They that dwelt in the land of the shadow of

death,

Upon them hath the light shined.

For unto us a child is born,

Unto us is a son given.

For thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah,

Though thou be little among the families of Judah,

Yet out of thee there cometh forth

He that is to be ruler in Israel.

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and might,

The spirit of the knowledge and fear of the
Lord.

And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,

Neither decide after the hearing of his ears;

But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, And decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth.

And righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist,

And faithfulness the girdle of his loins.
He shall not cry, nor lift up his voice,
Nor cause it to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed will he not break,
And a smoldering wick will he not quench:
He shall bring forth justice in truth.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged,
Till he have set justice in the earth;
And the isles shall wait for his law.

For thus saith the Lord:

Behold, I have given him for a witness to the

peoples,

A leader and commander to the nations,

For a light of the Gentiles;

To open the blind eyes,

To bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, And them that sit in darkness out of the prisonhouse;

To comfort all that mourn,

To give unto them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

And the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

Break forth into joy, sing together!
For the Lord hath comforted his people,
He hath redeemed his chosen ones;

And all the ends of the earth

Have seen the salvation of our God.

ISAIAH XXV, XXXIII

O Lord, be gracious unto us;

We have waited for thee:

Be thou our arm every morning,

Our salvation also in the time of trouble.

For thou hast done wonderful things;

Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
For thou hast been a stronghold to the poor,
A strength to the needy in his distress,

A refuge from the storm, a shadow from the

heat.

And the Lord will destroy the face of the cover

ing

That is cast over all peoples,

And the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death in victory;

And the Lord will wipe away tears from off all faces;

And the reproach of his people shall he take away from off all the earth.

And it shall be said in that day:

Lo, this is our God;

We have waited for him, and he hath saved us:
This is the Lord; we have waited for him,
We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

ISAIAH XXIX

Job xii, xxxiv. Psalm xciv. Jeremiah xvii, xxiii.

Hebrews iv

Woe unto them that seek to hide deep their counsel from the Lord,

And whose works are in the dark,

And that say, Who seeth us, and who knoweth?
He that planted the ear, shall he not hear?
He that formed the eye, shall not he see?
Yea, the eyes of the Lord are upon the ways of

a man,

'And he seeth his secret goings.

He uncovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the hidden purposes of the heart.

For the word of God is quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart,

'And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight:

But all things are naked and laid open

Before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Is there any darkness or thick gloom, Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves?

Can any hide himself in secret places,

That I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Am I a God afar off, and not a God near at hand?

Do not I fill heaven and earth?

I, the Lord, search the mind, I try the heart, Even to give every man according to his ways, And to reward every man according to the fruit of his doings.

ISAIAH XXIX, XXXII

Stay yourselves and wonder;

Cry ye out in astonishment!

For my people are drunken, but not with wine; They stagger, but not from strong drink.

For the spirit of deep sleep hath fallen upon

you,

And hath closed your eyes;

The prophets and the seers have blinded themselves.

And all vision is become unto you as a sealed book,

Which men deliver to one that is learned,

Saying, Read this, I pray thee;

And he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

And the book is delivered to him that is not learned,

Saying, Read this, I pray thee;

And he saith, I cannot; for I am not learned.

Wherefore thus saith the Lord:

Forasmuch as this people draw nigh unto me with their mouth,

And do honour me with their lips,

While their heart they have removed far from

me,

And their fear of me is a commandment of men; Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people,

Even a marvellous work and a wonder:

For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

And the eyes of them that see shall be not dim, And the ears of them that hear shall hearken. And the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge,

And the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book,

And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

They also that err in spirit shall come to understanding,

And they that murmur shall receive instruction.

Then shall the meek increase their joy in the

Lord,

And the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One.