Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace
9 [a]But there will be no more (A)gloom for her who was in anguish. In earlier times He (B)treated the (C)land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the [b]Gentiles.
2 [c](D)The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
3 (E)You will multiply the nation,
You (F)will [d]increase [e]their joy;
They will rejoice in Your presence
As with the joy [f]of harvest,
As people (G)rejoice when they divide the spoils.
4 For (H)You will break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their (I)oppressor, as [g]at the battle of (J)Midian.
4 (A)One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may (B)dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold (C)the [a]beauty of the Lord
And to [b](D)meditate in His temple.
5 For on the (E)day of trouble He will (F)conceal me in His [c]tabernacle;
He will (G)hide me in the secret place of His tent;
He will (H)lift me up on a rock.
6 And now (I)my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer (J)sacrifices in His tent [d]with shouts of joy;
I will (K)sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 (L)Hear, Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and (M)answer me.
8 When You said, “(N)Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“(O)I shall seek Your face, Lord.”
9 (P)Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in (Q)anger;
You have been (R)my help;
(S)Do not abandon me nor (T)forsake me,
God of my salvation!
10 Now (A)I urge you, (B)brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all [a]agree and that there be no [b](C)divisions among you, but that you be [c]made complete in (D)the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers and sisters, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that (E)each one of you is saying, “I am [d]with Paul,” [e]or “I am [f]with (F)Apollos,” [g]or “I am [h]with [i](G)Cephas,” [j]or “I am [k]with Christ.” 13 [l]Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you (H)baptized [m]in the name of Paul? 14 I am thankful that I (I)baptized none of you except (J)Crispus and (K)Gaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized [n]in my name! 16 But I did baptize the (L)household of Stephanas also; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else. 17 (M)For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, (N)not with [o]cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made of no effect.
The Wisdom of God
18 For the word of the cross is (O)foolishness to (P)those who [p]are perishing, but to us who [q]are being saved it is (Q)the power of God.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
12 Now when Jesus heard that (A)John had been taken into custody, (B)He withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and (C)settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:
15 “(D)The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
[a]By the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the [b]Gentiles—
16 (E)The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,
And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a Light dawned.”
17 (F)From that time Jesus began to [c]preach and say, “(G)Repent, for the kingdom of heaven [d]is at hand.”
The First Disciples
18 (H)Now as Jesus was walking by (I)the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, (J)Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He *said to them, “[e]Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, [f](K)James the son of Zebedee, and his brother [g]John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
Ministry in Galilee
23 Jesus was going (L)about in all of Galilee, (M)teaching in their synagogues and (N)proclaiming the [h]gospel of the kingdom, and (O)healing every disease and every sickness among the people.
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