Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation; he protects me from danger—whom shall I fear? ² When evil men come to destroy me, they will stumble and fall! ³ Yes, though a mighty army marches against me, my heart shall know no fear! I am confident that God will save me.

⁴ The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of meditating in his Temple, living in his presence every day of my life, delighting in his incomparable perfections and glory. ⁵ There I’ll be when troubles come. He will hide me. He will set me on a high rock ⁶ out of reach of all my enemies. Then I will bring him sacrifices and sing his praises with much joy.

⁷ Listen to my pleading, Lord! Be merciful and send the help I need.

⁸ My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me, O my people.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

⁹ Oh, do not hide yourself when I am trying to find you. Do not angrily reject your servant. You have been my help in all my trials before; don’t leave me now. Don’t forsake me, O God of my salvation. ¹⁰ For if my father and mother should abandon me, you would welcome and comfort me.

¹¹ Tell me what to do, O Lord, and make it plain because I am surrounded by waiting enemies. ¹² Don’t let them get me, Lord! Don’t let me fall into their hands! For they accuse me of things I never did, and all the while are plotting cruelty. ¹³ I am expecting the Lord to rescue me again, so that once again I will see his goodness to me here in the land of the living.

¹⁴ Don’t be impatient. Wait for the Lord, and he will come and save you! Be brave, stouthearted, and courageous. Yes, wait and he will help you.

¹⁰ We are children of the same father, Abraham, all created by the same God. And yet we are faithless to each other, violating the covenant of our fathers! ¹¹ In Judah, in Israel, and in Jerusalem, there is treachery, for the men of Judah have defiled God’s holy and beloved Temple by marrying heathen women who worship idols. ¹² May the Lord cut off from his covenant every last man, whether priest or layman, who has done this thing!

¹³ Yet you cover the altar with your tears because the Lord doesn’t pay attention to your offerings anymore, and you receive no blessing from him. ¹⁴ “Why has God abandoned us?” you cry. I’ll tell you why; it is because the Lord has seen your treachery in divorcing your wives who have been faithful to you through the years, the companions you promised to care for and keep. ¹⁵ You were united to your wife by the Lord. In God’s wise plan, when you married, the two of you became one person in his sight. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. Therefore, guard your passions! Keep faith with the wife of your youth.

¹⁶ For the Lord, the God of Israel, says he hates divorce and cruel men. Therefore, control your passions—let there be no divorcing of your wives.

¹⁷ You have wearied the Lord with your words.

“Wearied him?” you ask in fake surprise. “How have we wearied him?”

By saying that evil is good, that it pleases the Lord! Or by saying that God won’t punish us—he doesn’t care.

3 “Listen: I will send my messenger before me to prepare the way. And then the One^[a] you are looking for will come suddenly to his Temple—the Messenger of God’s promises, to bring you great joy. Yes, he is surely coming,” says the Lord Almighty.

⁵ My story begins with a Jewish priest, Zacharias, who lived when Herod was king of Judea. Zacharias was a member of the Abijah division of the Temple service corps. (His wife, Elizabeth, was, like himself, a member of the priest tribe of the Jews, a descendant of Aaron.) ⁶ Zacharias and Elizabeth were godly folk, careful to obey all of God’s laws in spirit as well as in letter. ⁷ But they had no children, for Elizabeth was barren; and now they were both very old.

^8-9 One day as Zacharias was going about his work in the Temple—for his division was on duty that week—the honor fell to him by lot^[a] to enter the inner sanctuary and burn incense before the Lord. ¹⁰ Meanwhile, a great crowd stood outside in the Temple court, praying as they always did during that part of the service when the incense was being burned.

^11-12 Zacharias was in the sanctuary when suddenly an angel appeared, standing to the right of the altar of incense! Zacharias was startled and terrified.

¹³ But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias! For I have come to tell you that God has heard your prayer, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son! And you are to name him John. ¹⁴ You will both have great joy and gladness at his birth, and many will rejoice with you. ¹⁵ For he will be one of the Lord’s great men. He must never touch wine or hard liquor—and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from before his birth! ¹⁶ And he will persuade many a Jew to turn to the Lord his God. ¹⁷ He will be a man of rugged^[b] spirit and power like Elijah, the prophet of old; and he will precede the coming of the Messiah, preparing the people for his arrival. He will soften adult hearts to become like little children’s, and will change disobedient minds to the wisdom of faith.”