December 23, 2014

Reading

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah   3: 1-4, 4: 5- 6

3:1	Behold, I send my angel, and he will prepare the way before my face. And presently the Sovereign, whom you seek, and the angel of testimony, whom you desire, will arrive at his temple. Behold, he approaches, says the Lord of hosts.
3:2	And who will be able to consider the day of his advent, and who will stand firm in order to see him? For he is like a refining fire, and like the fuller’s herb.
3:3	And he will sit refining and cleansing the silver, and he will purge the sons of Levi, and he will gather them like gold and like silver, and they will offer sacrifices to the Lord in justice.
3:4	And the sacrifice of Judah and of Jerusalem will please the Lord, just as in the days of past generations, and as in the ancient years.

4:5	Behold, I will send to you Elijah the prophet, before the arrival of the great and terrible day of the Lord.
4:6	And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with anathema.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Luke   1: 57-66

1:57	Now the time for Elizabeth to give birth arrived, and she brought forth a son.
1:58	And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy with her, and so they congratulated her.
1:59	And it happened that, on the eighth day, they arrived to circumcise the boy, and they called him by his father’s name, Zechariah.
1:60	And in response, his mother said: “Not so. Instead, he shall be called John.”
1:61	And they said to her, “But there is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.”
1:62	Then they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him to be called.
1:63	And requesting a writing tablet, he wrote, saying: “His name is John.” And they all wondered.
1:64	Then, at once, his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosened, and he spoke, blessing God.
1:65	And fear fell upon all of their neighbors. And all these words were made known throughout all the hill country of Judea.
1:66	And all those who heard it stored it up in their heart, saying: “What do you think this boy will be?” And indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.