Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,
70 as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets of long ago,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
72 to perform the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
73 the oath which He swore to our father Abraham,
74 to grant us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
might serve Him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.
76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to His people
by the remission of their sins,
78 through the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise from on high has visited us;
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Impending Judgment
22 Thus says the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak this word there, 2 and say: Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah who sits on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter by these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver the robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. And do no wrong or violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you indeed do these things, then kings sitting on the throne of David will enter by the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses, he and his servants and his people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself, says the Lord, that this house will become a desolation.
6 For thus says the Lord to the king’s house of Judah:
You are Gilead to Me,
and the peak of Lebanon;
yet surely I will make you a wilderness
and cities which are not inhabited.
7 I will prepare destroyers against you,
everyone with his weapons;
and they shall cut down your choice cedars
and cast them into the fire.
8 Many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the Lord done thus to this great city?” 9 Then they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.”
10 Do not weep for the dead nor bemoan him,
but weep constantly for him who goes away;
for he will return no more
nor see his native country.
11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, who became king instead of Josiah his father, who went from this place: He will not return any more, 12 but will die in the place where they have led him captive and will see this land no more.
13 Woe to him who builds his house with unrighteousness
and his chambers with injustice,
who uses his neighbor’s services without wages,
and gives him nothing for his work,
14 who says, “I will build myself a roomy house
and large chambers,”
and cuts out its windows,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.
15 Do you reign
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness,
and then it was well with him?
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well with him.
Is not this what it means to know Me?
says the Lord.
17 But your eyes and your heart
are intent only on your covetousness
and on shedding innocent blood
and on oppression and violence.
A Living Hope
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that does not fade away, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now, if for a little while, you have had to suffer various trials, 7 in order that the genuineness of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tried by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom, having not seen, you love; and in whom, though you do not see Him now, you believe and you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, 9 receiving as the result of your faith the salvation of your souls.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.