Deuteronomy 26, Psalm 117, 118, Isaiah 53, Matthew 1

Deuteronomy 26,

1 When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it,
 
2 take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name
 
3 and say to the priest in office at the time, "I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the land the LORD swore to our forefathers to give us."
 
4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God.
 
5 Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: "My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.
 
6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor.
 
7 Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.
 
8 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.
 
9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;
 
10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me." Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him.
 
11 And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.
 
12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.
 
13 Then say to the LORD your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.
 
14 I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything you commanded me.
 
15 Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey."
 
16 The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
 
17 You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him.
 
18 And the LORD has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands.
 
19 He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.

Psalm 117, 118,

1 Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.
 
2 For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
 
2 Let Israel say: "His love endures forever."
 
3 Let the house of Aaron say: "His love endures forever."
 
4 Let those who fear the LORD say: "His love endures forever."
 
5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.
 
6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
 
7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
 
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
 
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
 
10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
 
11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
 
12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
 
13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me.
 
14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
 
15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: "The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!
 
16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"
 
17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
 
18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
 
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
 
20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.
 
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
 
22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
 
23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
 
24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
 
25 O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success.
 
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
 
27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
 
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
 
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Isaiah 53,

1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
 
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
 
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
 
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
 
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
 
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
 
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
 
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
 
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
 
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
 
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
 
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Matthew 1

1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
 
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
 
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram,
 
4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,
 
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,
 
6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,
 
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,
 
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
 
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
 
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,
 
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
 
12 After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
 
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,
 
14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud,
 
15 Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,
 
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
 
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.
 
18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
 
19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
 
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
 
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
 
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
 
23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"-which means, "God with us."
 
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
 
25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.