Isaiah 12:2–6; Zephaniah 3:14–20; Luke 3:7–18; Philippians 4:4–7

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Isaiah 12:2–6

Behold, God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid;

for wthe Lord God1 is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation.

xWith joy you2 will draw water from the wells of salvation. yAnd you will say in that day:

zGive thanks to the Lord,

call upon his name,

amake known his deeds among the peoples,

proclaim bthat his name is exalted.

cSing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;

let this be made known3 in all the earth.

Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,

for great din your4 midst is ethe Holy One of Israel.


Zephaniah 3:14–20

Israel’s Joy and Restoration

14  jSing aloud, O daughter of Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

15  The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;

he has cleared away your enemies.

kThe King of Israel, lthe Lord, is in your midst;

you shall never again fear evil.

16  zOn that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

Fear not, O Zion;

mlet not your hands grow weak.

17  lThe Lord your God is in your midst,

na mighty one who will save;

ohe will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

18  I will gather those of you who mourn pfor the festival,

so that you will no longer suffer reproach.1

19  Behold, at that time qI will deal

with all your oppressors.

And rI will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change stheir shame into tpraise

and renown in all the earth.

20  uAt that time I will bring you in,

at the time when I gather you together;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

vwhen I restore your fortunes

before your eyes, says the Lord.


Luke 3:7–18

He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, cYou brood of dvipers! Who warned you to flee from ethe wrath to come? Bear fruits fin keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, gWe have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from hthese stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. iEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

10 And the crowds asked him, jWhat then shall we do? 11 And he answered them, kWhoever has two tunics1 is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise. 12 lTax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, Teacher, jwhat shall we do? 13 And he said to them, mCollect no more than you are authorized to do. 14 Soldiers also asked him, And we, jwhat shall we do? And he said to them, mDo not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your nwages.

15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, owhether he might be pthe Christ, 16 qJohn answered them all, saying, I baptize you with water, but rhe who is mightier than I is coming, sthe strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you twith the Holy Spirit and ufire. 17 His vwinnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to wgather the wheat into his barn, xbut the chaff he will burn with yunquenchable fire.

18 So zwith many other exhortations he preached good news to the people.


Philippians 4:4–7

pRejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness1 be known to everyone. qThe Lord is at hand; rdo not be anxious about anything, sbut in everything by prayer and supplication twith thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And uthe peace of God, vwhich surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.