Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace
9 [a]But there will be no more (A)gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He (B)treated the (C)land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the [b]Gentiles.
2 [c](D)The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
3 (E)You shall multiply the nation,
You (F)shall [d]increase [e]their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness [f]of harvest,
As [g](G)men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For (H)You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their (I)oppressor, as [h]at the battle of (J)Midian.
4 (A)One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may (B)dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold (C)the [a]beauty of the Lord
And to [b](D)meditate in His temple.
5 For in the (E)day of trouble He will (F)conceal me in His [c]tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will (G)hide me;
He will (H)lift me up on a rock.
6 And now (I)my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent (J)sacrifices [d]with shouts of joy;
I will (K)sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 (L)Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and (M)answer me.
8 When You said, “(N)Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, (O)I shall seek.”
9 (P)Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in (Q)anger;
You have been (R)my help;
(S)Do not abandon me nor (T)forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
10 Now (A)I exhort you, (B)brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all [a]agree and that there be no [b](C)divisions among you, but that you be [c]made complete in (D)the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that (E)each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of (F)Apollos,” and “I of (G)Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” 13 [d]Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you (H)baptized [e]in the name of Paul? 14 [f]I thank God that I (I)baptized none of you except (J)Crispus and (K)Gaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized [g]in my name. 16 Now I did baptize also the (L)household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 (M)For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, (N)not in [h]cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.
The Wisdom of God
18 For the word of the cross is (O)foolishness to (P)those who [i]are perishing, but to us who [j]are being saved it is (Q)the power of God.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
12 Now when Jesus heard that (A)John had been taken into custody, (B)He withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and (C)settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
15 “(D)The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
[a]By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the [b]Gentiles—
16 “(E)The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,
And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a Light dawned.”
17 (F)From that time Jesus began to [c]preach and say, “(G)Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The First Disciples
18 (H)Now as Jesus was walking by (I)the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, (J)Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He *said to them, “[d]Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, [e](K)James the son of Zebedee, and [f]John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
Ministry in Galilee
23 Jesus was going (L)throughout all Galilee, (M)teaching in their synagogues and (N)proclaiming the [g]gospel of the kingdom, and (O)healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
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