Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
II
5 Blessed the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord, his God,
6 The maker of heaven and earth,
the seas and all that is in them,(A)
Who keeps faith forever,
7 secures justice for the oppressed,(B)
who gives bread to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free;(C)
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord raises up those who are bowed down;(D)
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord protects the resident alien,
comes to the aid of the orphan and the widow,(E)
but thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord shall reign forever,
your God, Zion, through all generations!(F)
Hallelujah!
Chapter 2
1 And Hannah prayed:[a]
“My heart exults in the Lord,
my horn is exalted by my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies;
I rejoice in your victory.(A)
2 There is no Holy One like the Lord;
there is no Rock like our God.(B)
3 Speak boastfully no longer,
Do not let arrogance issue from your mouths.[b]
For an all-knowing God is the Lord,
a God who weighs actions.(C)
4 “The bows of the mighty are broken,
while the tottering gird on strength.(D)
5 The well-fed hire themselves out for bread,
while the hungry no longer have to toil.
The barren wife bears seven sons,
while the mother of many languishes.(E)
6 “The Lord puts to death and gives life,
casts down to Sheol and brings up again.(F)
7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich,
humbles, and also exalts.
8 He raises the needy from the dust;
from the ash heap lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and make a glorious throne their heritage.
“For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
and he has set the world upon them.(G)
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)
7 He said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?(G) 8 Produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance; and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.(H) 9 Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”(I)
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” 11 He said to them in reply, “Whoever has two tunics should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.” 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”(J) 13 He answered them, “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And what is it that we should do?” He told them, “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”
15 (K)Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah. 16 [f]John answered them all, saying,(L) “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fan[g] is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”(M) 18 Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people.
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.