Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter in your kingdom is a scepter for justice.
7 You have loved what is right and hated what is wrong.
That is why God, your God, has anointed you,
rather than your companions, with the oil of joy.
8 All your robes are ⌞fragrant⌟ with myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From ivory palaces the music of stringed instruments delights you.
9 The daughters of kings are among your noble ladies.
The queen takes her place at your right hand
and wears gold from Ophir.
10 Listen, daughter! Look closely!
Turn your ear ⌞toward me⌟.
Forget your people, and forget your father’s house.
11 The king longs for your beauty.
He is your Lord.
Worship him.
12 The people of Tyre, the richest people,
want to win your favor with a gift.
13 The daughter of the king is glorious inside ⌞the palace⌟.
Her dress is embroidered with gold.
14 Wearing a colorful gown, she is brought to the king.
Her bridesmaids follow her.
They will be brought to you.
15 With joy and delight they are brought in.
They enter the palace of the king.
16 Your sons will take the place of your father.
You will make them princes over the whole earth.
17 I will cause your name to be remembered throughout every generation.
That is why the nations will give thanks to you forever and ever.
Jerusalem’s Salvation Is Coming
62 For Zion’s sake I will not remain silent.
For Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until its righteousness shines like the dawn
and its salvation burns brightly like a torch.
2 The nations will see your righteousness.
All kings will see your glory.
You will be given a new name
that the Lord will announce.
3 Then you will be a beautiful crown in the hand of the Lord,
a royal crown in the hand of your God.
4 You will no longer be called Deserted,
and your land will no longer be called Destroyed.
But you will be named My Delight,
and your land will be named Married.
The Lord is delighted with you,
and your land will be married.
5 As a young man marries a woman,
so your sons will marry you.
As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so your God will rejoice over you.
John the Baptizer Talks about Christ
22 Later, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them and baptized people. 23 John was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim. Water was plentiful there. (People came to John to be baptized, 24 since John had not yet been put in prison.)
25 Some of John’s disciples had an argument with a Jew about purification ceremonies. 26 So they went to John and asked him, “Rabbi, do you remember the man you spoke so favorably about when he was with you on the other side of the Jordan River? Well, he’s baptizing, and everyone is going to him!”
27 John answered, “People can’t receive anything unless it has been given to them from heaven. 28 You are witnesses that I said, ‘I’m not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of him.’
29 “The groom is the person to whom the bride belongs. The best man, who stands and listens to him, is overjoyed when the groom speaks. This is the joy that I feel. 30 He must increase in importance, while I must decrease in importance.
31 “The person who comes from above is superior to everyone. I, a person from the earth, know nothing but what is on earth, and that’s all I can talk about. The person who comes from heaven is superior to everyone 32 and tells what he has seen and heard. Yet, no one accepts what he says. 33 I have accepted what that person said, and I have affirmed that God is truthful. 34 The man whom God has sent speaks God’s message. After all, God gives him the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves his Son and has put everything in his power. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, he will see God’s constant anger.”
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