Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 [a]I will hear what God the Lord will say;
For He will (A)speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;
And may they not (B)turn back to [b]foolishness.
9 Certainly (C)His salvation is near to those who [c]fear Him,
That (D)glory may dwell in our land.
10 (E)Graciousness and [d]truth have met together;
(F)Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 [e]Truth (G)sprouts from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 Indeed, (H)the Lord will give what is good,
And our (I)land will yield its produce.
13 (J)Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way.
6 “But I gave you also (A)cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
And lack of bread in all your places;
Yet you have (B)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
7 “Furthermore, I (C)withheld the rain from you
While there were still three months until harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city,
But on (D)another city I would not send rain;
One part would be rained on,
While the part not rained on would dry up.
8 So the people of two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink (E)water,
But would (F)not be satisfied;
Yet you have (G)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
9 “I (H)struck you with scorching wind and mildew;
The (I)caterpillar was devouring
Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees;
Yet you have (J)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
10 “I sent a (K)plague among you [a]as in Egypt;
I (L)killed your young men with the sword, along with your (M)captured horses,
And I made the (N)stench of your camp rise up in your nostrils;
Yet you have (O)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew you, as (P)God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a (Q)log snatched from a fire;
Yet you have (R)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore so I will do to you, Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to (S)meet your God, Israel.”
13 For behold, He who (T)forms mountains and (U)creates the wind,
And (V)declares to a person what are His thoughts,
He who (W)makes dawn into darkness
And (X)treads on the high places of the earth,
(Y)The Lord God of armies is His name.
John the Baptist Is Born
57 Now the time [a]had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had [b](A)displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.
59 And it happened that on (B)the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, [c]after his father. 60 And yet his mother responded and said, “No indeed; but (C)he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 And they [d](D)made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 63 And he asked for a tablet and wrote [e]as follows, “(E)His name is John.” And they were all amazed. 64 (F)And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began speaking in praise of God. 65 And fear came on all those who lived around them; and all these matters were being talked about in (G)the entire hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For indeed (H)the hand of the Lord was with him.
Zechariah’s Prophecy
67 And his father Zechariah (I)was filled with the Holy Spirit and (J)prophesied, saying:
68 “(K)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished (L)redemption for His people,
69 And has raised up a (M)horn of salvation for us
In the house of (N)His servant David—
70 (O)Just as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets (P)from ancient times—
71 [f](Q)Salvation (R)from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
72 (S)To show mercy to our fathers,
(T)And to remember His holy covenant,
73 (U)The oath which He swore to our father Abraham,
74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Would serve Him without fear,
75 (V)In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
76 And you, child, also will be called the (W)prophet of (X)the Most High;
For you will go on (Y)before the Lord to (Z)prepare His ways;
77 To give His people the knowledge of salvation
[g]By (AA)the forgiveness of their sins,
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which (AB)the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
79 (AC)To shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the (AD)way of peace.”
80 (AE)Now the child grew and was becoming strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
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