17 Behold, the Lord God will come as a mighty one, and his arm shall rule for him;

18 Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompence before him. 19 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom,

20 And shall gently lead those that have their young.

SELECTION 44

ISAIAH 55

I Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money;

2 Come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

3 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?

4 And your labor for that which satisfieth not?

5 Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fat

ness.

6 Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live:

7 And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

8 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.

9 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not,

IO And a nation that knew not thee shall run unto thee,

II Because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

12 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

13 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:

14 And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

15 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

16 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

17 For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth,

18 And maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

19 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:

20 It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,

21 And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

tree:

26 And it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

SELECTION 45

Christmas

I In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and

the Word was God.

people from their sins."

8 My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

9 For he hath looked upon the low estate of his handmaiden: for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

10 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

II And his mercy is unto generations and generations on them that fear him.*

12 And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger.

13 Because there was no room for them in the inn.

14 And there were shepherds in

3 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory.

4 Glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.1

5 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,

6 That whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.2

7 And thou shalt call his name

JOHN i. 1, 2, 14. 2 JOHN iii. 16.

15 And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

16 And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people:

17 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

18 And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.

19 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

20 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace good will toward men.5

SELECTION 46

ISAIAH 53

Good Friday

I Who hath believed our message? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground;

3 He hath no form or comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

4 He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:

5 And as one from whom men hide their face he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

9 The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

10 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;

II And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

12 He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened not his mouth;

13 As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is dumb; so he opened not his mouth.

14 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them considered

15 That he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?

16 And they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death;

17 Although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

18 Yet it pleased the Lord to

7 Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

8 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:

LUKE ii, 8-14.

19 When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days,

20 And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

21 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied:

22 By the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many: and he shall bear their iniquities.

23 Therefore will I divide him a

portion with the great,

8 He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

9 And go quickly, and tell his disciples, He is risen from the dead; 10 And lo, he goeth before you

with the strong;

25 Because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors:

26 Yet he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

SELECTION 47 Easter

I Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week,

2 Came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

3 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven,

4 And came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it.

5 His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 6 And for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead

men.

7 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, who hath been crucified.

lo: I have told you.

II And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word.

12 And behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. Be not afraid.1

13 I am the resurrection, and the life:

14 He that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die.2

15 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

16 Who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

17 Unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

18 Who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.3

19 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above,

I PETER i. 3-5.

7 They shall utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

9 The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works.

10 All thy works shall give thanks unto thee, O Lord. And thy saints shall bless thee.

II They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;

12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glory of the majesty of his kingdom.

13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

14 The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all wait for thee; and thou givest them their food in due season.

16 Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and gracious in all his works.

18 The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.