Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
3 “See, I am going to send My messenger,(A) and he will clear the way before Me.(B) Then the Lord you seek(C) will suddenly come to His temple,(D) the Messenger of the covenant you desire—see, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears?(E) For He will be like a refiner’s fire(F) and like cleansing lye.(G) 3 He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver.(H) Then they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4 And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord as in days of old(I) and years gone by.
68 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,(A)
because He has visited
and provided redemption for His people.(B)
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation[a] for us(C)
in the house of His servant David,(D)
70 just as He spoke by the mouth
of His holy prophets in ancient times;(E)
71 salvation from our enemies
and from the clutches[b] of those who hate us.
72 He has dealt mercifully with our fathers(F)
and remembered His holy covenant(G)—
73 the oath that He swore to our father Abraham.(H)
He has given us the privilege,
74 since we have been rescued
from our enemies’ clutches,[c]
to serve Him without fear
75 in holiness and righteousness
in His presence all our days.
76 And child, you will be called
a prophet of the Most High,(I)
for you will go before the Lord
to prepare His ways,(J)
77 to give His people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins.(K)
78 Because of our God’s merciful compassion,
the Dawn from on high(L) will visit us
79 to shine on those who live in darkness
and the shadow of death,(M)
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you,[a] 4 always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day(A) until now.(B) 6 I am sure of this, that He who started a good work(C) in you[b] will carry it on to completion(D) until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 It is right(E) for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart,[c] and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment(F) and in the defense(G) and establishment of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness,(H) how deeply I miss all of you(I) with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And I pray this: that your love(J) will keep on growing(K) in knowledge and every kind of discernment,(L) 10 so that you can approve the things that are superior(M) and can be pure(N) and blameless(O) in[d] the day of Christ,(P) 11 filled with the fruit(Q) of righteousness(R) that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory(S) and praise of God.
The Messiah’s Herald
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,[a] while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,(A) Herod was tetrarch[b] of Galilee,(B) his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea[c] and Trachonitis,[d] and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,[e] 2 during the high priesthood of Annas(C) and Caiaphas,(D) God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.(E) 3 He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan,(F) preaching a baptism of repentance[f] for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
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