22 Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
and hraise my signal to the peoples;
and they shall ibring your sons in their arms,1
jand your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your knursing mothers.
With their faces to the ground lthey shall bow down to you,
and mlick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who nwait for me shall not be put to shame.”
24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of a tyrant2 be rescued?
25 For thus says the Lord:
“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
that I am the Lord oyour Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
4 The Lord God has given me
the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word
him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
he awakens my ear
to hear as those who are taught.
5 The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious;
I turned not backward.
6 wI gave my back to those who strike,
and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
from disgrace and xspitting.
7 But the Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face ylike a flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
8 He who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?
Let him come near to me.
9 Behold, the Lord God helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
Behold, all of them will zwear out like a garment;
the amoth will eat them up.
10 Who among you fears the Lord
and obeys the voice of bhis servant?
Let him who walks in darkness
and has no light
ctrust in the name of the Lord
and drely on his God.
11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
who equip yourselves with burning torches!
Walk by the light of your fire,
and by the torches that you have kindled!
This you have from my hand:
you shall lie down in torment.
The Lord’s Comfort for Zion
1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
3 For the Lord ecomforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and fmakes her wilderness like gEden,
her desert like the hgarden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4 “Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
for ia law1 will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a jlight to the peoples.
5 My krighteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
the coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6 lLift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for mthe heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;2
but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
7 “Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose nheart is my law;
fear not the reproach of man,
nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 For the omoth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool,
but my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations.”
12 “I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that you are tafraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made ulike grass,
13 and have vforgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who wstretched out the heavens
and xlaid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down to the pit,
neither shall his bread be lacking.
15 I am the Lord your God,
ywho stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
zthe Lord of hosts is his name.
16 And I have aput my words in your mouth
and covered you bin the shadow of my hand,
establishing1 the heavens
and laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
The Birth of Jesus Christ
18 qNow the birth of Jesus Christ1 took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been rbetrothed2 to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child sfrom the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to tdivorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an uangel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall vcall his name Jesus, for he will wsave his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place xto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 y“Behold, the zvirgin ashall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name bImmanuel”
(which means, cGod dwith us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but eknew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.