For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be o n his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on Davids throne and over his kin gdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteo

usness from that time o n and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty w ill accomplish this. Isaia h 9:6-7 A shoot will co me up from the stump o f Jesse; from his roots a B ranchwill bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will res t on him the Spirit of w isdom and of understandi ng, the Spirit of counsel a nd of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fe ar of the LORD and he w ill delight in the fear of th e LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his ey es, or decide by what he he ars with hi s ears; but with righteousness h e will judge the need y, with justice h e will give decis ions for the poor of t he earth. He wi ll strike the eart h with the rod of h is mouth; with the breath of h is lips he will slay t he wicked. Righ teousness will b e his belt and fait hfullness the sa sh around his waist. The wolf w ill live with the lamb, the leopa rd will lie down with the goat, t he calf and the lion and the ye arling together and a little child will lead them. The cow will fe ed with the bea r, their youn g will lie down together, and t he lion will eat straw like th e ox. The infant will play ne ar the hole of t

he cobra and the young child put his hand into t he vipers nest. They will neither harm nor destro y on all my holy mountain for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the L ORD as the waters cover the sea. In that day the Ro ot of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, a nd his place of rest will be g lorious. Isaiah 11:1-12 T he days are coming, decalr es the LORD, when I will rai se up to David a righteo us Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and r ight in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Is rael will live in s afety. This is the name by which he will be called: T he LORD Our Ri ghteousness. Jere miah 23:5-6 Th erefore the Lord Himself will give y ou a sign: The vi rgin will be with child and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 In the beginning w as the Word, an d the Word was with God, and th e Word was God He was with God in the beginnin g. Through him all things were m ade; without h im nothing was made that has be en made. In hi m was life, and t hat life was the li ght of men. T he light shines i n the darkness, b ut the darkn ess has not und

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erstood it. There came a m an who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concern ing that light, so that through him all men mi ght believe. He himself was not the light; he ca me only as a wit ness to the ligh t. The true light that gives light to every man wa s coming into t he world.[ He w as in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not re cognize him. He came to that whi ch was his own, but his own did not rec eive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave t he right to become children of God child ren born not of nat ural descent, nor of human decision or a husbands wi ll, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among u

s. We have seen his glory, the gl ory of the One an d Only, who ca me from the Fathe r, full of grace a nd truth. John testi fies concerning him. He cries out, sa ying, This was he of whom I said, H e who comes af ter me has surpassed me because he was before me. From the fullness of his grace we have all rec eived one blessi ng after another. For the law was given t hrough Moses; grace and truth came thr ough Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God th e One and Only, who is at the Fathers si de, has made him kno wn. John 1:1-18 In the sixth month, G od sent the ange l Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee to a virgin pledged t o be married to a man named Josep h, a descendant of David. The virgi ns name was Ma ry. The angel wen t to her and said, Greetings, you w ho are highly fav ored! The Lord i

i with you. Mary was greatly troub led at his words a nd wondered wh at kind of greetin g this might be. B ut the angel said t o her, Do not b e afraid, Mary, yo u have found fav or with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you ar e to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most H igh. The Lord Go d will give him th e throne of his fa ther David, and he will reign over th e house of Jacob f orever; his kingd om will never end How will this b e, Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin? The ang el answered, Th e Holy Spirit will c ome upon you, a nd the power of t he Most High wil l overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[c] the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a c

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hild in her old age, and she wh o was said to be barren is in he r sixth month. For nothing is i mpossible with God. I am the Lords servant, Mary answere d. May it be to me as you have said. Then the angel left her. Luke 1:26-38 And Mary said: My soul glorifi es the Lord and my spirit rejoi ces in God my Savior, for he ha s been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all ge nerations will call m e blessed, for the M ighty One has done great things for me holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fea r him, from generation to gener ation. He has performed mighty

deeds with his ar m; he has scattere d those who are p roud in their inm ost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their t hrones but has lift ed up the humble. He has filled the h ungry with good t hings but has sent the rich away emp ty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to b e merciful to Abra ham and his descendants for ever, even as he said to our f athers. Mary stayed with Eli zabeth for about three mont hs and then returned home.

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Luke 1:46-56