Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
14 Shout for joy, daughter of Zion!
(A)Shout in triumph, Israel!
Rejoice and triumph with all your heart,
Daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away (B)His judgments against you,
He has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is (C)in your midst;
You will no longer (D)fear disaster.
16 (E)On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
“(F)Do not be afraid, Zion;
(G)Do not let your hands fall limp.
17 The Lord your God is (H)in your midst,
A [a](I)victorious warrior.
He will (J)rejoice over you with joy,
He will [b]be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
18 I will gather those who are (K)worried about the appointed feasts—
They [c]came from you, Zion;
The disgrace of exile is a burden on [d]them.
19 Behold, I am going to deal at that time
With all your (L)oppressors;
I will save (M)those who limp
And gather the scattered,
And I will turn their (N)shame into (O)praise and fame
In all the earth.
20 At that time I will (P)bring you in,
Even at the time when I gather you together;
Indeed, I will make you (Q)famous and praiseworthy
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I (R)restore your fortunes before your eyes,”
Says the Lord.
2 Behold, (A)God is my salvation,
I will (B)trust and not be afraid;
For (C)the Lord God is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.”
3 Therefore you will joyously (D)draw water
From the (E)springs of salvation.
4 And on that day you will (F)say,
“(G)Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name.
(H)Make known His deeds among the peoples;
[a]Make them remember that His name is exalted.”
5 (I)Praise the Lord in song, for He has done [b]glorious things;
Let this be known throughout the earth.
6 (J)Rejoice and shout for joy, you inhabitant of Zion,
For (K)great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
4 (A)Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. (B)The Lord is [a]near. 6 (C)Do not [b]be anxious about anything, but in everything by (D)prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And (E)the peace of God, which surpasses all [c]comprehension, will (F)guard your hearts and (G)minds in (H)Christ Jesus.
7 So he was saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “(A)You [a]offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore produce fruits that are consistent with repentance, and (B)do not start saying [b]to yourselves, ‘(C)We have Abraham as our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children for Abraham. 9 But indeed the axe is already being laid at the root of the trees; so (D)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “(E)Then what are we to do?” 11 And he would answer and say to them, “The one who has two [c]tunics is to (F)share with the one who has none; and the one who has food is to do likewise.” 12 Now even (G)tax collectors came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what are we to do?” 13 And he said to them, “[d]Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” 14 And soldiers also were questioning him, saying, “What are we to do, we as well?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone, nor [e](H)harass anyone, and (I)be content with your wages.”
15 Now while the people were in a state of expectation and they all were thinking carefully in their hearts about John, (J)whether he himself perhaps was the [f]Christ, 16 (K)John responded to them all, saying, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but He is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the straps of His sandals; He will baptize you [g]with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His (L)winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with (M)unquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.
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