Mark 9:12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
12 He said to them, “Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt?
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Isaiah 53
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53 Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?(A)
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.(B)
3 He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering[a] and acquainted with infirmity,
and as one from whom others hide their faces[b]
he was despised, and we held him of no account.(C)
4 Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases,
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.(D)
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.(E)
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.(F)
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.(G)
8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.(H)
9 They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb[c] with the rich,[d]
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.(I)
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with affliction.
When you make his life an offering for sin,[e]
he shall see his offspring and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.(J)
11 Out of his anguish he shall see;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one,[f] my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.(K)
12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out himself to death
and was numbered with the transgressors,
yet he bore the sin of many
and made intercession for the transgressors.(L)
Isaiah 50:6
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6 I gave my back to those who struck me
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.(A)
Luke 23:11
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11 Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.(A)
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Isaiah 52:14
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14 Just as there were many who were astonished at him[a]
—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of mortals—(A)
Footnotes
- 52.14 Syr Tg: Heb you
Isaiah 49:7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
7 Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers,
“Kings shall see and stand up;
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”(A)
Luke 1:16-17
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16 He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.(A) 17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”(B)
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Matthew 11:2-18
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Messengers from John the Baptist
2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah[a] was doing, he sent word by his[b] disciples(A) 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”(B) 4 Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.(C) 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”(D)
Jesus Praises John the Baptist
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?(E) 8 What, then, did you go out to see? Someone[c] dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet?[d] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.(F) 10 This is the one about whom it is written,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’(G)
11 “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,[e] and violent people take it by force.(H) 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John came, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.(I) 15 Let anyone with ears[f] listen!(J)
16 “But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
17 ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
18 “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’;
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Zechariah 13:7
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The Shepherd Struck, the Flock Scattered
7 “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who is my associate,”
says the Lord of hosts.
“Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered;
I will turn my hand against the little ones.(A)
Isaiah 40:3-5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.(A)
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.(B)
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Psalm 22
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 22
Plea for Deliverance from Suffering and Hostility
To the leader: according to The Deer of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?(A)
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night but find no rest.(B)
3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.(C)
4 In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.(D)
6 But I am a worm and not human,
scorned by others and despised by the people.(E)
7 All who see me mock me;
they sneer at me; they shake their heads;(F)
8 “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”(G)
9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.(H)
10 On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.(I)
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls encircle me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;(J)
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.(K)
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;(L)
15 my mouth[a] is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.(M)
16 For dogs are all around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they bound my hands and feet.[b](N)
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.(O)
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
O my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life[c] from the power of the dog!(P)
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued[d] me.(Q)
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;[e]
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:(R)
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!(S)
24 For he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me[f]
but heard when I[g] cried to him.(T)
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.(U)
26 The poor[h] shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
May your hearts live forever!(V)
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.[i](W)
28 For dominion belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.(X)
29 To him,[j] indeed, shall all who sleep in[k] the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for him.[l](Y)
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord(Z)
31 and[m] proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.(AA)
Footnotes
- 22.15 Cn: Heb strength
- 22.16 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 22.20 Heb my only one
- 22.21 Heb answered
- 22.22 Or kindred
- 22.24 Heb him
- 22.24 Heb he
- 22.26 Or afflicted
- 22.27 Gk Syr Jerome: Heb you
- 22.29 Cn: Heb They have eaten and
- 22.29 Cn: Heb all the fat ones
- 22.29 Compare Gk Syr Vg: Heb and he who cannot keep himself alive
- 22.31 Compare Gk: Heb it will be told about the Lord to the generation,
they will come and
John 3:27-30
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27 John answered, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.(A) 28 You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,[a] but I have been sent ahead of him.’(B) 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled.(C) 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”[b]
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Luke 1:76
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76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,(A)
Matthew 3:1-12
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The Proclamation of John the Baptist
3 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”[a](A) 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’ ”(B)
4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.(C) 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.(D)
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his[b] baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?(E) 8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance,(F) 9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.(G) 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.(H)
11 “I baptize you with[c] water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with[d] the Holy Spirit and fire.(I) 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”(J)
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Malachi 4:6
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6 He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.[a]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 4.6 Or a ban of utter destruction
Psalm 69
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Psalm 69
Prayer for Deliverance from Persecution
To the leader: according to Lilies. Of David.
