Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8
I will hear [with expectant hope] what God the Lord will say,
For He will speak peace to His people, to His [a]godly ones—
But let them not turn again to folly.
9
Surely His salvation is near to those who [reverently] fear Him [and obey Him with submissive wonder],
That glory [the manifest presence of God] may dwell in our land.
10
Steadfast love and truth and faithfulness meet together;
Righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11
Truth springs from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.
12
Indeed, the Lord will give what is good,
And our land will yield its produce.
13
Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way [in which to walk].
6
“I also gave you cleanness of teeth [because of the famine] in all your cities
And lack of bread in all your places,
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.
7
“Furthermore, I withheld the rain from you
When there were still three months until the harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city,
And on another city I would not send rain;
One piece of ground was rained on,
While the part not rained on would dry up.
8
“So [the people of] two or three cities would stagger into one city to drink water,
But would not be satisfied;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.
9
“I wounded you with blight [from the hot, blasting east wind] and with mildew;
And the caterpillar devoured
Your many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.
10
“I sent a plague among you like [those of] Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword and I captured your horses,
I made the stench of your camp rise up into your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.(A)
11
“I overthrew and destroyed [some among] you, as [I, your] God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were [rescued] like a log pulled out of the flame;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.(B)
12
“Therefore this is what I shall do to you, O Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to meet your God [in judgment], O Israel!”
13
For behold, He who forms the mountains and creates the wind
And declares to man what are His thoughts,
He who makes the dawn into darkness
And treads on the heights of the earth—
The Lord God of hosts is His name.(C)
John Is Born
57 Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown His great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her.
59 It happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child [as required by the Law], and they intended to name him Zacharias, after his father;(A) 60 but his mother answered, “No indeed; instead he will be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by that name.” 62 Then they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished. 64 At once Zacharias’ mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began speaking, praising and blessing and thanking God. 65 Then fear came on all their neighbors; and all these things were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard these things kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this little boy turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him [to bring about his birth].
Zacharias’ Prophecy
67 Now Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him, and he prophesied, saying,
68
“Blessed (praised, glorified) be the Lord, the God of Israel,
Because He has visited us and brought redemption to His people,
69
And He has raised up a [a]horn of salvation [a mighty and valiant Savior] for us
In the house of David His servant—
70
Just as He promised by the mouth of His holy prophets from the most ancient times—
71
Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;(B)
72
To show mercy [as He promised] to our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant [the promised blessing],
73
The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
74
To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75
In holiness [being set apart] and righteousness [being upright] before Him all our days.
76
“And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord (the Messiah) to prepare His ways;(C)
77
To give His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
78
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise (the Messiah) from on high will dawn and visit us,(D)
79
To shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
To guide our feet [in a straight line] into the way of peace and serenity.”(E)
80 The child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel [as John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah].
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.