8 Thus says the Lord:
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants’ sake,
and not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it,
and my servants shall dwell there.
10 Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
for my people who have gsought me.
11 But you who hforsake the Lord,
who forget my holy mountain,
who set a table for Fortune
and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
because, iwhen I called, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not listen,
but you did what was evil in my eyes
and chose what I did not delight in.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, my servants shall eat,
but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;
14 behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
but you shall cry out for pain of heart
and shall wail for breaking of spirit.
15 You shall leave your name to my chosen jfor a curse,
and the Lord God will put you to death,
but his servants khe will call by another name,
16 so that he who blesses himself in the land
shall bless himself by the God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
shall swear by the God of truth;
because the former troubles are forgotten
and are hidden from my eyes.
New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “For behold, I create lnew heavens
and a new earth,
and mthe former things shall not be remembered
nor come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be oa joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
19 pI will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
qno more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 rThey shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not sbuild and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy1 the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,2
for they shall be the toffspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
24 uBefore they call I will answer;
vwhile they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 wThe wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and xdust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all ymy holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 bIn the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, cPontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and dHerod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother ePhilip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of fAnnas and gCaiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a hbaptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
i“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,1
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6 and jall flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You kbrood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the lwrath to come? 8 Bear fruits min keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have nAbraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. oEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has ptwo tunics2 is to qshare with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, r“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning sJohn, whether he might be tthe Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you uwith water, vbut he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the wHoly Spirit and fire. 17 His xwinnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ygather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with zunquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 aBut Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, bhis brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that che locked up John in prison.
