Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
An Oracle From the Lord About the Messiah
3 Look! I am sending my messenger![a] He will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord, whom you are seeking, will come to his temple! The Messenger of the Covenant,[b] in whom you delight, will surely come, says the Lord of Armies.
2 But who can endure the day when he comes? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like launderers bleach![c] 3 He will be seated like a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and like silver. They will belong to the Lord and bring him an offering in righteousness.
4 Judah and Jerusalem’s offerings will be pleasing to the Lord as they were in the days of old, in years long ago.
68 Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited us and prepared redemption for his people.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
70 just as he said long ago through the mouth of his holy prophets.
71 He raised up salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,
72 in order to show mercy to our fathers by remembering his holy covenant,
73 the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
74 to grant deliverance to us from the hand of our enemies,
so that we are able to serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,
because you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of God’s tender mercies,
by which the Rising Sun from on high will visit us,
79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 Every time I pray for all of you, I always pray with joy, 5 because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 I am convinced of this very thing: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 I am equally convinced that it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, for both in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all share in this grace with me. 8 Yes, God is my witness of how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And I pray that your love may still increase more and more in knowledge and every insight. 10 This will result in your approval of the things that really matter, so that you will be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 He went into the whole region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 Just as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.