Bible Readings - Dec. 12, 2024

Reading 1

Isaiah 42:1-25

Here is my servant whom I uphold,

my chosen one with whom I am pleased.

Upon him I have put my spirit;

he shall bring forth justice to the nations.a

He will not cry out, nor shout,

nor make his voice heard in the street.

A bruised reed he will not break,

and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.

He will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow dim or be bruised

until he establishes justice on the earth;

the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and its produce,

Who gives breath to its people

and spirit to those who walk on it:

I, the LORD, have called you for justice,

I have grasped you by the hand;

I formed you, and set you

as a covenant for the people,

a light for the nations,b

To open the eyes of the blind,

to bring out prisoners from confinement,

and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

I am the LORD, LORD is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to idols.

See, the earlier things have come to pass,

new ones I now declare;

Before they spring forth

I announce them to you.

Sing to the LORD a new song,

his praise from the ends of the earth:

Let the sea and what fills it resound,

the coastlands, and those who dwell in them.

Let the wilderness and its cities cry out,

the villages where Kedar dwells;

Let the inhabitants of Sela exult,

and shout from the top of the mountains.

Let them give glory to the LORD,

and utter his praise in the coastlands.

The LORD goes forth like a warrior,

like a man of war he stirs up his fury;

He shouts out his battle cry,

against his enemies he shows his might:

For a long time I have kept silent,

I have said nothing, holding myself back;

Now I cry out like a woman in labor,

gasping and panting.

I will lay waste mountains and hills,

all their undergrowth I will dry up;

I will turn the rivers into marshes,

and the marshes I will dry up.

I will lead the blind on a way they do not know;

by paths they do not know I will guide them.

I will turn darkness into light before them,

and make crooked ways straight.

These are my promises:

I made them, I will not forsake them.

They shall be turned back in utter shame

who trust in idols;

Who say to molten images,

“You are our gods.”

You deaf ones, listen,

you blind ones, look and see!

Who is blind but my servant,

or deaf like the messenger I send?

Who is blind like the one I restore,

blind like the servant of the LORD?

You see many things but do not observe;

ears open, but do not hear.

It was the LORD’s will for the sake of his justice

to make his teaching great and glorious.

This is a people plundered and despoiled,

all of them trapped in holes,

hidden away in prisons.

They are taken as plunder, with no one to rescue them,

as spoil, with no one to say, “Give back!”

Who among you will give ear to this,

listen and pay attention from now on?

Who was it that gave Jacob to be despoiled,

Israel to the plunderers?

Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned?

In his ways they refused to walk,

his teaching they would not heed.

So he poured out wrath upon them,

his anger, and the fury of battle;

It blazed all around them, yet they did not realize,

it burned them, but they did not take it to heart.

Psalm 103:15-22

As for man, his days are like the grass;

he blossoms like a flower in the field.

A wind sweeps over it and it is gone;

its place knows it no more.

But the LORD’s mercy is from age to age,

toward those who fear him.

His salvation is for the children’s children

of those who keep his covenant,

and remember to carry out his precepts.

The LORD has set his throne in heaven;

his dominion extends over all.

Bless the LORD, all you his angels,

mighty in strength, acting at his behest,

obedient to his command.

Bless the LORD, all you his hosts,

his ministers who carry out his will.

Bless the LORD, all his creatures,

everywhere in his domain.

Bless the LORD, my soul!

Gospel

Matthew 11:20-27

Then he began to reproach the towns

where most of his mighty deeds had been done,

since they had not repented.

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done

in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented

in sackcloth and ashes.

But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon

on the day of judgment than for you.

And as for you, Capernaum:

‘Will you be exalted to heaven?

You will go down to the netherworld.’

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done

in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom

on the day of judgment than for you.”

At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father,

Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden

these things from the wise and the learned

you have revealed them to the childlike.

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.

No one knows the Son except the Father,

and no one knows the Father except the Son

and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.