Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Righteous Reign of the Branch
11 Then a (A)shoot will spring from the (B)stem of Jesse,
And a (C)Branch from (D)his roots will bear fruit.
2 The (E)Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of (F)wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and (G)strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes (H)see,
Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;
4 But with (I)righteousness He will judge the (J)poor,
And decide with fairness for the (K)humble of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the (L)rod of His mouth,
And with the (M)breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
5 Also (N)righteousness will be the belt around His hips,
And (O)faithfulness the belt around His waist.
6 And the (P)wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion [a]and the fattened steer will be together;
And a little boy will lead them.
7 Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the (Q)lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
9 They will (R)not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the (S)earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
The Reign of the Righteous King.
A Psalm of Solomon.
72 Give the king (A)Your judgments, God,
And (B)Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 [a]May [b]he (C)judge Your people with righteousness
And [c](D)Your afflicted with justice.
3 [d]May the mountains bring [e](E)peace to the people,
And the hills, in righteousness.
4 [f]May he (F)vindicate the [g]afflicted of the people,
Save the children of the needy,
And crush the oppressor.
5 [h]May they fear You (G)while the sun shines,
And [i]as long as the moon shines, throughout all generations.
6 [j]May he come down (H)like rain upon the mown grass,
Like (I)showers that water the earth.
7 [k]May the (J)righteous flourish in his days,
As well as an (K)abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.
4 For (A)whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 Now may the (B)God [a]who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you (C)to be of the same mind with one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one purpose and one [b]voice you may glorify (D)the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Therefore, [c](E)accept one another, just as Christ also accepted [d]us, for the glory of God. 8 For I say that Christ has become a servant to (F)the circumcision in behalf of the truth of God, to confirm (G)the promises given to the fathers, 9 and for (H)the Gentiles to (I)glorify God for His mercy; as it is written:
“(J)Therefore I will [e]give praise to You among the Gentiles,
And I will sing praises to Your name.”
10 Again he says,
“(K)Rejoice, you Gentiles, with His people.”
11 And again,
“(L)Praise the Lord all you Gentiles,
And let all the peoples praise Him.”
12 Again Isaiah says,
“(M)There shall come (N)the root of Jesse,
And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles,
(O)In Him will the Gentiles hope.”
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all (P)joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope (Q)by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Preaching of John the Baptist
3 Now (A)in those days (B)John the Baptist *[a]came, [b]preaching in the (C)wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “(D)Repent, for (E)the kingdom of heaven [c]is at hand.” 3 For this is the (F)one referred to [d]by Isaiah the prophet when he said,
“(G)The voice of one [e]calling [f]out in the wilderness,
‘(H)Prepare the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”
4 Now John himself had [g](I)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was (J)locusts and wild honey. 5 At that time Jerusalem (K)was going out to him, and all Judea and all (L)the region around the Jordan; 6 and they were being (M)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the (N)Pharisees and (O)Sadducees coming for [h]baptism, he said to them, “You [i](P)offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from (Q)the wrath to come? 8 (R)Therefore produce fruit (S)consistent with repentance; 9 and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘(T)We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham. 10 And the (U)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, (V)every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “As for me, (W)I baptize you [j]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; (X)He will baptize you [k]with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His (Y)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will (Z)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the (AA)chaff with (AB)unquenchable fire.”
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