Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God redeems Israel
43 Israelites, descendants of Jacob, the Lord created you, and he made you who you are. Now he says this to you:
‘Do not be afraid,
I have rescued you to belong to me.
I have called you by your name,
so now you are mine.
2 When you go through deep water,
I will be with you.
When you cross dangerous rivers,
you will not drown.
When you walk through fire,
it will not burn you.
The flames will not destroy you.[a]
3 I am the Lord, your God,
so I will rescue you.
I am Israel's Holy God, your Saviour.
I gave Egypt as the price to buy you back.
I gave Ethiopia and Seba to their enemies,
so that you could be free.
4 You are very valuable to me.
You are my special people, and I love you.
So I will give other people to their enemies,
to keep your lives safe.
Other nations will pay the price,
instead of you.
5 I am with you,
so do not be afraid.
I will bring your descendants from the east.
I will also bring you together from the west.
6 I will say to people in the north,
“Give them back!”
And I will say to people in the south,
“Do not stop them!”
Bring my sons from places that are far away.
Bring my daughters from the ends of the earth.
7 Bring back everyone who belongs to me.
I created them,
so that they would bring honour to me.
I made them who they are.
Yes, I made them!
This is a song that David wrote.
The storm[a]
29 All you angels in heaven,
say how great the Lord is!
Say that the Lord rules with power!
2 Say that the Lord's name is great!
Worship the Lord for who he is,
and remember that he is holy.
3 The voice of the Lord shouts over the water.
The God of glory makes the noise of thunder.
The Lord appears over the great sea.[b]
4 The Lord's voice is powerful.
It has the authority of a king!
5 When the Lord shouts,
even the cedar trees break!
Yes! The Lord breaks the great cedar trees of Lebanon.[c]
6 He makes Lebanon jump like a calf.
He causes Hermon mountain to shake
like a young bull jumps.
7 The Lord's voice makes fire
like lightning in the sky.
8 When the Lord shouts,
the desert shakes!
He makes the Kadesh desert shake!
9 When the Lord shouts,
the big oak trees bend over.
The leaves fall off all the trees in the forests.
But in his temple,
everyone says, ‘He is great!’
10 The Lord rules as king over the deep waters.[d]
The Lord will be king for ever.
11 The Lord makes his people strong.
The Lord blesses his people with peace.
14 The apostles who were in Jerusalem heard about all this. They heard that many people in Samaria had believed God's word. So they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When these two apostles arrived in Samaria, they prayed for the people who now believed in Jesus. They asked God to give the new believers the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come to any of these people. When Philip had baptized them, he had just used the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 So Peter and John put their hands on the head of each believer, and they each received the Holy Spirit.
15 At this time people were thinking, ‘Is John the Messiah that God has promised?’ They were all hoping that he might be. 16 John knew what they were thinking. He said to them, ‘I baptize you with water. But someone else is coming soon. He is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to undo his shoes for him. This other person will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 He is like a farmer that brings the wheat home from his field. He uses a special tool to throw the wheat up in the air. He does this to make the wheat seeds separate from what remains. Then he cleans his yard. He carefully stores all the seeds to keep them safe. But he burns everything else in a great fire that nobody can put out.’
John baptizes Jesus
21 While John was still baptizing all the people, he also baptized Jesus. While Jesus was praying, the sky opened. 22 The Holy Spirit came down onto Jesus. When he came down like that, he looked like a dove. Then a voice spoke from heaven, ‘You are my Son and I love you. You make me very happy.’[a]
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