17 Bible Verses about Advent

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way: when his mother Mary was going to be married to Joseph, before they came together the discovery was made that she was with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband, being an upright man, and not desiring to make her a public example, had a mind to put her away privately. But when he was giving thought to these things, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, have no fear of taking Mary as your wife; because that which is in her body is of the Holy Spirit.read more.
And she will give birth to a son; and you will give him the name Jesus; for he will give his people salvation from their sins. Now all this took place so that the word of the Lord by the prophet might come true, See, the virgin will be with child, and will give birth to a son, and they will give him the name Immanuel, that is, God with us. And Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had said to him, and took her as his wife; And he had no connection with her till she had given birth to a son; and he gave him the name Jesus.

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin who was to be married to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary. And the angel came in to her and said, Peace be with you, to whom special grace has been given; the Lord is with you.read more.
But she was greatly troubled at his words, and said to herself, What may be the purpose of these words? And the angel said to her, Have no fear, Mary, for you have God's approval. And see, you will give birth to a son, and his name will be Jesus. He will be great, and will be named the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his father: He will have rule over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, How may this be, because I have had no knowledge of a man? And the angel in answer said to her, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will come to rest on you, and so that which will come to birth will be named holy, Son of God. Even now Elisabeth, who is of your family, is to be a mother, though she is old: and this is the sixth month with her who was without children. For there is nothing which God is not able to do. And Mary said: I am the servant of the Lord; may it be to me as you say. And the angel went away.

And there will come a rod out of the broken tree of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will give fruit. And the spirit of the Lord will be resting on him, the spirit of wisdom and good sense, the spirit of wise guiding and strength, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And he will not be guided in his judging by what he sees, or give decisions by the hearing of his ears:read more.
But he will do right in the cause of the poor, and give wise decisions for those in the land who are in need; and the rod of his mouth will come down on the cruel, and with the breath of his lips he will put an end to the evil-doer. And righteousness will be the cord of his robe, and good faith the band round his breast. And the wolf will be living with the lamb, and the leopard will take his rest with the young goat; and the lion will take grass for food like the ox; and the young lion will go with the young ones of the herd; and a little child will be their guide. And the cow and the bear will be friends while their young ones are sleeping together. And the child at the breast will be playing by the hole of the snake, and the older child will put his hand on the bright eye of the poison-snake. There will be no cause of pain or destruction in all my holy mountain: for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is covered by the waters. And in that day, the eyes of the nations will be turned to the root of Jesse which will be lifted up as the flag of the peoples; and his resting-place will be glory.

And you, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, the least among the families of Judah, out of you one will come to me who is to be ruler in Israel; whose going out has been purposed from time past, from the eternal days.

For this cause the Lord himself will give you a sign; a young woman is now with child, and she will give birth to a son, and she will give him the name Immanuel.

Now it came about in those days that an order went out from Caesar Augustus that there was to be a numbering of all the world. This was the first numbering, which was made when Quirinius was ruler of Syria. And all men went to be numbered, everyone to his town.read more.
And Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the town of Nazareth, into Judaea, to Beth-lehem, the town of David, because he was of the house and family of David, To be put on the list with Mary, his future wife, who was about to become a mother. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she had her first son; and folding him in linen, she put him to rest in the place where the cattle had their food, because there was no room for them in the house. And in the same country there were keepers of sheep in the fields, watching over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord came to them, and the glory of the Lord was shining round about them: and fear came on them. And the angel said, Have no fear; for truly, I give you good news of great joy which will be for all the people: For on this day, in the town of David, a Saviour has come to birth, who is Christ the Lord. And this is the sign to you: you will see a young child folded in linen, in the place where the cattle have their food. And suddenly there was with the angel a great band of spirits from heaven, giving praise to God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased. And when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the keepers of the sheep said to one another, Let us go now to Beth-lehem, and see this thing which has come about, which the Lord has made clear to us. And they came quickly, and saw Mary and Joseph, and the child in the place where the cattle had their food. And when they saw it, they gave them an account of the things which had been said to them about the child. And all those to whose ears it came were full of wonder at the things said by the keepers of the sheep. But Mary kept all these words in her heart, and gave much thought to them. Then the keepers of the sheep went back, giving glory and praise to God for all the things which had come to their ears and which they had seen, as it had been said to them.

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she had her first son; and folding him in linen, she put him to rest in the place where the cattle had their food, because there was no room for them in the house.

Now when the birth of Jesus took place in Beth-lehem of Judaea, in the days of Herod the king, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is the King of the Jews whose birth has now taken place? We have seen his star in the east and have come to give him worship.

And again Isaiah says, There will be the root of Jesse, and he who comes to be the ruler over the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles put their hope. Now may the God of hope make you full of joy and peace through faith, so that all hope may be yours in the power of the Holy Spirit.

