He Heals the Brokenhearted
1 Praise the Lord!
hFor it is good to sing praises to our God;
ifor it is pleasant,1 and a song of jpraise is fitting.
2 kThe Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he lgathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He mheals the nbrokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
4 oHe determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is pbeyond measure.
6 qThe Lord lifts up the humble;2
he rcasts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
smake melody to our God on the lyre!
8 He covers the heavens with clouds;
the prepares rain for the earth;
he makes grass grow on the hills.
9 uHe gives to the beasts their food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11 but the Lord vtakes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who whope in his steadfast love.
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders;
he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives xsnow like wool;
he scatters yfrost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his crystals of zice like crumbs;
who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them;
ahe makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19 bHe declares his word to Jacob,
his cstatutes and rules3 to Israel.
20 dHe has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his rules.4
Praise the Lord!
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 aIn those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 b“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is cat hand.”1 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
d“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare2 the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’”
4 Now John wore a garment of ecamel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You fbrood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the gwrath to come? 8 Bear fruit hin keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have iAbraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. jEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you kwith water for repentance, but lhe who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you mwith the Holy Spirit and nfire. 12 His owinnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and pgather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with qunquenchable fire.”
The Baptism of Jesus
13 rThen Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all srighteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, tthe heavens were opened to him,3 and he saw the uSpirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, v“This is my wbeloved Son,4 xwith whom I am well pleased.”
