Friday in Advent — Open Word

FIRST READING

Habakkuk 3:2-6

Verse 2. O LORD, I have heard the report of You; I stand in awe, O LORD, of Your deeds. Revive them in these years; make them known in these years. In Your wrath, remember mercy! Verse 3. God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth. Verse 4. His radiance was like the sunlight; rays flashed from His hand, where His power is hidden. Verse 5. Plague went before Him, and fever followed in His steps. Verse 6. He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations; the ancient mountains crumbled; the perpetual hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting.

PSALM

Psalm 126

A song of ascents. When the LORD restored the captives of Zion, we were like dreamers.

Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

The LORD has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Restore our captives, O LORD, like streams in the Negev.

Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.

He who goes out weeping, bearing a trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain.

SECOND READING

Philippians 3:12-16

Verse 12. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Verse 13. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, Verse 14. I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus. Verse 15. All of us who are mature should embrace this point of view. And if you think differently about some issue, God will reveal this to you as well. Verse 16. Nevertheless, we must live up to what we have already attained.