Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet
Aleph
1 1 oBlessed are those whose way is blameless,
who pwalk in the law of the Lord!
2 Blessed are those who qkeep his testimonies,
who rseek him with their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
4 You have commanded your precepts
5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in ukeeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall vnot be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.2
8 I will keep your statutes;
wdo not utterly forsake me!
Beth
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not xwander from your commandments!
11 I have ystored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
zteach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare
all the rules3 of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I adelight
as much as in all briches.
15 I will cmeditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will ddelight in your statutes;
I will not eforget your word.
The Year of the Lord’s Favor
1 uThe Spirit of the Lord God is vupon me,
because the Lord has wanointed me
to bring xgood news to the poor;1
he has sent me to ybind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and zthe opening of the prison to those who are bound;2
2 to proclaim athe year of the Lord’s favor,
and the bday of vengeance of our God;
to ccomfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the doil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the eplanting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.3
4 They shall build up the fancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the gruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
5 hStrangers shall stand and tend your flocks;
foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
6 but iyou shall be called the priests of the Lord;
they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;
you shall eat the jwealth of the nations,
and in their glory you shall boast.
7 Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;
instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
they shall have keverlasting joy.
8 For I the Lord love justice;
I hate robbery and wrong;4
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting lcovenant with them.
9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the mrobe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to sprout up before all the nations.
The Visit of the Wise Men
1 Now after Jesus was fborn in Bethlehem of Judea gin the days of Herod the king, behold, hwise men1 ifrom the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born jking of the Jews? For we saw his kstar when it rose2 and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the lChrist was to be born. 5 They told him, m“In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 n“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will oshepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, pgold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
The Flight to Egypt
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an qangel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and rflee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, sto destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was tto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, u“Out of Egypt I called vmy son.”
Herod Kills the Children
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the wmale children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 x“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
The Return to Nazareth
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for ythose who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a zNazarene.
