Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

35 The wilderness and the dry land shall be gladdened; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

² It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and shouting: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our God.

³ Strengthen the weak hands and confirm the tottering knees.

⁴ Say to them that are of a timid heart, Be strong, fear not; behold your God: vengeance cometh, the recompense of God! He will come himself, and save you.

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf be unstopped;

⁶ then shall the lame [man] leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and torrents in the desert.

⁷ And the mirage shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of wild dogs, where they lay down, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

⁸ And a highway shall be there and a way, and it shall be called, The way of holiness: the unclean shall not pass through it; but it shall be for these. Those that go [this] way—even fools,—shall not err [therein].

⁹ No lion shall be there, nor shall ravenous beast go up thereon, nor be found there; but the redeemed shall walk [there].

¹⁰ And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come to Zion with singing; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

⁵ Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in Jehovah his God,

⁶ Who made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is therein; who keepeth truth for ever;

⁷ Who executeth judgment for the oppressed, who giveth bread to the hungry. Jehovah looseth the prisoners;

⁸ Jehovah openeth [the eyes of] the blind; Jehovah raiseth up them that are bowed down; Jehovah loveth the righteous;

⁹ Jehovah preserveth the strangers; he lifteth up the fatherless and the widow; but the way of the wicked doth he subvert.

¹⁰ Jehovah will reign for ever, [even] thy God, O Zion, from generation to generation. Halleluiah!

⁴⁶ And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷ and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.

⁴⁸ For he has looked upon the low estate of his bondmaid; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

⁴⁹ For the Mighty One has done to me great things, and holy [is] his name;

⁵⁰ and his mercy [is] to generations and generations to them that fear him.

⁵¹ He has wrought strength with his arm; he has scattered haughty [ones] in the thought of their heart.

⁵² He has put down rulers from thrones, and exalted the lowly.

⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent away the rich empty.

⁵⁴ He has helped Israel his servant, in order to remember mercy,

⁵⁵ (as he spoke to our fathers,) to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

⁷ Have patience, therefore, brethren, till the coming of the Lord. Behold, the labourer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, having patience for it until it receive [the] early and [the] latter rain.

⁸ *Ye* also have patience: stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is drawn nigh.

⁹ Complain not one against another, brethren, that ye be not judged. Behold, the judge stands before the door.

¹⁰ Take [as] an example, brethren, of suffering and having patience, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of [the] Lord.

² But John, having heard in the prison the works of the Christ, sent by his disciples,

³ and said to him, Art *thou* the coming [one]? or are we to wait for another?

⁴ And Jesus answering said to them, Go, report to John what ye hear and see.

⁵ Blind [men] see and lame walk; lepers are cleansed, and deaf hear; and dead are raised, and poor have glad tidings preached to them:

⁶ and blessed is whosoever shall not be offended in me.

⁷ But as they went [away], Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed moved about by the wind?

⁸ But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in delicate raiment? behold, those who wear delicate things are in the houses of kings.

⁹ But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say to you, and more than a prophet:

¹⁰ this is he of whom it is written, Behold, *I* send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.

¹¹ Verily I say to you, that there is not arisen among [the] born of women a greater than John the baptist. But he who is a little one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he.