And Isaiah said again to Ahaz, Make a request to the Lord your God for a sign, a sign in the deep places of the underworld, or in the high heavens. But Ahaz said, I will not put the Lord to the test by making such a request.read more.
And he said, Give ear now, O family of David: is it not enough that you are driving men to disgust? will you do the same to my God? For this cause the Lord himself will give you a sign; a young woman is now with child, and she will give birth to a son, and she will give him the name Immanuel.

See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will give effect to the good word which I have said about the people of Israel and the people of Judah. In those days and at that time, I will let a Branch of righteousness come up for David; and he will be a judge in righteousness in the land. In those days, Judah will have salvation and Jerusalem will be safe: and this is the name which will be given to her: The Lord is our righteousness.

Now those things which were put down in writing before our time were for our learning, so that through quiet waiting and through the comfort of the holy Writings we might have hope. Now may the God who gives comfort and strength in waiting make you of the same mind with one another in harmony with Christ Jesus: So that with one mouth you may give glory to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.read more.
So then, take one another to your hearts, as Christ took us, to the glory of God. Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision to give effect to the undertakings given by God to the fathers, And so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercy; as it is said, For this reason I will give praise to you among the Gentiles, and I will make a song to your name. And again he says, Take part, you Gentiles, in the joy of his people. And again, Give praise to the Lord, all you Gentiles; and let all the nations give praise to him. And again Isaiah says, There will be the root of Jesse, and he who comes to be the ruler over the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles put their hope. Now may the God of hope make you full of joy and peace through faith, so that all hope may be yours in the power of the Holy Spirit.

And in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the waste land of Judaea, Saying, Let your hearts be turned from sin; for the kingdom of heaven is near. For this is he of whom Isaiah the prophet said, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight.read more.
Now John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judaea went out to him, and all the people from near Jordan; And they were given baptism by him in the river Jordan, saying openly that they had done wrong. But when he saw a number of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come? Let your change of heart be seen in your works: And say not to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father; because I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children for Abraham. And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; every tree then which does not give good fruit is cut down, and put into the fire. Truly, I give baptism with water to those of you whose hearts are changed; but he who comes after me is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to take up: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire: In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned up in the fire which will never be put out.

And in the same country there were keepers of sheep in the fields, watching over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord came to them, and the glory of the Lord was shining round about them: and fear came on them. And the angel said, Have no fear; for truly, I give you good news of great joy which will be for all the people:read more.
For on this day, in the town of David, a Saviour has come to birth, who is Christ the Lord. And this is the sign to you: you will see a young child folded in linen, in the place where the cattle have their food. And suddenly there was with the angel a great band of spirits from heaven, giving praise to God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased. And when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the keepers of the sheep said to one another, Let us go now to Beth-lehem, and see this thing which has come about, which the Lord has made clear to us. And they came quickly, and saw Mary and Joseph, and the child in the place where the cattle had their food. And when they saw it, they gave them an account of the things which had been said to them about the child. And all those to whose ears it came were full of wonder at the things said by the keepers of the sheep. But Mary kept all these words in her heart, and gave much thought to them. Then the keepers of the sheep went back, giving glory and praise to God for all the things which had come to their ears and which they had seen, as it had been said to them.

And suddenly there was with the angel a great band of spirits from heaven, giving praise to God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased.

See then that the time has come for you to be awake from sleep: for now is your salvation nearer than when you first had faith. The night is far gone, and the day is near: so let us put off the works of the dark, arming ourselves with light, With right behaviour as in the day; not in pleasure-making and drinking, not in bad company and unclean behaviour, not in fighting and envy.read more.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not give thought to the flesh to do its desires.

Give comfort, give comfort, to my people, says your God. Say kind words to the heart of Jerusalem, crying out to her that her time of trouble is ended, that her punishment is complete; that she has been rewarded by the Lord's hand twice over for all her sins. A voice of one crying, Make ready in the waste land the way of the Lord, make level in the lowland a highway for our God.read more.
Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, and let the rough places become level, and the hilltops become a valley, And the glory of the Lord will be made clear, and all flesh will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has said it. A voice of one saying, Give a cry! And I said, What is my cry to be? All flesh is grass, and all its strength like the flower of the field. The grass becomes dry, the flower is dead; because the breath of the Lord goes over it: truly the people is grass. The grass is dry, the flower is dead; but the word of our God is eternal. You who give good news to Zion, get up into the high mountain; you who give good news to Jerusalem, let your voice be strong; let it be sounding without fear; say to the towns of Judah, See, your God! See, the Lord God will come as a strong one, ruling in power: see, those made free by him are with him, and those whom he has made safe go before him. He will give food to his flock like a keeper of sheep; with his arm he will get it together, and will take up the lambs on his breast, gently guiding those which are with young.