Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³ And you will draw water from the wells of salvation in joy. ⁴ And you will say on that day,

⁸ Look, the eyes of my Lord Yahweh are on the kingdom of sin, and I will destroy it from the surface of the earth. However, I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” declares^[a] Yahweh. ⁹ “Yes, look, I am going to command and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations like one who shakes with a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground. ¹⁰ All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil will not overtake or confront us.’

Restoration of Israel

¹¹ On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and I will repair its breaches and will raise up its ruins and will build it like the days of old. ¹² Thus they may take possession of the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,”^[b] declares^[c] Yahweh, who does this. ¹³ “Look, days are coming,” declares^[d] Yahweh, “when the one who plows will overtake the one who reaps, the one who treads grapes will catch up with the one who sows the seed. And the mountains will drip sweet wine and all of the hills will flow with it. ¹⁴ And I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they will rebuild the desolated cities and will inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards and will drink their wine, and they will make gardens and will eat their fruit. ¹⁵ And I will plant them on their land and they will not be uprooted again from their land that I have given to them,” says Yahweh your God.

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ Now the time came for Elizabeth that she should give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her,^[a] and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹ And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were wanting to name him after^[b] his father Zechariah. ⁶⁰ And his mother answered and^[c] said, “No, but he will be named John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “There is no one of your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶² So they made signs to his father asking what he wanted him to be named, ⁶³ and he asked for a writing tablet and^[d] wrote, saying, “John is his name.” And they were all astonished. ⁶⁴ And his mouth and his tongue were opened immediately, and he began to speak,^[e] praising God. ⁶⁵ And fear came on all those who lived near them, and in all the hill country of Judea all these events were discussed. ⁶⁶ And all those who heard kept these things^[f] in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be? For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him!”