Scripture Readings

Christmas Eve or Christmas Day
Proper III (Alternative Three)

Alternative 1 | Alternative 2 | Alternative 3

Scripture readings are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® NIV® ©1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. All rights reserved.

Old Testament
Psalm
Epistle Reading
Gospel Reading

Old Testament

How beautiful on the mountains
     are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
     who bring good tidings,
     who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
     “Your God reigns!”
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
     together they shout for joy.
When the LORD returns to Zion,
     they will see it with their own eyes.
Burst into songs of joy together,
     you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people,
     he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The LORD will lay bare his holy arm
     in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
     the salvation of our God.
—Isaiah 52:7-10, NIV

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Psalm

Sing to the LORD a new song,
     for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
     have worked salvation for him.
The LORD has made his salvation known
     and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
He has remembered his love
     and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
     the salvation of our God.
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
     burst into jubilant song with music;
make music to the LORD with the harp,
     with the harp and the sound of singing,
with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
     shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
     the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
     let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the LORD,
     for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
     and the peoples with equity.
—Psalm 98, NIV

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Epistle

     In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
     For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son;
     today I have become your Father?

Or again,

“I will be his Father,
     and he will be my Son” ?

And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
In speaking of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
     his servants flames of fire.”

But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
     and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
     therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
     by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

He also says,

“In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
     and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain;
     they will all wear out like a garment.
You will roll them up like a robe;
     like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
     and your years will never end.”
—Hebrews 1:1-12), NIV

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Gospel

     In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
     Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
     There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
     He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
     The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the Only Begotten, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
—John 1:1-14, NIV

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