Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Branch of Righteousness
23 “Woe (A)to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. (B)Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. 3 “But (C)I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 I will set up (D)shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord.
5 “Behold, (E)the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and [a]prosper,
(F)And execute [b]judgment and righteousness in the [c]earth.
6 (G)In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel (H)will dwell safely;
Now (I)this is His name by which He will be called:
[d]THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
68 “Blessed(A) is the Lord God of Israel,
For (B)He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 (C)And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
70 (D)As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been (E)since the world began,
71 That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
72 (F)To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 (G)The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
74 To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might (H)serve Him without fear,
75 (I)In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
76 “And you, child, will be called the (J)prophet of the Highest;
For (K)you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
77 To give (L)knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the [a]Dayspring from on high [b]has visited us;
79 (M)To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To (N)guide our feet into the way of peace.”
11 (A)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, (B)for all patience and longsuffering (C)with joy; 12 (D)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of (E)the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from (F)the power of darkness (G)and [a]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 (H)in whom we have redemption [b]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is (I)the image of the invisible God, (J)the firstborn over all creation. 16 For (K)by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or (L)dominions or [c]principalities or [d]powers. All things were created (M)through Him and for Him. 17 (N)And He is before all things, and in Him (O)all things consist. 18 And (P)He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, (Q)the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Reconciled in Christ
19 For it pleased the Father that (R)in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and (S)by Him to reconcile (T)all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, (U)having made peace through the blood of His cross.
33 And (A)when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 [a]Then Jesus said, “Father, (B)forgive them, for (C)they do not know what they do.”
And (D)they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And (E)the people stood looking on. But even the (F)rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”
36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him (G)sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”
38 (H)And an inscription also was [b]written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 (I)Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, [c]“If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done (J)nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said [d]to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in (K)Paradise.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.