Daily Readings - 18/12/2025

^72:1 God, give your own justice to the king, your own righteousness to the royal son,

^72:2 so that he may rule your people rightly and your poor with justice.

^72:3 Let the mountains and hills bring a message of peace for the people. Uprightly

^72:4 he will defend the poorest, he will save the children of those in need, and crush their oppressors.

^72:5 Like sun and moon he will endure, age after age,

^72:6 welcome as rain that falls on the pasture, and showers to thirsty soil.

^72:7 In his days virtue will flourish, a universal peace till the moon is no more;

^72:8 his empire shall stretch from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth.

^72:9 The Beast[*a] will cower before him and his enemies grovel in the dust;

^72:10 the kings of Tarshish and of the islands will pay him tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts;

^72:11 all kings will do him homage, all nations become his servants.

^72:12 He will free the poor man who calls to him, and those who need help,

^72:13 he will have pity on the poor and feeble, and save the lives of those in need;

^72:14 he will redeem their lives from exploitation and outrage, their lives will be precious in his sight.

^72:15 (Long may he live, may gold from Sheba be given him!) Prayer will be offered for him constantly, blessings invoked on him all day long.

^72:16 Grain everywhere in the country, even on the mountain tops, abundant as Lebanon its harvest, luxuriant as common grass!

^72:17 Blessed be his name for ever, enduring as long as the sun! May every race in the world be blessed in him, and all the nations call him blessed!

^72:18 Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who alone performs these marvels!

^72:19 Blessed for ever be his glorious name, may the whole world be filled with his glory! Amen. Amen!

^72:20 End of the prayers of David, son of Jesse.[*b]

^1:18 This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph;[*b] but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

^1:19 Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally.

^1:20 He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit.

^1:21 She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save[*c] his people from their sins.’

^1:22 Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

^1:23 ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,[*d] a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’.

^1:24 When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home