Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
40 “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people,” saith your God.
2 “Speak ye comfortingly to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received from the Lord’S hand double for all her sins.”
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”
6 The voice said, “Cry!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.
7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”
9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.
11 He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
85 Lord, Thou hast been favorable unto Thy land; Thou hast released the captives of Jacob.
2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of Thy people; Thou hast covered all their sin. Selah
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace unto His people and to His saints; but let them not turn again to folly.
9 Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good, and our land shall yield her increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before Him, and shall set us in the way of His steps.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing: that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy manner of living and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening unto the coming of the Day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Therefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.
15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you,
1 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.”
3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’”
4 John baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judea and those of Jerusalem; and they were all baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.
6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a girdle of a skin about his loins, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
7 And he preached, saying, “There cometh after me One mightier than I, the strap of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
8 I indeed have baptized you with water, but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.”
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