Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited to help and has redeemed[a] his people,
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 just as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times—
71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us,
72 to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to Abraham our father,
to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
could serve him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
76 And so you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the merciful compassion[b] of our God
by which the dawn will visit to help us from on high,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to direct our feet into the way of peace.”
22 Thus says Yahweh: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and you must speak this word there. 2 And you must say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter through these gates. 3 Thus says Yahweh, “Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been seized from the hand of the oppressor. And you must not oppress the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow. And you must not shed innocent blood in this place. 4 And if you indeed obey this word, then kings who sit for David on his throne will enter through the gates of this house, riding in chariots[a] and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. 5 But if you do not obey these words, I swear by myself,” declares[b] Yahweh, “that this house will become a site of ruins.”’”
6 For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah,
“You are like Gilead to me,
like the head of the Lebanon.
Surely[c] I will make you a desert,[d]
like cities that are not inhabited.
7 And I will consecrate against you destroyers,
everyone with his weapons,
and they will cut down your choicest cedars,[e]
and cast them[f] on the fire.
8 And many nations will pass by this city and they will say each one to his neighbor, ‘Why[g] has Yahweh done in this manner to this great city?’ 9 Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh their God, and bowed down in worship to other gods, and served them.’”
10 You must not weep for the dead person,
and you must not show sympathy for him.
Weep bitterly for the one who goes away,
for he will not return, or see the land of his birth again.
11 For thus says Yahweh concerning Shallum, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned as king in place of Josiah his father, who went out from this place: “He will not return here again. 12 But in the place where they have deported him, there he will die, and he will not see this land again.
13 Woe to the one who builds his house without righteousness,
and his upper rooms without justice.
His fellow countryman, he works for nothing,
and he does not give to him his wages.[h]
14 Who says ‘I will build for myself
a spacious house with large upper rooms,’
and he cuts windows for it,
and it is[i] paneled with cedar,
and he paints it[j] with vermilion.
15 Do you reign as king because you are competing in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink,
and he did justice and righteousness,
then it was well with him?
16 He judged the legal cause of the needy and the poor,
and then it was well.
Is that not what it means to know me?[k]” declares[l] Yahweh.
17 “But there is nothing in your eyes and your heart
except[m] your unlawful gain,
and on shedding the blood of the innocent,
and on committing oppression and extortion.”
A New Birth to a Living Hope
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 into an inheritance imperishable and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you 5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, 6 in which you rejoice greatly, although[a] now for a short time, if necessary,[b] you are distressed by various trials, 7 so that the genuineness of your faith, more valuable than gold that is passing away, but is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom, although you[c] have not seen, you love; in whom now you believe, although you[d] do not see him, and you rejoice greatly with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining the goal of your faith, the salvation of your[e] souls.
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