Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁷ O Lord, listen to my cry. Show loving-kindness to me and answer me. ⁸ You have said, “Look for My face.” My heart said to You, “O Lord, Your face will I look for.” ⁹ Do not hide Your face from me. Do not turn Your servant away in anger. You have been my Helper. Do not turn away from me or leave me alone, O God Who saves me! ¹⁰ For my father and my mother have left me. But the Lord will take care of me.

¹¹ Teach me Your way, O Lord. Lead me in a straight path, because of those who fight against me. ¹² Do not give me over to the desire of those who hate me. For people who tell lies about me rise against me, and breathe a desire to hurt me. ¹³ I would have been without hope if I had not believed that I would see the loving-kindness of the Lord in the land of the living. ¹⁴ Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart be strong. Yes, wait for the Lord.

Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

49 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together so that I may tell you what will happen to you in the days to come. ² Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob. Listen to your father Israel.

⁸ “Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of those who hate you. Your father’s sons will bow down to you. ⁹ Judah is a young lion. Like a lion full of meat, you have become great, my son. He lies down and sleeps like a lion. And as a lion, who is willing to wake him? ¹⁰ The right of a ruler will not leave Judah. The ruler’s special stick will not go from between his feet, until Shiloh comes. Then the people will obey Him. ¹¹ He ties his young donkey to the vine, his donkey’s young one to the best vine. He washes his clothes in wine, his coats in the blood of grapes. ¹² His eyes are darker than wine. And his teeth are whiter than milk.

¹³ “Zebulun will live beside the sea and be a safe place for ships. His land will lie beside Sidon.

²¹ “Naphtali is a female deer let loose who gives beautiful young ones.

²² “Joseph is a branch with much fruit, a branch with much fruit by a well. It grows over the wall. ²³ The men fought against him with their bows. They sent arrows toward him and made it hard for him. ²⁴ But his bow did not shake. His arms were made strong by the hands of the Powerful One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, ²⁵ by the God of your father Who helps you, and by the All-powerful Who brings good to you. He brings good from heaven above, and from the deep that lies below, and from the body of a mother. ²⁶ More good has come to your father than to my fathers before me, as lasting as the hills that last forever. May this good be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of him who was divided from his brothers.

Zacharias’ Song of Thanks to God

⁶⁷ Zacharias, the father of John, was filled with the Holy Spirit. He told what was going to happen, saying, ⁶⁸ “Let us thank the Lord God of Israel. He has bought His people and made them free. ⁶⁹ He has raised up from the family of David One Who saves people from the punishment of their sins. ⁷⁰ His holy early preachers told us this long ago. ⁷¹ God told us that we should be saved from those who hate us and from all those who work against us. ⁷² He would show loving-kindness to our early fathers. He would remember His holy promise. ⁷³ God promised this to our early father Abraham. ⁷⁴ He promised that we would be saved from those who hate us and that we might worship Him without being afraid. ⁷⁵ We can be holy and right with God all the days of our life.

⁷⁶ “And you, my son, will be the one who speaks for the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to make the way ready for Him. ⁷⁷ You will tell His people how to be saved from the punishment of sin by being forgiven of their sins. ⁷⁸ Because the heart of our God is full of loving-kindness for us, a light from heaven will shine on us. ⁷⁹ It will give light to those who live in darkness and are under the shadow of death. It will lead our feet in the way of peace.”