THE LORD, even the Most Mighty God, hath spoken, * and called the world, from the rising up of the sun unto the going down thereof.
 
Out of Sion hath God appeared * in perfect beauty.
 
Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; * there shall go before him a consuming fire, and a mighty tempest shall be stirred up round about him.
 
He shall call the heaven from above, * and the earth, that he may judge his people.
 
Gather my saints together unto me; * those that have made a covenant with me with sacrifice.
 
And the heavens shall declare his righteousness; * for God is Judge himself.
 
Hear, O my people, and I will speak; * I myself will testify against thee, O Israel; for I am God, even thy God.
 
I will not reprove thee because of thy sacrifices; * as for thy burnt-offerings, they are alway before me.
 
I will take no bullock out of thine house, * nor he-goats out of thy folds.
 
For all the beasts of the forest are mine, * and so are the cattle upon a thousand hills.
 
I know all the fowls upon the mountains, * and the wild beasts of the field are in my sight.
 
If I be hungry, I will not tell thee; * for the whole world is mine, and all that is therein.
 
Thinkest thou that I will eat bulls' flesh, * and drink the blood of goats?
 
Offer unto God thanksgiving, * and pay thy vows unto the Most Highest.
 
And call upon me in the time of trouble; * so will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise me.
 
But unto the ungodly saith God, * Why dost thou preach my laws, and takest my covenant in thy mouth;
 
Whereas thou hatest to be reformed, * and hast cast my words behind thee?
 
When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst unto him; * and hast been partaker with the adulterers.
 
Thou hast let thy mouth speak wickedness, * and with thy tongue thou hast set forth deceit.
 
Thou sattest and spakest against thy brother; * yea, and hast slandered thine own mother's son.
 
These things hast thou done, and I held my tongue, and thou thoughtest wickedly, that I am even such a one as thyself; * but I will reprove thee, and set before thee the things that thou hast done.
 
O consider this, ye that forget God, * lest I pluck you away, and there be none to deliver you.
 
Whoso offereth me thanks and praise, he honoureth me; * and to him that ordereth his way aright, will I show the salvation of God.

O Jerusalem, look about thee toward the east, and behold the joy that cometh unto thee from God. Lo, thy sons come, whom thou sentest away, they come gathered together from the east to the west by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God. Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning and affliction, and put on the comeliness of the glory that cometh from God for ever. Cast about thee a double garment of the righteousness which cometh from God; and set a diadem on thine head of the glory of the Everlasting. For God will shew thy brightness unto every country under heaven. For thy name shall be called God for ever, The peace of righteousness, and The glory of God's worship. Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high, and look about toward the east, and behold thy children gathered from the west unto the east by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the remembrance of God. For they departed from thee on foot, and were led away of their enemies: but God bringeth them unto thee exalted with glory, as children of the kingdom. For God hath appointed that every high hill, and banks of long continuance, should be cast down, and valleys filled up, to make even the ground, that Israel may go safely in the glory of God. Moreover even the woods and every sweetsmelling tree shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God. For God shall lead Israel with joy in the light of his glory with the mercy and righteousness that cometh from him.

And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.

O LORD, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

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