Zephaniah 3:14-20

English Standard Version

Israel's Joy and Restoration

¹⁴^(A)Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
    shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
    O daughter of Jerusalem!
¹⁵The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
    he has cleared away your enemies.
^(B)The King of Israel, ^(C)the Lord, is in your midst;
    you shall never again fear evil.
¹⁶^(D)On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
    ^(E)let not your hands grow weak.
¹⁷^(F)The Lord your God is in your midst,
    ^(G)a mighty one who will save;
^(H)he will rejoice over you with gladness;
    he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
¹⁸I will gather those of you who mourn ^(I)for the festival,
    so that you will no longer suffer reproach.^[a]
¹⁹Behold, at that time ^(J)I will deal
    with all your oppressors.
And ^(K)I will save the lame
    and gather the outcast,
and I will change ^(L)their shame into ^(M)praise
    and renown in all the earth.
²⁰^(N)At that time I will bring you in,
    at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
    among all the peoples of the earth,
^(O)when I restore your fortunes
    before your eyes,” says the Lord.

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Footnotes

Zephaniah 3:18 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

Psalm 85

English Standard Version

Revive Us Again

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of ^(A)the Sons of Korah.

85 Lord, you were ^(B)favorable to your land;
    you ^(C)restored the fortunes of Jacob.
²You ^(D)forgave the iniquity of your people;
    you ^(E)covered all their sin. Selah
³You withdrew all your wrath;
    you ^(F)turned from your hot anger.

⁴^(G)Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
    and put away your indignation toward us!
⁵^(H)Will you be angry with us forever?
    Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
⁶Will you not ^(I)revive us again,
    that your people may ^(J)rejoice in you?
⁷Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
    and grant us your salvation.

⁸^(K)Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
    for he will ^(L)speak peace to his people, to his ^(M)saints;
    but let them not ^(N)turn back to ^(O)folly.
⁹Surely his ^(P)salvation is near to those who fear him,
    that ^(Q)glory may dwell in our land.

¹⁰^(R)Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
    ^(S)righteousness and peace kiss each other.
¹¹Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
    and righteousness looks down from the sky.
¹²Yes, ^(T)the Lord will give what is good,
    and our land ^(U)will yield its increase.
¹³^(V)Righteousness will go before him
    and make his footsteps a way.

Philippians 4:4-7

English Standard Version

⁴^(A)Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵Let your reasonableness^[a] be known to everyone. ^(B)The Lord is at hand; ⁶^(C)do not be anxious about anything, ^(D)but in everything by prayer and supplication ^(E)with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And ^(F)the peace of God, ^(G)which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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Footnotes

Philippians 4:5 Or gentleness

Luke 7:18-35

English Standard Version

Messengers from John the Baptist

¹⁸^(A)^(B)The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one ^(C)who is to come, or ^(D)shall we look for another?” ²⁰And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one ^(E)who is to come, or ^(F)shall we look for another?’” ²¹In that hour ^(G)he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and ^(H)on many who were blind he bestowed sight. ²²And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: ^(I)the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, ^(J)lepers^[a] are cleansed, and ^(K)the deaf hear, ^(L)the dead are raised up, ^(M)the poor have good news preached to them. ²³And blessed is the one who is ^(N)not offended by me.”

²⁴When John's messengers had gone, Jesus^[b] began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^(O)into the wilderness to see? ^(P)A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. ²⁶What then did you go out to see? ^(Q)A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷This is he of whom it is written,

^(R)“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’

²⁸I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹(^(S)When all the people heard this, and ^(T)the tax collectors too, they declared God just,^[c] ^(U)having been baptized with ^(V)the baptism of John, ³⁰^(W)but the Pharisees and ^(X)the lawyers ^(Y)rejected ^(Z)the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

³¹“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

³³For John the Baptist has come ^(AA)eating no bread and ^(AB)drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴The Son of Man has come ^(AC)eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, ^(AD)a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵Yet ^(AE)wisdom is justified by all her children.”