Saturday in Advent

2Verse 2. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.” 3Verse 3. With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation, 4Verse 4. and on that day you will say: “Give praise to the LORD; proclaim His name! Make His works known among the peoples; declare that His name is exalted. 5Verse 5. Sing to the LORD, for He has done glorious things. Let this be known in all the earth. 6Verse 6. Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”

8Verse 8. Surely the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” 9Verse 9. “For surely I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is sifted in a sieve; but not a pebble will reach the ground. 10Verse 10. All the sinners among My people will die by the sword — all those who say, ‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’” 11Verse 11. “In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, 12Verse 12. that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear My name,” 13Verse 13. “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow. 14Verse 14. I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. 15Verse 15. I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,”

57Verse 57. When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son. 58Verse 58. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her. 59Verse 59. On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him after his father Zechariah. 60Verse 60. But his mother replied, “No! He shall be called John.” 61Verse 61. They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who bears this name.” 62Verse 62. So they made signs to his father to find out what he wanted to name the child. 63Verse 63. Zechariah asked for a tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed. 64Verse 64. Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak, praising God. 65Verse 65. All their neighbors were filled with awe, and people throughout the hill country of Judea were talking about these events. 66Verse 66. And all who heard this wondered in their hearts and asked, “What then will this child become?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.