Zech. 14

14:1 A day of the Lord is about to come when your possessions will be divided as plunder in your midst. 2For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away.

3Then the Lord will go to battle and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days. 4On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives that lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, leaving a great valley. Half the mountain will move northward and the other half southward. 5Then you will escape through my mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. Indeed, you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come with all his holy ones with him. 6On that day there will be no light—the sources of light in the heavens will congeal. 7It will happen in one day—a day known to the Lord—not in the day or the night, but in the evening there will be light. 8Moreover, on that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it will happen both in summer and in winter.

9The Lord will then be king over all the earth. In that day the Lord will be seen as one with a single name. 10All the land will change and become like the rift valley from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be raised up and will stay in its own place from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate and on to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. 11And people will settle there, and there will no longer be the threat of divine extermination—Jerusalem will dwell in security.

12But this will be the nature of the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will decay while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot away in their sockets, and their tongues will dissolve in their mouths. 13On that day there will be great confusion from the Lord among them; they will seize each other and attack one another violently. 14Moreover, Judah will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered up—gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance. 15This is the kind of plague that will devastate horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in those camps.

16Then all who survive from all the nations that came to attack Jerusalem will go up annually to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and to observe the Feast of Shelters. 17But if any of the nations anywhere on earth refuse to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, they will get no rain. 18If the Egyptians will not do so, they will get no rain—instead there will be the kind of plague that the Lord inflicts on any nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Shelters. 19This will be the punishment of Egypt and of all nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Shelters.

20On that day the bells of the horses will bear the inscription “Holy to the Lord.” The cooking pots in the Lord’s temple will be as holy as the bowls in front of the altar. 21Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will become holy in the sight of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, so that all who offer sacrifices may come and use some of them to boil their sacrifices in them. On that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Ps. 146

146:1 Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, O my soul.

2I will praise the Lord as long as I live.

I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.

3Do not trust in princes,

or in human beings, who cannot deliver.

4Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.

On that day their plans die.

5How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God.

6The one who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

who remains forever faithful,

7vindicates the oppressed,

and gives food to the hungry.

The Lord releases the imprisoned.

8The Lord gives sight to the blind.

The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.

The Lord loves the godly.

9The Lord protects the resident foreigner.

He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,

but he opposes the wicked.

10The Lord rules forever,

your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.

Praise the Lord!

Luke 2:22–40

2:22 Now when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23(just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male will be set apart to the Lord”), 24and to offer a sacrifice according to what is specified in the law of the Lord, a pair of doves or two young pigeons.

25Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon who was righteous and devout, looking for the restoration of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27So Simeon, directed by the Spirit, came into the temple courts, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law, 28Simeon took him in his arms and blessed God, saying,

29“Now, according to your word, Sovereign Lord, permit your servant to depart in peace.

30For my eyes have seen your salvation

31that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples:

32a light,

for revelation to the Gentiles

and for glory to your people Israel.”

33So the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him. 34Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “Listen carefully: This child is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected. 35Indeed, as a result of him the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul as well!”

36There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, having been married to her husband for seven years until his death. 37She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38At that moment, she came up to them and began to give thanks to God and to speak about the child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

39So when Joseph and Mary had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.