Celebrate the Child Who is the Light
From Proverbs 12
Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge,
But he who hates correction is stupid.
A good man obtains favor from the LORD,
But a man of wicked intentions He will condemn.
A man is not established by wickedness,
But the root of the righteous cannot be moved.
An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
But she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones.
He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread,
But he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding.
A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth,
And the recompense of a man’s hands will be rendered to him.
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
But he who heeds counsel is wise.
From Zechariah 7
the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me? When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? Should you not have obeyed the words which the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?'”
the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts:
‘Execute true justice,
Show mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
Let none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother.’
From Zechariah 8
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
‘Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east
And from the land of the west;
I will bring them back,
And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
They shall be My people
And I will be their God,
In truth and righteousness.’
“Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Let your hands be strong,
You who have been hearing in these days
These words by the mouth of the prophets,
Who spoke in the day the foundation was laid
For the house of the LORD of hosts,
That the temple might be built.
For before these days
There were no wages for man nor any hire for beast;
There was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in;
For I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor.
But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ says the LORD of hosts.
‘For the seed shall be prosperous,
The vine shall give its fruit,
The ground shall give her increase,
And the heavens shall give their dew—
I will cause the remnant of this people
To possess all these.
And it shall come to pass
That just as you were a curse among the nations,
O house of Judah and house of Israel,
So I will save you, and you shall be a blessing.
Do not fear,
Let your hands be strong.’
“For thus says the LORD of hosts:
Just as I determined to punish you
When your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’
Says the LORD of hosts,
And I would not relent,
So again in these days
I am determined to do good
To Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
Do not fear.
These are the things you shall do:
Speak each man the truth to his neighbor;
Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace;
Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor;
And do not love a false oath.
For all these are things that I hate,’
Says the LORD.”
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