Scripture Readings

New Years Day
1 January, the Eighth Day of Christmas
alternate readings for churches celebrating the secular New Year

Male Jewish babies are circumcised and named on the eighth day, so today is the day on which the infant Jesus receives His Name. If your church celebrates this event in Our Lord’s life among us, use the readings for Holy Name instead of these readings, which are for the secular New Year.

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

There is a time for everything,
     and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
     a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
     a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
     a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
     a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
     a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
     a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
     a time for war and a time for peace.
     What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.
—Ecclesiastes 3:1-13, NIV

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Psalm

O LORD , our Lord,
     how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
     above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants
     you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
     to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,
     the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
     which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
     the son of man that you care for him?
You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
     and crowned him with glory and honor.
You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
     you put everything under his feet:
all flocks and herds,
     and the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air,
     and the fish of the sea,
     all that swim the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord,
     how majestic is your name in all the earth!
—Psalm 8, NIV

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Epistle

     Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
     He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
     He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
—Revelation 21:1-6a, NIV

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Gospel

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
     “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
     “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
     “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
     “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
     “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
     “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
     “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
—Matthew 25:31-46, NIV

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