Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
68 “Blessed be the Lord, Israel’s God!
He’s come to his people and bought them their freedom.
69 He’s raised up a horn of salvation for us
in David’s house, the house of his servant,
70 just as he promised, through the mouths of his prophets,
the holy ones, speaking from ages of old:
71 salvation from our enemies, rescue from hatred,
72 mercy to our ancestors, keeping his holy covenant.
73 He swore an oath to Abraham our father,
74 to give us deliverance from fear and from foes,
so we might worship him, 75 holy and righteous
before his face to the end of our days.
76 You, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest One,
You’ll go before the Lord, preparing his way,
77 letting his people know of salvation,
through the forgiveness of all their sins.
78 The heart of our God is full of mercy,
that’s why his daylight has dawned from on high,
79 bringing light to the dark, as we sat in death’s shadow,
guiding our feet in the path of peace.”
The Messiah is proclaimed
12 Now, my dear family, I want you to know that the things I’ve been through have actually helped the gospel on its way. 13 You see, everybody in the Imperial Guard, and all the rest for that matter, have heard that I am here, chained up, because of the Messiah. 14 My imprisonment has given new confidence to most of the Lord’s family; they are now much more prepared to speak the word boldly and fearlessly.
15 There are some, I should say, who are proclaiming the Messiah because of envy and rivalry; but there are others who are doing it out of good will. 16 These last are acting from love, since they know that I’m in prison because of defending the gospel; 17 but the others are announcing the Messiah out of selfishness and jealousy. They are not acting from pure motives. They imagine that they will make more trouble for me in my captivity.
18 So what? Only this: the Messiah is being announced, whether people mean it or not! I’m happy to celebrate that!
To live or to die?
Yes, and I really am going to celebrate:
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.