⁷⁸ Because of the loving mercies of our God, by which the dawn from heaven has come to us,

² But to you who give worship to my name, the sun of righteousness will come up with new life in its wings; and you will go out, playing like young oxen full of food.

¹⁹ And so the words of the prophets are made more certain; and it is well for you to give attention to them as to a light shining in a dark place, till the dawn comes and the morning star is seen in your hearts;

¹² As saints of God, then, holy and dearly loved, let your behaviour be marked by pity and mercy, kind feeling, a low opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, and a power of undergoing all things;

⁸ Give ear now, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your friends who are seated before you; for these are men who are a sign: for see, I will let my servant the Branch be seen.

¹ And there will come a rod out of the broken tree of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will give fruit.

¹² And say to him, These are the words of the Lord of armies: See, the man whose name is the Branch, under whom there will be fertile growth.

¹⁷ I see him, but not now: looking on him, but not near: a star will come out of Jacob, and a rod of authority out of Israel, sending destruction to the farthest limits of Moab and on the head of all the sons of Sheth.

¹⁶ I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give witness to you of these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star.

⁹ And the love of God was made clear to us when he sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.

¹⁰ And this is love, not that we had love for God, but that he had love for us, and sent his Son to be an offering for our sins.

¹⁷ But if a man has this world's goods, and sees that his brother is in need, and keeps his heart shut against his brother, how is it possible for the love of God to be in him?

¹ If then there is any comfort in Christ, any help given by love, any uniting of hearts in the Spirit, any loving mercies and pity,

⁸ For God is my witness, how my love goes out to you all in the loving mercies of Christ Jesus.

¹⁴ For this reason he says, Be awake, you who are sleeping, and come up from among the dead, and Christ will be your light.

⁴ But God, being full of mercy, through the great love which he had for us,

⁵ Even when we were dead through our sins, gave us life together with Christ (by grace you have salvation),

¹⁶ For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever has faith in him may not come to destruction but have eternal life.

¹⁵ Let your eyes be looking down from heaven, from your holy and beautiful house: where is your deep feeling, the working of your power? do not keep back the moving of your pity and your mercies:

⁷ I will give news of the mercies of the Lord, and his great acts, even all the things the Lord has done for us, in his great grace to the house of Israel; even all he has done for us in his unnumbered mercies.

⁶ O Lord, keep in mind your pity and your mercies; for they have been from the earliest times.