Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
5 (A)Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose (B)hope is in the Lord his God,
6 (C)who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
(D)who keeps faith for ever;
7 (E)who executes justice for the oppressed,
(F)who gives food to the hungry.
(G)The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 (H)the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
(I)The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
(J)the Lord loves the righteous.
9 (K)The Lord watches over the sojourners;
(L)he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but (M)the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 (N)The Lord will reign for ever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
(O)Praise the Lord!
Hannah's Prayer
2 And Hannah prayed and said,
(A)“My heart exults in the Lord;
(B)my strength[a] is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because (C)I rejoice in your salvation.
2 (D)“There is none holy like the Lord;
there is none besides you;
there is (E)no rock like our God.
3 Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
4 (F)The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble bind on strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
(G)The barren has borne seven,
(H)but she who has many children is forlorn.
6 (I)The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
7 (J)The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
(K)he brings low and he exalts.
8 (L)He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap
(M)to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honour.
(N)For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,
and on them he has set the world.
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of (A)Tiberius Caesar, (B)Pontius Pilate (C)being governor of Judea, and (D)Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during (E)the high priesthood of Annas and (F)Caiaphas, (G)the word of God came to (H)John the son of Zechariah in (I)the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming (J)a baptism of repentance (K)for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in (L)the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
(M)“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
(N)‘Prepare the way of the Lord,[a]
make his paths straight.
5 (O)Every valley shall be filled,
(P)and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
(Q)and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6 (R)and all flesh shall see (S)the salvation of God.’”
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, (T)“You brood of (U)vipers! Who warned you to flee from (V)the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits (W)in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, (X)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from (Y)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. (Z)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds asked him, (AA)“What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, (AB)“Whoever has two tunics[b] is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 (AC)Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, (AD)what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, (AE)“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, (AF)what shall we do?” And he said to them, (AG)“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your (AH)wages.”
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, (AI)whether he might be (AJ)the Christ, 16 (AK)John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but (AL)he who is mightier than I is coming, (AM)the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you (AN)with the Holy Spirit and with (AO)fire. 17 His (AP)winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to (AQ)gather the wheat into his barn, (AR)but the chaff he will burn with (AS)unquenchable fire.”
18 So (AT)with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.