The Daily Readings for December 24, 2021

We've included both the Morning and Evening Psalms for the Daily Office; they are listed after the other readings. If you'd like to filter for a particular day's readings, you can do it at The Daily Readings Anytime.

Baruch 4:36-5:9

Look toward the east, O Jerusalem, and see the joy that is coming to you from God. Look, your children are coming, whom you sent away; they are coming, gathered from east and west, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God. Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God. Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting; for God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven. For God will give you evermore the name, "Righteous Peace, Godly Glory." Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. For they went out from you on foot, led away by their enemies; but God will bring them back to you, carried in glory, as on a royal throne. For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God. The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God's command. For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.

Galatians 3:23-4:7

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property; but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Morning Psalms

Psalm 45 Eructavit cor meum

¹   My heart is stirring with a noble song; let me recite what I have fashioned for the king; *
my tongue shall be the pen of a skilled writer.
²   You are the fairest of men; *
grace flows from your lips, because God has blessed you for ever.
³   Strap your sword upon your thigh, O mighty warrior, *
in your pride and in your majesty.
⁴   Ride out and conquer in the cause of truth *
and for the sake of justice.
⁵   Your right hand will show you marvelous things; *
your arrows are very sharp, O mighty warrior.
⁶   The peoples are falling at your feet, *
and the king's enemies are losing heart.
⁷   Your throne, O God, endures for ever and ever, *
a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom; you love righteousness and hate iniquity.
⁸   Therefore God, your God, has anointed you *
with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
⁹   All your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia, *
and the music of strings from ivory palaces makes you glad.
¹⁰   Kings' daughters stand among the ladies of the court; *
on your right hand is the queen, adorned with the gold of Ophir.
¹¹   Hear, O daughter; consider and listen closely; *
forget your people and your father's house.
¹²   The king will have pleasure in your beauty; *
he is your master; therefore do him honor.
¹³   The people of Tyre are here with a gift; *
the rich among the people seek your favor."
¹⁴   All glorious is the princess as she enters; *
her gown is cloth-of-gold.
¹⁵   In embroidered apparel she is brought to the king; *
after her the bridesmaids follow in procession.
¹⁶   With joy and gladness they are brought, *
and enter into the palace of the king.
¹⁷   In place of fathers, O king, you shall have sons; *
you shall make them princes over all the earth.
¹⁸   I will make your name to be remembered from one generation to another; *
therefore nations will praise you for ever and ever."

Psalm 46 Deus noster refugium

¹   God is our refuge and strength, *
a very present help in trouble.
²   Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, *
and though the mountains be toppled into the depths of the sea;
³   Though its waters rage and foam, *
and though the mountains tremble at its tumult.
⁴   The LORD of hosts is with us; *
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
⁵   There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, *
the holy habitation of the Most High.
⁶   God is in the midst of her; she shall not be overthrown; *
God shall help her at the break of day.
⁷   The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken; *
God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away.
⁸   The LORD of hosts is with us; *
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
⁹   Come now and look upon the works of the LORD, *
what awesome things he has done on earth.
¹⁰   It is he who makes war to cease in all the world; *
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, and burns the shields with fire.
¹¹   Be still, then, and know that I am God; *
I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.
¹²   The LORD of hosts is with us; *
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Evening Psalms

Psalm 89: Part I Misericordias Domini

¹   Your love, O LORD, for ever will I sing; *
from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness.
²   For I am persuaded that your love is established for ever; *
you have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens.
³   I have made a covenant with my chosen one; *
I have sworn an oath to David my servant:
⁴   'I will establish your line for ever, *
and preserve your throne for all generations.'"
⁵   The heavens bear witness to your wonders, O LORD, *
and to your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones;
⁶   For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? *
who is like the LORD among the gods?
⁷   God is much to be feared in the council of the holy ones, *
great and terrible to all those round about him.
⁸   Who is like you, LORD God of hosts? *
O mighty LORD, your faithfulness is all around you.
⁹   You rule the raging of the sea *
and still the surging of its waves.
¹⁰   You have crushed Rahab of the deep with a deadly wound; *
you have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
¹¹   Yours are the heavens; the earth also is yours; *
you laid the foundations of the world and all that is in it.
¹²   You have made the north and the south; *
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your Name.
¹³   You have a mighty arm; *
strong is your hand and high is your right hand.
¹⁴   Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne; *
love and truth go before your face.
¹⁵   Happy are the people who know the festal shout! *
they walk, O LORD, in the light of your presence.
¹⁶   They rejoice daily in your Name; *
they are jubilant in your righteousness.
¹⁷   For you are the glory of their strength, *
and by your favor our might is exalted.
¹⁸   Truly, the LORD is our ruler; *
The Holy One of Israel is our King.

Psalm 89: Part II Tunc locutus es
¹⁹   You spoke once in vision and said to your faithful people: *
"I have set the crown upon a warrior and have exalted one chosen out of the people.
²⁰   I have found David my servant; *
with my holy oil have I anointed him.
²¹   My hand will hold him fast *
and my arm will make him strong.
²²   No enemy shall deceive him, *
nor any wicked man bring him down.
²³   I will crush his foes before him *
and strike down those who hate him.
²⁴   My faithfulness and love shall be with him, *
and he shall be victorious through my Name.
²⁵   I shall make his dominion extend *
from the Great Sea to the River.
²⁶   He will say to me, 'You are my Father, *
my God, and the rock of my salvation.'
²⁷   I will make him my firstborn *
and higher than the kings of the earth.
²⁸   I will keep my love for him for ever, *
and my covenant will stand firm for him.
²⁹   I will establish his line for ever *
and his throne as the days of heaven."

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.