Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

God’s People Have Hope

40 “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God. ² “Speak kind words to Jerusalem. Call out to her that her time of war has ended, that her sin has been taken away, and that she has received from the Lord’s hand twice as much for all her sins.”

³ A voice is calling, “Make the way ready for the Lord in the desert. Make the road in the desert straight for our God. ⁴ Every valley will be lifted up and every mountain and hill will be brought down. The turns in the road will be made straight and the bad places will be made smooth. ⁵ Then the shining-greatness of the Lord will be seen. All flesh together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” ⁶ A voice says, “Cry.” And he said, “What should I cry?” All flesh is grass. All its beauty is like the flower of the field. ⁷ The grass dries up and the flower loses its color when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. For sure the people are grass. ⁸ The grass dries up. The flower loses its color. But the Word of our God stands forever.

⁹ O Zion, you who bring good news, go up on the high mountain! Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, you who bring good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” ¹⁰ See, the Lord God will come with power, and His arm will rule for Him. See, He is bringing the reward He will give to everyone for what he has done. ¹¹ He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in His arms and carry them close to His heart. He will be gentle in leading those that are with young.

A Prayer for the Nation’s Good

85 O Lord, You showed favor to Your land. You have returned those of Jacob who were taken away. ² You have forgiven the sins of Your people. You have covered all their sin.

⁸ I will listen to what God the Lord will say. For He will speak peace to His people, to those who are right with Him. But do not let them turn again to foolish things. ⁹ For sure His saving power is near those who fear Him, so His shining-greatness may live in the land. ¹⁰ Loving-kindness and truth have met together. Peace and what is right and good have kissed each other. ¹¹ Truth comes up from the earth. And what is right and good looks down from heaven. ¹² Yes, the Lord will give what is good. And our land will give its fruit. ¹³ What is right and good will go before Him and make a way for His steps.

⁸ Dear friends, remember this one thing, with the Lord one day is as 1,000 years, and 1,000 years are as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about keeping His promise as some people think. He is waiting for you. The Lord does not want any person to be punished forever. He wants all people to be sorry for their sins and turn from them. ¹⁰ The day of the Lord will come as a robber comes. The heavens will pass away with a loud noise. The sun and moon and stars will burn up. The earth and all that is in it will be burned up.

¹¹ Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, you should think about the kind of life you are living. It should be holy and God-like. ¹² You should look for the day of God to come. You should do what you can to make it come soon. At that time the heavens will be destroyed by fire. And the sun and moon and stars will melt away with much heat. ¹³ We are looking for what God has promised, which are new heavens and a new earth. Only what is right and good will be there.

¹⁴ Dear friends, since you are waiting for these things to happen, do all you can to be found by Him in peace. Be clean and free from sin. ¹⁵ You can be sure the long waiting of our Lord is part of His plan to save men from the punishment of sin. God gave our dear brother Paul the wisdom to write about this also.

John the Baptist Makes the Way Ready for the Coming of Jesus ^(A)

1 The Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, ² begins with the words of the early preachers: “Listen! I will send My helper to carry the news ahead of you. He will make the way ready. ³ His voice calls out in the desert, ‘Make the way ready for the Lord. Make the road straight for Him!’” ^(B)

⁴ John the Baptist preached in the desert. He preached that people should be baptized because they were sorry for their sins and had turned from them. And they would be forgiven. ⁵ People from over all the country of Judea and from Jerusalem came to him. They told of their sins and were baptized by John in the Jordan River.

⁶ John wore clothes made of hair from camels. He had a leather belt around him. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁷ He preached, saying, “One is coming after me Who is greater than I. I am not good enough to get down and help Him take off His shoes. ⁸ I have baptized you with water. But He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”