Great Is the Lord
1 A Song of Praise. Of David.
1 jI will extol you, my God and kKing,
and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
land praise your name forever and ever.
3 mGreat is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his ngreatness is unsearchable.
4 oOne generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On pthe glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of qthe might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your rabundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is sgracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is tgood to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
10 uAll your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your vsaints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
12 to wmake known to the children of man your2 xmighty deeds,
and ythe glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 zYour kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[The Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.3]
14 The Lord aupholds all who are falling
and braises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all clook to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You dopen your hand;
you esatisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is frighteous in all his ways
and gkind in all his works.
18 The Lord is hnear to all who call on him,
to all who call on him iin truth.
19 He jfulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also khears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord lpreserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and mlet all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
The Visit of the Wise Men
1 Now hafter Jesus was born in iBethlehem of Judea jin the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men1 from kthe east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born lking of the Jews? For we saw mhis star when it rose2 and have come to nworship 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 othe Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 p“‘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 qshepherd 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, rthey offered him gifts, sgold and tfrankincense and umyrrh. 12 And vbeing warned win 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, xan angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to 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. yThis was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, z“Out of Egypt I called my 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 male 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 aThen was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 b“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they care 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 dthose 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 ebeing warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called fNazareth, gso that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
