Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
14 Sing for joy, Daughter Zion;
shout loudly, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
Daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has removed your punishment;
He has turned back your enemy.
The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you;
you need no longer fear harm.
16 On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, do not let your hands grow weak.(A)
17 Yahweh your God is among you,
a warrior(B) who saves.
He will rejoice over you(C) with gladness.
He will bring you quietness[a] with His love.
He will delight in you with shouts of joy.”(D)
18 I will gather those who have been driven(E)
from the appointed festivals;
they will be a tribute from you[b]
and a reproach on her.[c]
19 Yes, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you.
I will save the lame(F) and gather the scattered;(G)
I will make those who were disgraced
throughout the earth
receive praise and fame.
20 At that time I will bring you[d] back,
yes, at the time I will gather you.
I will give you fame and praise
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes(H) before your eyes.
Yahweh has spoken.
2 Indeed, God is my salvation;
I will trust Him and not be afraid,
for Yah, the Lord,
is my strength and my song.
He has become my salvation.”(A)
3 You will joyfully draw water(B)
from the springs of salvation,
4 and on that day you will say:
“Give thanks to Yahweh; proclaim His name!
Celebrate His works among the peoples.(C)
Declare that His name is exalted.
5 Sing to Yahweh, for He has done glorious things.(D)
Let this be known throughout the earth.
6 Cry out and sing, citizen of Zion,
for the Holy One of Israel(E) is among you
in His greatness.”
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.(A) 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses(B) every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.(C)
7 He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers!(A) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’(B) for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 9 Even now the ax is ready to strike[a] the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”(C)
10 “What then should we do?”(D) the crowds were asking him.
11 He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts[b] must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.”(E)
12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”(F)
13 He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.”
14 Some soldiers also questioned him: “What should we do?”
He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation; be satisfied with your wages.”
15 Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were debating in their minds[c] whether John might be the Messiah.(G) 16 John answered them all,(H) “I baptize you with[d] water, but One is coming who is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals. He will baptize you with[e] the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing shovel[f](I) is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with a fire that never goes out.”(J) 18 Then, along with many other exhortations, he proclaimed good news to the people.
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