1 Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.(A)
2 I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.(B)
3 I am weary with my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.(C)
4 More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal,
must I now restore?(D)
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.(E)
6 Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,
O God of Israel.
7 It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that shame has covered my face.(F)
8 I have become a stranger to my kindred,
an alien to my mother’s children.(G)
9 It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.(H)
10 When I humbled my soul with fasting,[a]
they insulted me for doing so.(I)
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.(J)
12 I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.(K)
13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help(L) 14 rescue me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.(M)
15 Do not let the flood sweep over me
or the deep swallow me up
or the Pit close its mouth over me.(N)
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.(O)
17 Do not hide your face from your servant,
for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.(P)
18 Draw near to me; redeem me;
set me free because of my enemies.
19 You know the insults I receive
and my shame and dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.(Q)
20 Insults have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none;
and for comforters, but I found none.(R)
21 They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.(S)
22 Let their table be a trap for them,
a snare for their allies.(T)
23 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.(U)
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.(V)
25 May their camp be a desolation;
let no one live in their tents.(W)
26 For they persecute those whom you have struck down,
and those whom you have wounded they attack still more.[b](X)
27 Add guilt to their guilt;
may they have no acquittal from you.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.(Y)
29 But I am lowly and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, protect me.(Z)
30 I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.(AA)
31 This will please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.(AB)
32 Let the oppressed see it and be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.(AC)
33 For the Lord hears the needy
and does not despise his own who are in bonds.(AD)
34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.(AE)
35 For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah,
and his servants shall live[c] there and possess it;(AF)
36 the children of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall live in it.(AG)
John 1:6-36
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6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.[a](A)
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him.(B) 11 He came to what was his own,[b] and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,(C) 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.(D)
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,[c] full of grace and truth.(E) 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[d](F) 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.(G) 18 No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who[e] is close to the Father’s heart,[f] who has made him known.(H)
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed and did not deny it, but he confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”[g](I) 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.”(J) 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said,
“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ ”
as the prophet Isaiah said.(K)
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, “Why, then, are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah,[h] nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27 the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.” 28 This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
The Lamb of God
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!(L) 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.(M) 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’(N) 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”[i]
The First Disciples of Jesus
35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”(O)
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- 1.9 Or He was the true light that enlightens everyone coming into the world
- 1.11 Or to his own home
- 1.14 Or the Father’s only Son
- 1.16 Or grace in place of grace
- 1.18 Other ancient authorities read is the only Son who
- 1.18 Gk bosom
- 1.20 Or the Christ
- 1.25 Or the Christ
- 1.34 Other ancient authorities read the Son of God
Luke 23:39
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39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding[a] him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah?[b] Save yourself and us!”(A)
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Luke 3:2-6
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2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.(A) 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.(B)
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”(C)
Mark 1:2-8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,[a]
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,[b]
who will prepare your way,(A)
3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight,’ ”(B)
4 so John the baptizer appeared[c] in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.(C) 5 And the whole Judean region and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.(D) 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals.(E) 8 I have baptized you with[d] water, but he will baptize you with[e] the Holy Spirit.”(F)
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Matthew 26:24
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24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”
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Matthew 16:21
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Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.(A)
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Zechariah 11:13
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13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it into the treasury”[a]—this lordly price at which I was valued by them. So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them into the treasury[b] in the house of the Lord.(A)
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Daniel 9:24-26
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24 “Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city: to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.[a](A) 25 Know therefore and understand: from the time that the word went out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the time of an anointed prince, there shall be seven weeks, and for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with streets and moat, but in a troubled time.(B) 26 After the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing, and the troops of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its[b] end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.(C)
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Psalm 74:22
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22 Rise up, O God, plead your cause;
remember how the impious scoff at you all day long.(A)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.