Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

11 And there shall come forth a Shoot out of the stock of Jesse [David’s father], and a Branch out of his roots shall grow and bear fruit.^(A)

² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord—

³ And shall make Him of quick understanding, and His delight shall be in the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord. And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, neither decide by the hearing of His ears;

⁴ But with righteousness and justice shall He judge the poor and decide with fairness for the meek, the poor, and the downtrodden of the earth; and He shall smite the earth and the oppressor with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

⁵ And righteousness shall be the girdle of His waist and faithfulness the girdle of His loins.

⁶ And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatted domestic animal together; and a little child shall lead them.

⁷ And the cow and the bear shall feed side by side, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

⁸ And the sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.

⁹ They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰ And it shall be in that day that the Root of Jesse shall stand as a signal for the peoples; of Him shall the nations inquire and seek knowledge, and His dwelling shall be glory [His rest glorious]!^(B)

Psalm 72^[a]

[A Psalm] for Solomon.

¹ Give the king [knowledge of] Your [way of] judging, O God, and [the spirit of] Your righteousness to the king’s son [to control all his actions].

² Let him judge and govern Your people with righteousness, and Your poor and afflicted ones with judgment and justice.

³ The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the hills, through [the general establishment of] righteousness.

⁴ May he judge and defend the poor of the people, deliver the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor,

⁵ So that they may revere and fear You while the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.

⁶ May he [Solomon as a type of King David’s greater Son] be like rain that comes down upon the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.

⁷ In ^[b]His [Christ’s] days shall the [uncompromisingly] righteous flourish and peace abound till there is a moon no longer.^(A)

¹⁸ Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone does wondrous things!

¹⁹ Blessed be His glorious name forever; let the whole earth be filled with His glory! Amen and Amen!

⁴ For whatever was thus written in former days was written for our instruction, that by [our steadfast and patient] endurance and the encouragement [drawn] from the Scriptures we might hold fast to and cherish hope.

⁵ Now may the God Who gives the power of patient endurance (steadfastness) and Who supplies encouragement, grant you to live in such mutual harmony and such full sympathy with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,

⁶ That together you may [unanimously] with united hearts and one voice, praise and glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

⁷ Welcome and receive [to your hearts] one another, then, even as Christ has welcomed and received you, for the glory of God.

⁸ For I tell you that Christ (the Messiah) became a servant and a minister to the circumcised (the Jews) in order to show God’s truthfulness and honesty by confirming (verifying) the promises [given] to our fathers,

⁹ And [also in order] that the Gentiles (nations) might glorify God for His mercy [not covenanted] to them. As it is written, Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles and sing praises to Your name.^(A)

¹⁰ Again it is said, Rejoice (exult), O Gentiles, along with His [own] people;^(B)

¹¹ And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise Him!^(C)

¹² And further Isaiah says, There shall be a ^[a]Sprout from the Root of Jesse, He Who rises to rule over the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles hope.^(D)

¹³ May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.

3 In those days there appeared John the Baptist, preaching in the Wilderness (Desert) of Judea

² And saying, Repent (^[a]think differently; change your mind, regretting your sins and changing your conduct), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

³ This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness (shouting in the desert), Prepare the road for the Lord, make His highways straight (level, ^[b]direct).^(A)

⁴ This same John’s garments were made of camel’s hair, and he wore a leather girdle about his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.^(B)

⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the country round about the Jordan went out to him;

⁶ And they were baptized in the Jordan by him, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee and escape from the wrath and indignation [of God against disobedience] that is coming?

⁸ Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance [let your lives prove your change of heart];

⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our forefather; for I tell you, God is able to raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones!

¹⁰ And already the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ I indeed baptize you ^[c]in (with) water ^[d]because of repentance [that is, because of your ^[e]changing your minds for the better, heartily amending your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins]. But He Who is coming after me is mightier than I, Whose sandals I am not worthy or fit to take off or carry; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

¹² His winnowing fan (shovel, fork) is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear out and clean His threshing floor and gather and store His wheat in His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with fire that cannot be put out.