Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁵ Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in Jehovah his God,

⁶ Who made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is therein; who keepeth truth for ever;

⁷ Who executeth judgment for the oppressed, who giveth bread to the hungry. Jehovah looseth the prisoners;

⁸ Jehovah openeth [the eyes of] the blind; Jehovah raiseth up them that are bowed down; Jehovah loveth the righteous;

⁹ Jehovah preserveth the strangers; he lifteth up the fatherless and the widow; but the way of the wicked doth he subvert.

¹⁰ Jehovah will reign for ever, [even] thy God, O Zion, from generation to generation. Halleluiah!

2 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart exulteth in Jehovah, my horn is lifted up in Jehovah; my mouth is opened wide over mine enemies; for I rejoice in thy salvation.

² There is none holy as Jehovah, for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God.

³ Do not multiply your words of pride, let not vain-glory come out of your mouth; For Jehovah is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

⁴ The bow of the mighty is broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.

⁵ They that were full have hired themselves out for bread; and the hungry are [so] no more: Even the barren beareth seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.

⁶ Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive; he bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up.

⁷ Jehovah maketh poor, and maketh rich, he bringeth low, also he lifteth up:

⁸ He raiseth up the poor out of the dust; from the dung-hill he lifteth up the needy, To set [him] among nobles; and he maketh them inherit a throne of glory; For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's, and he hath set the world upon them.

3 Now in the fifteenth year of the government of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Ituraea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

² in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, [the] word of God came upon John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

³ And he came into all the district round the Jordan, preaching [the] baptism of repentance for [the] remission of sins,

⁴ as it is written in [the] book of [the] words of Esaias the prophet: Voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of [the] Lord, make straight his paths.

⁵ Every gorge shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked [places] shall become a straight [path], and the rough places smooth ways,

⁶ and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

⁷ He said therefore to the crowds which went out to be baptised by him, Offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath?

⁸ Produce therefore fruits worthy of repentance; and begin not to say in yourselves, We have Abraham for [our] father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

⁹ And already also the axe is applied to the root of the trees; every tree therefore not producing good fruit is cut down and cast into [the] fire.

¹⁰ And the crowds asked him saying, What should we do then?

¹¹ And he answering says to them, He that has two body-coats, let him give to him that has none; and he that has food, let him do likewise.

¹² And tax-gatherers came also to be baptised, and they said to him, Teacher, what should we do?

¹³ And he said to them, Take no more [money] than what is appointed to you.

¹⁴ And persons engaged in military service also asked him saying, And we, what should we do? And he said to them, Oppress no one, nor accuse falsely, and be satisfied with your pay.

¹⁵ But as the people were in expectation, and all were reasoning in their hearts concerning John whether *he* might be the Christ,

¹⁶ John answered all, saying, *I* indeed baptise you with water, but the mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not fit to unloose; *he* shall baptise you with [the] Holy Spirit and fire;

¹⁷ whose winnowing-fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his threshing-floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

¹⁸ Exhorting then many other things also he announced [his] glad tidings to the people.