I care what those foreigners think of me, 22so tell the Israelites that I am saying:
You have disgraced my holy name among the nations where you now live. So you don't deserve what I'm going to do for you. I will lead you home to bring honor to my name 23and to show foreign nations that I am holy. Then they will know that I am the LORD God. I have spoken.
24I will gather you from the foreign nations and bring you home. 25I will sprinkle you with clean water, and you will be clean and acceptable to me. I will wash away everything that makes you unclean, and I will remove your disgusting idols. 26I will take away your stubborn heart and give you a new heart and a desire to be faithful. You will have only pure thoughts, 27because I will put my Spirit in you and make you eager to obey my laws and teachings. 28You will once again live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
29I will protect you from anything that makes you unclean. Your fields will overflow with grain, and no one will starve. 30Your trees will be filled with fruit, and crops will grow in your fields, so that you will never again feel ashamed for not having enough food. 31You will remember your evil ways and hate yourselves for what you've done. 32People of Israel, I'm not doing these things for your sake. You sinned against me, and you must suffer shame and disgrace for what you have done. I, the LORD God, have spoken.
33After I have made you clean, I will let you rebuild your ruined towns and let you live in them. 34Your land will be plowed again, and nobody will be able to see that it was once barren. 35Instead, they will say that it looks as beautiful as the garden of Eden. They won't see towns lying in ruins, but they will see your strong cities filled with people. 36Then the nearby nations that survive will know that I am the one who rebuilt the ruined places and replanted the barren fields. I, the LORD, make this promise.
37I will once again answer your prayers, and I will let your nation grow until you are like a large flock of sheep. 38The towns that now lie in ruins will be filled with people, just as Jerusalem was once filled with sheep to be offered as sacrifices during a festival. Then you will know that I am the LORD.


Social Injustice Is Condemned

Isaiah 59 The LORD hasn't lost his powerful strength;
he can still hear and answer prayers.
2Your sins are the roadblock between you and your God.
That's why he doesn't answer your prayers
or let you see his face.

3Your talk is filled with lies and plans for violence;
every finger on your hands is covered with blood.
4You falsely accuse others and tell lies in court;
sin and trouble are the names of your children.
5You eat the deadly eggs of poisonous snakes,
and more snakes crawl out
from the eggs left to hatch.
You weave spider webs, 6but you can't make clothes
with those webs or hide behind them.

You're sinful and brutal.
7You hurry off to do wrong or murder innocent victims.
All you think about is sin;
you leave ruin and destruction wherever you go.
8You don't know how to live in peace
or to be fair with others.
The roads you make are crooked;
your followers cannot find peace.

The People Confess Their Sins


9No one has come to defend us or to bring about justice.
We hoped for a day of sunshine,
but all we found was a dark, gloomy night.
10We feel our way along, as if we were blind;
we stumble at noon, as if it were night.
We can see no better than someone dead.

11We growl like bears and mourn like doves.
We hope for justice and victory,
but they escape us.
12How often have we sinned and turned against you,
the LORD God?
Our sins condemn us! We have done wrong.
13We have rebelled and refused to follow you.
Our hearts were deceitful, and so we lied;
we planned to abuse others and turn our backs on you.

14Injustice is everywhere; justice seems far away.
Truth is chased out of court; honesty is shoved aside.
15Everyone tells lies; those who turn from crime
end up ruined.

The LORD Will Rescue His People


When the LORD noticed that justice had disappeared,
he became very displeased.
16It disgusted him even more to learn
that no one would do a thing about it.
So with his own powerful arm,
he won victories for truth.
17Justice was the LORD's armor;
saving power was his helmet;
anger and revenge were his clothes.

18Now the LORD will get furious and do to his enemies,
both near and far, what they did to his people.
19He will attack like a flood in a mighty windstorm.
Nations in the west and the east
will then honor and praise his wonderful name.
20The LORD has promised to rescue the city of Zion
and Jacob's descendants who turn from sin.

21The LORD says: "My people,
I promise to give you my Spirit and my message.
These will be my gifts to you and your families forever.
I, the LORD, have spoken."

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This reading is from The Holy Bible, Contemporary English Version, copyright © American Bible Society, 1995.


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