Lectionary Calendar

¹Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. ²Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. ³Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. ⁴For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. ⁵For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. ⁶Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary. ⁷Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. ⁸Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. ⁹Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. ¹⁰Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns." The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. ¹¹Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; ¹²let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; ¹³they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.
Psalms 96 (NIV)

¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹²It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Titus 2:11-14 (NIV)

¹In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³And everyone went to his own town to register. ⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. ⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." ¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." ¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." ¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Luke 2:1-20 (NIV)