Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Joy in God’s Faithfulness
14 (A)Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away your judgments,
He has cast out your enemy.
(B)The King of Israel, the Lord, (C)is in your midst;
You shall [a]see disaster no more.
16 In that day (D)it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, (E)let not your hands be weak.
17 The Lord your God (F)in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
(G)He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
18 “I will gather those who (H)sorrow over the appointed assembly,
Who are among you,
To whom its reproach is a burden.
19 Behold, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you;
I will save the (I)lame,
And gather those who were driven out;
I will appoint them for praise and fame
In every land where they were put to shame.
20 At that time (J)I will bring you back,
Even at the time I gather you;
For I will give you [b]fame and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I return your captives before your eyes,”
Says the Lord.
2 Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
(A)‘For (B)Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’ ”
3 Therefore with joy you will draw (C)water
From the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day you will say:
(D)“Praise the Lord, call upon His name;
(E)Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His (F)name is exalted.
5 (G)Sing to the Lord,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.
6 (H)Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is (I)the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
4 (A)Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
5 Let your [a]gentleness be known to all men. (B)The Lord is at hand.
6 (C)Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with (D)thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and (E)the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
John Preaches to the People(A)
7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, (B)“Brood[a] of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits (C)worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore (D)every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 So the people asked him, saying, (E)“What shall we do then?”
11 He answered and said to them, (F)“He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, (G)let him do likewise.”
12 Then (H)tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, (I)“Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”
14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”
So he said to them, “Do not [b]intimidate anyone (J)or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”
15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, 16 John answered, saying to all, (K)“I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will (L)baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and (M)gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18 And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.