1Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things thathave been accomplished among us,2just as those whofrom the beginning wereeyewitnesses andministers ofthe wordhave delivered them to us,3it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to writean orderly account for you,most excellentTheophilus,4that you may havecertainty concerning the thingsyou have been taught.

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

5In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,[a]ofthe division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.6And they were bothrighteous before God, walkingblamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.7But they had no child, becauseElizabeth was barren, andboth were advanced in years.

8Nowwhile he was serving as priest before God whenhis division was on duty,9according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lotto enterthe temple of the Lord and burn incense.10And the whole multitude of the peoplewere prayingoutside at the hour of incense.11And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side ofthe altar of incense.12And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, andfear fell upon him.13But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, foryour prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, andyou shall call his name John.14And you will have joy and gladness, and many willrejoice at his birth,15for he will begreat before the Lord. Andhe must not drink wine or strongdrink, andhe will befilled with the Holy Spirit,even from his mother's womb.16And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,17andhe will go before himin the spirit and power of Elijah,to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, andthe disobedient to the wisdom of the just,to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

18And Zechariah said to the angel,How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.19And the angel answered him, I amGabriel.I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.20And behold,you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.21And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay inthe temple.22And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision inthe temple. Andhe kept making signs to them and remained mute.23Andwhen his time ofservice was ended, he went to his home.

24After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,25Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me,to take away my reproach among people.

Luke 1:1-25 ESVWatch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhkOGMPS1Lc

35Thus says theLord,whogives the sun for light by dayandthe fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,who stirs up the sea so that its waves roartheLordof hosts is his name:36If this fixed order departsfrom before me, declares theLord,then shall the offspring of Israel ceasefrom being a nation before me forever.

37Thus says theLord:If the heavens above can be measured,and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,then I will cast off all the offspring of Israelfor all that they have done,declares theLord.

38Behold, the days are coming, declares theLord, when the city shall be rebuilt for theLordfrom the Tower of Hananel tothe Corner Gate.39And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah.40The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as thebrook Kidron, to the corner ofthe Horse Gate toward the east,shall be sacred to theLord.It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.

Jeremiah 31:35-40 ESVWatch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXApHiL8jZ8

33For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares theLord:I will put my law within them, and I will write iton their hearts.And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.34And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, Know theLord,for they shall all know me,from the least of them to the greatest, declares theLord. ForI will forgive their iniquity, andI will remember their sin no more.

Jeremiah 31:33-34 ESVWatch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHYtexdsces

31Behold, the days are coming, declares theLord, when I will makea new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,32not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day whenI took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke,though I was their husband, declares theLord.33For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares theLord:I will put my law within them, and I will write iton their hearts.And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jeremiah 31:31-33 ESVWatch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EOY88M-hV0

23Thus says theLordof hosts, the God of Israel: Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities,when I restore their fortunes:

TheLordbless you,O habitation of righteousness,O holy hill!

24And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, andthe farmers and those who wander with their flocks.25For I willsatisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.

26At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

27Behold, the days are coming, declares theLord, whenI will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah withthe seed of man and the seed of beast.28And it shall come to pass thatas I have watched over themto pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm,so I will watch over themto build and to plant, declares theLord.29In those days they shall no longer say:

The fathers have eaten sour grapes,and the children's teeth are set on edge.

30But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.Watch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Fi1Kcps-g

15Thus says theLord:A voice is heard inRamah,lamentation and bitter weeping.Rachel is weeping for her children;she refuses to be comforted for her children,because they are no more.

16Thus says theLord:Keep your voice from weeping,and your eyes from tears,for there is a reward for your work,declares theLord,andthey shall come back from the land of the enemy.17There is hope for your future,declares theLord,and your children shall come back to their own country.18I have heardEphraim grieving,You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,like an untrained calf;bring me back that I may be restored,for you are theLordmy God.19For afterI had turned away, I relented,and after I was instructed,I struck my thigh;I was ashamed, and I was confounded,because I bore the disgrace of my youth.20Is Ephraim my dear son?Is he my darling child?For as often as I speak against him,I do remember him still.Therefore my heart[a]yearns for him;I will surely have mercy on him,declares theLord.

21Set up road markers for yourself;make yourself guideposts;consider well the highway,the road by which you went.Return, O virgin Israel,return to these your cities.22How long will you waver,O faithless daughter?For theLordhas created a new thing on the earth:a woman encircles a man.

Jeremiah 31:15-22 ESV

Watch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds9O7M6LaB0

7 For thus says the Lord: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,     and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say,     O Lord, save your people,     the remnant of Israel. 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country     and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame,     the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;     a great company, they shall return here. 9 With weeping they shall come,     and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water,     in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel,     and Ephraim is my firstborn. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,     and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, He who scattered Israel will gather him,     and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock. 11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob     and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. 12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,     and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil,     and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden,     and they shall languish no more. 13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,     and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy;     I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. 14 I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,     and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:7-14 ESVWatch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H3lzVLihK8

31At that time, declares theLord,I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.

2Thus says theLord:The people who survived the swordfound grace in the wilderness;when Israel sought for rest,3theLordappeared to him[a]from far away.I have loved you with an everlasting love;thereforeI have continuedmy faithfulness to you.4Again I will build you, and you shall be built,O virgin Israel!Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourinesand shall go forth inthe dance of the merrymakers.5Again you shall plant vineyardson the mountains of Samaria;the planters shall plantand shall enjoy the fruit.6For there shall be a day when watchmen will callinthe hill country of Ephraim:Arise, and let us go up to Zion,to theLordour God.

Watch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTNTE6pLYhE

12When I send Artemas orTychicus to you, do your best to come to meat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer andApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing.14And let our people learnto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and notbe unfruitful.

15All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with you all.

Titus 3:12-15 ESVWatch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCMcgjbnKmg

4But whenthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,5he saved us,not because of works done by us in righteousness, butaccording to his own mercy, bythe washing of regeneration andrenewal of the Holy Spirit,6whom hepoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,7so thatbeing justified by his grace we might becomeheirsaccording to the hope of eternal life.8The saying istrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be carefulto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.9Butavoid foolishcontroversies,genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, forthey are unprofitable and worthless.10As for a person who stirs up division,after warning him once and then twice,have nothing more to do with him,11knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Titus 3:4-11 ESVWatch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0To9HH-euo