Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Chapter 5
1 Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery;
put on forever the splendor of glory from God:(A)
2 Wrapped in the mantle of justice from God,
place on your head the diadem
of the glory of the Eternal One.(B)
3 For God will show your splendor to all under the heavens;
4 you will be named by God forever:
the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship.(C)
5 Rise up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights;
look to the east and see your children
Gathered from east to west
at the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing that they are remembered by God.
6 Led away on foot by their enemies they left you:
but God will bring them back to you
carried high in glory as on royal thrones.(D)
7 For God has commanded
that every lofty mountain
and the age-old hills be made low,
That the valleys be filled to make level ground,
that Israel may advance securely in the glory of God.(E)
8 The forests and every kind of fragrant tree
have overshadowed Israel at God’s command;(F)
9 For God is leading Israel in joy
by the light of his glory,
with the mercy and justice that are his.
Chapter 3
The Messenger of the Covenant
1 (A)Now I am sending my messenger—
he will prepare the way before me;[a]
And the lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple;
The messenger of the covenant whom you desire—
see, he is coming! says the Lord of hosts.
2 But who can endure the day of his coming?
Who can stand firm when he appears?
For he will be like a refiner’s fire,
like fullers’ lye.
3 (B)He will sit refining and purifying silver,
and he will purify the Levites,
Refining them like gold or silver,
that they may bring offerings to the Lord in righteousness.
4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
will please the Lord,
as in ancient days, as in years gone by.
68 [a]“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has visited and brought redemption to his people.(A)
69 [b]He has raised up a horn for our salvation
within the house of David his servant,(B)
70 even as he promised through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old:
71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,(C)
72 to show mercy to our fathers(D)
and to be mindful of his holy covenant(E)
73 and of the oath he swore to Abraham our father,(F)
and to grant us that, 74 rescued from the hand of enemies,
without fear we might worship him 75 in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.(G)
76 And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord[c] to prepare his ways,(H)
77 to give his people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God(I)
by which the daybreak from on high[d] will visit us(J)
79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
3 I give thanks to my God at every remembrance of you,(A) 4 praying always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, 5 because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now. 6 (B)I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.[a] 7 It is right that I should think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, you who are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.(C) 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception,(D) 10 to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,(E) 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.(F)
III. The Preparation for the Public Ministry
Chapter 3
The Preaching of John the Baptist.[a] 1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,[b] when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,(A) and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,[c] the word of God came to John(B) the son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 [d]He went throughout [the] whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,(C) 4 [e]as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:(D)
“A voice of one crying out in the desert:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,(E)
make straight his paths.
5 Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”(F)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.