Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Reign of the Davidic King
11 Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse,(A)
and a branch(B) from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him(C)—
a Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
a Spirit of counsel and strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight will be in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge
by what he sees with his eyes,(D)
he will not execute justice
by what he hears with his ears,
4 but he will judge the poor righteously(E)
and execute justice for the oppressed of the land.
He will strike the land
with a scepter[a] from his mouth,(F)
and he will kill the wicked(G)
with a command[b] from his lips.(H)
5 Righteousness will be a belt around his hips;(I)
faithfulness will be a belt around his waist.
6 The wolf will dwell with the lamb,(J)
and the leopard will lie down with the goat.
The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf will be together,
and a child will lead them.
7 The cow and the bear will graze,
their young ones will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like cattle.
8 An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit,
and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den.
9 They will not harm or destroy each other
on my entire holy mountain,
for the land will be as full
of the knowledge of the Lord
as the sea is filled with water.(K)
8 And you, watchtower for the flock,(A)
fortified hill[a] of Daughter Zion,
the former rule(B) will come to you;
sovereignty will come to Daughter Jerusalem.
From Exile to Victory
9 Now, why are you shouting loudly?(C)
Is there no king with you?
Has your counselor perished(D)
so that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?
10 Writhe and cry out,[b](E) Daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you will leave the city(F)
and camp in the open fields.
You will go to Babylon;
there you will be rescued;(G)
there the Lord will redeem you(H)
from the grasp of your enemies!
11 Many nations have now assembled against you;(I)
they say, “Let her be defiled,
and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
12 But they do not know the Lord’s intentions(J)
or understand his plan,
that he has gathered them
like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Rise and thresh,(K) Daughter Zion,
for I will make your horns iron
and your hooves bronze
so you can crush many peoples.(L)
Then you[c] will set apart their plunder(M)
for the Lord,
their wealth for the Lord of the whole earth.
An Unresponsive Generation
31 “To what then should I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other:
We played the flute for you,
but you didn’t dance;
we sang a lament,
but you didn’t weep!
33 For John the Baptist did not come eating bread or drinking wine,(A) and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’(B) 35 Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
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