Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Happy Song
14 Sing, Jerusalem.
Israel, shout for joy!
Jerusalem, be happy.
Rejoice with all your heart.
15 The Lord has stopped punishing you.
He has sent your enemies away.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is with you.
You will never again be afraid of being harmed.
16 On that day Jerusalem will be told,
“Don’t be afraid, city of Jerusalem.
Don’t be so discouraged that you can’t do anything.
17 The Lord your God is with you.
The mighty One will save you.
The Lord will be happy with you.
You will rest in his love.
He will sing and be joyful about you.”
18 “I will take away the sadness planned for you.
It would have made you very ashamed.
19 At that time I will punish
all those who harmed you.
I will save my people who are hurt.
I will gather my people who are scattered.
I will give them praise and honor
in every place where they were disgraced.
20 At that time I will gather you.
At that time I will bring you back home.
I will give you honor and praise
from people everywhere.
That will happen when I give you back your riches.
You will see this with your own eyes,” says the Lord.
2 God is the one who saves me.
I trust him. I am not afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, gives me strength and makes me sing.
He has saved me.”
3 You will receive your salvation with joy.
You will take it as you would draw water from a well.
4 At that time you will say,
“Praise the Lord, and worship him.
Tell everyone what he has done.
Tell them how great he is.
5 Sing praise to the Lord, because he has done great things.
Let all the world know what he has done.
6 Shout and sing for joy, you people of Jerusalem.
The Holy One of Israel does great things before your eyes.”
4 Be full of joy in the Lord always. I will say again, be full of joy.
5 Let all men see that you are gentle and kind. The Lord is coming soon. 6 Do not worry about anything. But pray and ask God for everything you need. And when you pray, always give thanks. 7 And God’s peace will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The peace that God gives is so great that we cannot understand it.
7 Crowds of people came to be baptized by John. He said to them, “You poisonous snakes! Who warned you to run away from God’s anger that is coming? 8 You must do the things that will show that you really have changed your hearts. Don’t say, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you that God can make children for Abraham from these rocks here. 9 The ax is now ready to cut down the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”[a]
10 The people asked John, “What should we do?”
11 John answered, “If you have two shirts, share with the person who does not have one. If you have food, share that too.”
12 Even tax collectors came to John to be baptized. They said to John, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 John said to them, “Don’t take more taxes from people than you have been ordered to take.”
14 The soldiers asked John, “What about us? What should we do?”
John said to them, “Don’t force people to give you money. Don’t lie about them. Be satisfied with the pay you get.”
15 All the people were hoping for the Christ to come, and they wondered about John. They thought, “Maybe he is the Christ.”
16 John answered everyone, “I baptize you with water, but there is one coming later who can do more than I can. I am not good enough to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 He will come ready to clean the grain. He will separate the good grain from the chaff. He will put the good part of the grain into his barn. Then he will burn the chaff with a fire that cannot be put out.”[b] 18 And John continued to preach the Good News, saying many other things to encourage the people.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.