Therefore, the days will come, says the Lord, when they shall no longer say, “As the Lord lives, who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt”; but rather, “As the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Israel up from the land of the north”—and from all the lands to which I banished them; they shall again live on their own land.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.

Jacob called his sons and said to them:/ “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob,/ listen to Israel, your father.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Thus says the Lord:/ Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted,/ to the tyrannical city!/ She hears no voice,/ accepts no correction;/ In the Lord she has not trusted,/ to her God she has not drawn near.

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “What is your opinion?

The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor,/ the utterance of a man whose eye is true,/ The utterance of one who hears what God says,/ and knows what the Most High knows,/ Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,/ enraptured, and with eyes unveiled:/ How goodly are your tents, O Jacob;/ your encampments, O Israel!/ They are like gardens beside a stream,/ like the cedars planted by the Lord./ His wells shall yield free-flowing waters,/ he shall have the sea within reach;/ His king shall rise higher,/ and his royalty shall be exalted.

When Jesus had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things?

Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.

The desert and the parched land will exult;/ the steppe will rejoice and bloom./ They will bloom with abundant flowers,/ and rejoice with joyful song./ The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,/ the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;/ they will see the glory of the Lord,/ the splendor of our God./ Strengthen the hands that are feeble,/ make firm the knees that are weak,/ say to those whose hearts are frightened:/ Be strong, fear not!/ Here is your God,/ he comes with vindication;/ with divine re­compense/ he comes to save you./ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,/ the ears of the deaf be cleared;/ then will the lame leap like a stag,/ then the tongue of the mute will sing.