Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
7 (A)Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and (B)answer me.
8 When You said, “(C)Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, (D)I shall seek.”
9 (E)Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in (F)anger;
You have been (G)my help;
(H)Do not abandon me nor (I)forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
10 [a]For my father and (J)my mother have forsaken me,
But (K)the Lord will take me up.
11 (L)Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a (M)level path
Because of [b]my foes.
12 Do not deliver me over to the [c](N)desire of my adversaries,
For (O)false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as (P)breathe out violence.
13 [d]I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the (Q)goodness of the Lord
In the (R)land of the living.
14 (S)Wait for the Lord;
Be (T)strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.
8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
(A)Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
9 “Judah is a (B)lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
(C)He [a]couches, he lies down as a lion,
And as a [b]lion, who [c]dares rouse him up?
10 “(D)The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
[d]Until Shiloh comes,
And (E)to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 “[e](F)He ties his foal to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;
(G)He washes his garments in wine,
And his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 “His eyes are [f]dull from wine,
And his teeth [g]white from milk.
21 “(A)Naphtali is a doe let loose,
He gives beautiful words.
22 “(B)Joseph is a fruitful [a]bough,
A fruitful [b]bough by a spring;
Its [c]branches run over a wall.
23 “The archers bitterly attacked him,
And shot at him and harassed him;
24 But his (C)bow remained [d]firm,
And [e](D)his arms were agile,
From the hands of the (E)Mighty One of Jacob
(From there is (F)the Shepherd, (G)the Stone of Israel),
25 From (H)the God of your father who helps you,
And [f](I)by the [g]Almighty who blesses you
With (J)blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 “The blessings of your father
Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors
Up to the [h]utmost bound of (K)the everlasting hills;
May they be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.
Zacharias’s Prophecy
67 And his father Zacharias (A)was filled with the Holy Spirit, and (B)prophesied, saying:
68 “(C)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished (D)redemption for His people,
69 And has raised up a (E)horn of salvation for us
In the house of David (F)His servant—
70 (G)As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets (H)from of old—
71 [a](I)Salvation (J)from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
72 (K)To show mercy toward our fathers,
(L)And to remember His holy covenant,
73 (M)The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 (N)In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
76 “And you, child, will be called the (O)prophet of (P)the Most High;
For you will go on (Q)before the Lord to (R)prepare His ways;
77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
[b]By (S)the forgiveness of their sins,
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which (T)the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
79 (U)To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the (V)way of peace.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.