17 Bible Verses about Advent

Now the birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, [but] before they came together, she was found {to be pregnant} by the Holy Spirit. So Joseph her husband, being righteous and not wanting to disgrace her, intended to divorce her secretly. But [as] he was considering these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary [as] your wife, for what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.read more.
And she will give birth to a son, and you will call his name 'Jesus,' because he will save his people from their sins." Now all this happened in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, "Behold, the virgin {will become pregnant} and will give birth to a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel," which is translated, "God with us." And Joseph, [when he] woke up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and he took his wife and {did not have sexual relations with} her until she gave birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee {named} Nazareth, to a virgin legally promised in marriage to a man {named} Joseph of the house of David. And the name of the virgin [was] Mary. And he came to her [and] said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord [is] with you."read more.
But she was greatly perplexed at the statement, and was pondering what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in the womb and will give birth to a son, and you will call his name Jesus. This one will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob {forever}, and of his kingdom there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?" And the angel answered [and] said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the one to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth--she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren. For {nothing will be impossible with God}." So Mary said, "Behold, the Lord's female slave! May it happen to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

And a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from its roots will bear fruit. And the spirit of Yahweh shall rest on him-- a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh. And his {breath} [is] in the fear of Yahweh. And he shall judge not by his eyesight, and he shall rebuke not by {what he hears with} his ears.read more.
But he shall judge [the] poor with righteousness, and he shall decide for [the] needy of [the] earth with rectitude. And he shall strike [the] earth with the rod of his mouth, and he shall kill [the] wicked person with the breath of his lips. And righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. And a wolf shall {stay} with a lamb, and a leopard shall lie down with a kid, and a calf and a lion and a fatling together {as a small boy leads} them. And a cow and a bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together. And a lion shall eat straw like the cattle. And {an infant} shall play over a serpent's hole, and {a toddler} shall put his hand on a viper's hole. They will not injure and they will not destroy on all of my {holy mountain}, for the earth will be full [of the] knowledge [of] Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea. And this shall happen on that day: [the] nations shall inquire of the root of Jesse, which shall be standing as a signal to [the] peoples, and his resting place shall be glorious.

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, [too] small to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go out for me, to be ruler in Israel; and his origins [are] from of old, from ancient days.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look! the virgin [is] with child and she is about to give birth [to] a son, and she shall call his name 'God with us.'

Now it happened that in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the empire. (This first registration took place [when] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to be registered, each one to his own town.read more.
So Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, to be registered together with Mary, who was legally promised in marriage to him [and] was pregnant. And it happened that while they were there, {the time came} for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And there were shepherds in the same region, living out of doors and keeping watch, guarding over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and {they were terribly frightened}. And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring good news to you of great joy which will be for all the people: that today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. And this will be the sign for you: you will find the baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people {with whom he is pleased}!" And it happened that when the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began to say to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has revealed to us!" And they went hurrying and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. And [when they] saw [it], they made known the statement that had been told to them about this child. And all who heard [it] were astonished concerning what had been said to them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering [them] in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

And it happened that while they were there, {the time came} for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Now [after] Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star at its rising and have come to worship him."

And again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse will come, even the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will put their hope." Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And Yahweh continued to speak to Ahaz, saying, "Ask for a sign for yourself from Yahweh God; make [it] deep [as] Sheol or make [it] high as above." But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put Yahweh to the test."read more.
Then he said, "Hear, house of David! [Is it] too little for you to make men weary, that you should also make my God weary? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look! the virgin [is] with child and she is about to give birth [to] a son, and she shall call his name 'God with us.'

'Look, days [are] coming,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and I will fulfill the good promise that I promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days and in that time I will make a branch of righteousness sprout for David, and he will execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell {safely}, and this [is] what they shall call it: "Yahweh [is] our righteousness." '

For whatever was written beforehand was written for our instruction, in order that through patient endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope. Now may the God of patient endurance and of encouragement grant you {to be in agreement} with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that with one mind you may glorify with one mouth the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.read more.
Therefore accept one another, just as Christ also has accepted you, to the glory of God. For I say, Christ has become a servant of the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God, in order to confirm the promises to the fathers, and that the Gentiles may glorify God for [his] mercy, just as it is written, "Because of this, I will praise you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praise to your name." And again it says, "Rejoice, Gentiles, with his people." And again, "Praise the Lord, all the Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him." And again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse will come, even the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will put their hope." Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the Judean wilderness and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!" For this is the one who was spoken about by the prophet Isaiah, saying, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"read more.
Now John himself had his clothing made from camel's hair and a belt made of leather around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan were going out to him, and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River [as they] confessed their sins. But [when he] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance! And do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham [as] father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! Already now the ax is positioned at the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I [am], whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel [is] in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

And there were shepherds in the same region, living out of doors and keeping watch, guarding over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and {they were terribly frightened}. And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring good news to you of great joy which will be for all the people:read more.
that today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. And this will be the sign for you: you will find the baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people {with whom he is pleased}!" And it happened that when the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began to say to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has revealed to us!" And they went hurrying and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. And [when they] saw [it], they made known the statement that had been told to them about this child. And all who heard [it] were astonished concerning what had been said to them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering [them] in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people {with whom he is pleased}!"

And [do] this [because you] know the time, that [it is] already the hour for you to wake up from sleep. For our salvation [is] nearer now than when we believed. The night is far gone, and the day has drawn near. Therefore let us throw off the deeds of darkness and put on the weapons of light. Let us live decently, as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and licentiousness, not in strife and jealousy.read more.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and do not make provision for the desires of the flesh.

"Comfort; comfort my people," says your God. "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for, that she has {received} from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins." A voice [is] calling in the wilderness, "Clear the way of Yahweh! Make a highway smooth in the desert for our God!read more.
Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall become low, And the rough ground shall be like a plain, and the rugged ground like a valley-plain. And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all {humankind} together shall see [it], for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken." A voice [is] saying, "Call!" And he said, "What shall I call?" All {humankind} [are] grass, and all his loyalty [is] like the flowers of the field. Grass withers; [the] flower withers when the breath of Yahweh blows on it. Surely the people [are] grass. Grass withers; [the] flower withers, but the word of our God will stand forever. {Get yourself} up to a high mountain, Zion, bringer of good news! Lift up your voice with strength, Jerusalem, bringer of good news! Lift [it] up; you must not fear! Say to the cities of Judah, "Here [is] your God!" Look! The Lord Yahweh comes with {strength}, and his arm rules for him. Look! His reward [is] with him, and his recompense {in his presence}. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather [the] lambs in his arm, and he will carry [them] in his bosom; he will lead those who nurse.