Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁷ How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who bring the happy news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns. ⁸ The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for right before their eyes they see the Lord God bring his people home again. ⁹ Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyous song, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. ¹⁰ The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

98 Sing a new song to the Lord telling about his mighty deeds! For he has won a mighty victory by his power and holiness. ^2-3 He has announced this victory and revealed it to every nation by fulfilling his promise to be kind to Israel. The whole earth has seen God’s salvation of his people. ⁴ That is why the earth breaks out in praise to God and sings for utter joy!

⁵ Sing your praise accompanied by music from the harp. ⁶ Let the cornets and trumpets shout! Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King! ⁷ Let the sea in all its vastness roar with praise! Let the earth and all those living on it shout, “Glory to the Lord.”

^8-9 Let the waves clap their hands in glee and the hills sing out their songs of joy before the Lord, for he is coming to judge the world with perfect justice.

1 Long ago God spoke in many different ways to our fathers through the prophets, in visions, dreams, and even face to face,^[a] telling them little by little about his plans.

² But now in these days he has spoken to us through his Son to whom he has given everything and through whom he made the world and everything there is.

³ God’s Son shines out with God’s glory, and all that God’s Son is and does marks him as God. He regulates the universe by the mighty power of his command. He is the one who died to cleanse us and clear our record of all sin, and then sat down in highest honor beside the great God of heaven.

⁴ Thus he became far greater than the angels, as proved by the fact that his name “Son of God,” which was passed on to him from his Father, is far greater than the names and titles of the angels.

^5-6 For God never said to any angel, “You are my Son, and today I have given you the honor that goes with that name.”^[a] But God said it about Jesus. Another time he said, “I am his Father and he is my Son.” And still another time—when his firstborn Son came to earth—God said, “Let all the angels of God worship him.”

⁷ God speaks of his angels as messengers swift as the wind and as servants made of flaming fire; ⁸ but of his Son he says, “Your Kingdom, O God, will last forever and ever; its commands are always just and right. ⁹ You love right and hate wrong; so God, even your God, has poured out more gladness upon you than on anyone else.”

¹⁰ God also called him “Lord” when he said, “Lord, in the beginning you made the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. ¹¹ They will disappear into nothingness, but you will remain forever. They will become worn out like old clothes, ¹² and some day you will fold them up and replace them. But you yourself will never change, and your years will never end.”

1 ^1-2 Before anything else existed,^[a] there was Christ, with God. He has always been alive and is himself God. ³ He created everything there is—nothing exists that he didn’t make. ⁴ Eternal life is in him, and this life gives light to all mankind. ⁵ His life is the light that shines through the darkness—and the darkness can never extinguish it.

^6-7 God sent John the Baptist as a witness to the fact that Jesus Christ is the true Light. ⁸ John himself was not the Light; he was only a witness to identify it.

⁹ Later on, the one who is the true Light arrived to shine on everyone coming into the world.

¹⁰ But although he made the world, the world didn’t recognize him when he came. ^11-12 Even in his own land and among his own people, the Jews, he was not accepted. Only a few would welcome and receive him. But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them.^{[b] 13} All those who believe this are reborn!—not a physical rebirth^[c] resulting from human passion or plan—but from the will of God.

¹⁴ And Christ^[d] became a human being and lived here on earth among us and was full of loving forgiveness and truth. And some of us have seen his glory—the glory of the only Son of the heavenly Father!