Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Reign of the Davidic King
11 “A shoot will come out
from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch will bear fruit
from his roots.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and power,
the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.
3 His delight will be in the fear of the Lord.
He won’t judge by what his eyes see,
nor decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
and decide with equity for[a] earth’s poor.[b]
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,[c]
and the wicked will be killed[d] with the breath of his lips.
5 Righteousness will be the sash around his loins,
and faithfulness the belt around his waist.”
A Transformed Ecology
6 “The wolf will live with the lamb;
the leopard will lie down with the young goat.
The calf and the lion will graze[e] together,
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow and the bear will graze,
and[f] their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child will play
over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child will put his hand on vipers’ dens.[g]
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on[h] my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full
of the knowledge[i] of the Lord,[j]
as the waters cover the sea.”
Israel Regathered
10 At that time,[k] as to[l] the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a banner for the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place is[m] glorious.
Solomonic
A Prayer for the King
72 God, endow the king with ability to render[a] your justice,
and the king’s son to render your right decisions.
2 May he rule your people with right decisions
and your oppressed ones with justice.
3 May the mountains bring prosperity to the people
and the hills bring righteousness.
4 May he defend the afflicted of the people
and deliver the children of the poor,
but crush the oppressor.
5 May they fear you as long as the sun and moon shine[b]—
from generation to generation.
6 May he be like the rain that descends on mown grass,
like showers sprinkling on the ground.
7 The righteous will flourish at the proper time
and peace will prevail until the moon is no more.
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does awesome deeds.
19 And blessed be his glorious name forever,
and may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and amen!
4 For everything that was written long ago was written to instruct us, so that we might have hope through the endurance and encouragement that the Scriptures give us.[a]
5 Now may God, the source of endurance and encouragement, allow you to live in harmony with each other as you follow the Messiah[b] Jesus,[c] 6 so that with one mind and one voice you might glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.[d]
7 Therefore, accept one another, just as the Messiah[e] accepted you,[f] for the glory of God. 8 For I tell you that the Messiah[g] became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth in order to confirm the promises given to our ancestors, 9 so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
10 Again he says,[j]
“Rejoice, you gentiles, with his people!”[k]
11 And again,
12 And again, Isaiah says,
“There will be a Root[o] from Jesse.
He will rise up to rule the gentiles,
and the gentiles will hope in him.”[p]
13 Now may God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace as you believe, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist Prepares the Way(A)
3 About this time,[a] John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the Judean wilderness, 2 “Repent, because the kingdom from[b] heaven is near!” 3 He was the one the prophet Isaiah was referring to when he said,
“He is a voice calling out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way for the Lord![c]
Make his paths straight!’”[d]
4 John had clothing made of camel’s hair and wore[e] a leather belt around his waist. His diet consisted of grasshoppers[f] and wild honey.
5 Then the people of[g] Jerusalem, all Judea, and the entire region along the Jordan began flocking to him, 6 being baptized by him in the Jordan River while they confessed their sins.
7 But when John[h] saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing,[i] he told them, “You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit that is consistent with repentance! 9 Don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have father Abraham!’ because I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones! 10 The ax already lies against the roots of the trees. So every tree that isn’t producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I am baptizing you with[j] water as evidence of repentance,[k] but the one who is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. It is he who will baptize you with[l] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand. He will clean up his threshing floor and gather his grain into the barn, but he will burn the chaff with inextinguishable fire.”
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