Isaiah 11 - The Peaceable Kingdom

¹ There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
  and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

² 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 knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³ And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

  He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide by what his ears hear;
⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
  and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist,
    and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.

⁶ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
  and the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
    and a little child shall lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall feed;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.

⁹ They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain;
  for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 9 - The People Who Walked in Darkness

² The people who walked in darkness
       have seen a great light;
   those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
       on them has light shined.

³ Thou hast multiplied the nation,
       thou hast increased its joy;
   they rejoice before thee
       as with joy at the harvest,
       as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

⁴ For the yoke of his burden,
       and the staff for his shoulder,
       the rod of his oppressor,
       thou hast broken as on the day of Mid′ian.

⁵ For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
       and every garment rolled in blood
       will be burned as fuel for the fire.

⁶ For to us a child is born,
       to us a son is given;
   and the government will be upon his shoulder,
       and his name will be called
   “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

⁷ Of the increase of his government and of peace
       there will be no end,
   upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom,
       to establish it, and to uphold it
   with justice and with righteousness
       from this time forth and for evermore.
   The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Canticle of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79)

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
for he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
and from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hand of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

You, child, shall be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God,
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.