Isaiah 40:1-11

English Standard Version

Comfort for God's People

40 ^(A)Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
²^(B)Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that ^(C)her warfare^[a] is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
    double for all her sins.

³^(D)A voice cries:^[b]
^(E)“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    ^(F)make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴^(G)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.
⁵^(H)And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    ^(I)for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Word of God Stands Forever

⁶A voice says, “Cry!”
    And I said,^[c] “What shall I cry?”
^(J)All flesh is grass,
    and all its beauty^[d] is like the flower of the field.
⁷The grass withers, the flower fades
    when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
    surely the people are grass.
⁸^(K)The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever.

The Greatness of God

⁹Go on up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, ^(L)herald of good news;^[e]
lift up your voice with strength,
    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;^[f]
    lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
    “Behold your God!”
¹⁰^(M)Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
^(N)behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
¹¹^(O)He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    ^(P)he will gather the lambs in his arms;
^(Q)he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 40:2 Or hardship
Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one crying
Isaiah 40:6 Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And someone says
Isaiah 40:6 Or all its constancy
Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Zion
Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem

Matthew 3:1-12

English Standard Version

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 ^(A)In those days ^(B)John the Baptist came preaching in ^(C)the wilderness of Judea, ²^(D)“Repent, for ^(E)the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”^[a] ³For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

^(F)“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
^(G)‘Prepare^[b] the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’”

⁴Now John wore ^(H)a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was ^(I)locusts and ^(J)wild honey. ⁵Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^(K)confessing their sins.

⁷But when he saw many of ^(L)the Pharisees and ^(M)Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^(N)“You brood of ^(O)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(P)the wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruit ^(Q)in keeping with repentance. ⁹And do not presume to say to yourselves, ^(R)‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from ^(S)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^(T)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹^(U)“I baptize you with water ^(V)for repentance, but ^(W)he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you ^(X)with the Holy Spirit and ^(Y)fire. ¹²His ^(Z)winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and ^(AA)gather his wheat into the barn, ^(AB)but the chaff he will burn with ^(AC)unquenchable fire.”