The Daily Lectionary for MONDAY, December 24, 2018

What God Requires
Micah 6:6-8

The Daily Lectionary

MONDAY, December 24, 2018

(Revised Common Lectionary Year C)

Luke 1:46b-55

46b “My soul magnifies the Lord,
47    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48  for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
      Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49  for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
      and holy is his name.
50  His mercy is for those who fear him
      from generation to generation.
51  He has shown strength with his arm;
      he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52  He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
      and lifted up the lowly;
53  he has filled the hungry with good things,
      and sent the rich away empty.
54  He has helped his servant Israel,
      in remembrance of his mercy,
55  according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
      to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Micah 6:6-8

What God Requires
6   “With what shall I come before the Lord,
      and bow myself before God on high?
    Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
      with calves a year old?
7   Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
      with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
    Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
      the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8   He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
      and what does the Lord require of you
    but to do justice, and to love kindness,
      and to walk humbly with your God?

Hebrews 10:5-10

10:5   Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

    “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
      but a body you have prepared for me;
6   in burnt offerings and sin offerings
      you have taken no pleasure.
7   Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’
      (in the scroll of the book it is written of me).”

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10 And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Optional parts of the readings are set off in square brackets.

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year C. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2019, we will be in Year A. The year which ended at Advent 2018 was Year B. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said ...