Isaiah 11:1-10

Isaiah 10 Isaiah 12

Isaiah 11:1-10New International Version (NIV)

The Branch From Jesse

11 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
²The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
³and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;
⁴but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
⁵Righteousness will be his belt
    and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

⁶The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling^[a] together;
    and a little child will lead them.
⁷The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
⁹They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

Footnotes:

Isaiah 11:6 Hebrew; Septuagint lion will feed

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 72:1-7

Psalm 71 Psalm 73

Psalm 72:1-7New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 72

Of Solomon.

¹Endow the king with your justice, O God,
the royal son with your righteousness.
²May he judge your people in righteousness,
your afflicted ones with justice.

³May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,
    the hills the fruit of righteousness.
⁴May he defend the afflicted among the people
    and save the children of the needy;
    may he crush the oppressor.
⁵May he endure^[a] as long as the sun,
    as long as the moon, through all generations.
⁶May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
    like showers watering the earth.
⁷In his days may the righteous flourish
    and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

Footnotes:

Psalm 72:5 Septuagint; Hebrew You will be feared

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 72:18-19

Psalm 71 Psalm 73

Psalm 72:18-19New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
¹⁹Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.

New International Version (NIV)

Romans 15:4-13

Romans 14 Romans 16

Romans 15:4-13New International Version (NIV)

⁴For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

⁵May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, ⁶so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. ⁸For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews^[a] on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed ⁹and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing the praises of your name.”^[b]

¹⁰Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”^[c]

¹¹And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
let all the peoples extol him.”^[d]

¹²And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
in him the Gentiles will hope.”^[e]

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Footnotes:

Romans 15:8 Greek circumcision
Romans 15:9 2 Samuel 22:50; Psalm 18:49
Romans 15:10 Deut. 32:43
Romans 15:11 Psalm 117:1
Romans 15:12 Isaiah 11:10 (see Septuagint)

New International Version (NIV)

Matthew 3:1-12

Matthew 2 Matthew 4

Matthew 3:1-12New International Version (NIV)

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ³This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”^[a]

⁴John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹“I baptize you with^[b] water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with^[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹²His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”