Prepare the Way for the LORD (Matthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8; Luke 3:1–20; John 1:19–28)
1 CPDV “Be consoled, be consoled, O my people!” says your God. BSB BSB: “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
2 CPDV Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her! For her malice has reached its end. Her iniquity has been forgiven. She has received double for all her sins from the hand of the Lord. BSB BSB: “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.”
3 CPDV The voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place. BSB BSB: A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
4 CPDV Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain and hill will be brought low. And the crooked will be straightened, and the uneven will become level ways. BSB BSB: Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.
5 CPDV And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” BSB BSB: And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
The Enduring Word (1 Peter 1:22–25)
7 CPDV The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. For the Spirit of the Lord has blown over it. Truly, the people are like grass. BSB BSB: The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.
Here Is Your God! (Romans 11:33–36)
9 CPDV You who evangelize Zion, climb a high mountain! You who evangelize Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah: “Behold, your God!” BSB BSB: Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
10 CPDV Behold, the Lord God will arrive in strength, and his arm will rule. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him. BSB BSB: Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm establishes His rule. His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him.
11 CPDV He will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom, and he himself will carry the very young. BSB BSB: He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
13 CPDV Who has assisted the Spirit of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor and has revealed things to him? BSB BSB: Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or informed Him as His counselor?
14 CPDV With whom has he consulted? And who has instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and guided him to knowledge, and revealed the way of understanding to him? BSB BSB: Whom did He consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the paths of justice? Who imparted knowledge to Him and showed Him the way of understanding?
15 CPDV Behold, the nations are like a drop of water in a bucket, and they are considered as the smallest grain on a balance. Behold, the islands are like a little dust. BSB BSB: Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 CPDV And Lebanon will not be sufficient to start a fire, and its animals will not be sufficient for a burnt offering. BSB BSB: Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.
17 CPDV All the nations in his sight are as if they did not exist, and they are considered by him as if they were nothingness and emptiness. BSB BSB: All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
18 CPDV Therefore, to whom would you liken God? Or with what image would you replace him? BSB BSB: To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?
19 CPDV Should the workman cast a statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver? BSB BSB: To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
20 CPDV He has chosen strong wood that will not decay. The skillful artisan seeks a way to set up an idol that cannot be moved. BSB BSB: One lacking such an offering chooses wood that will not rot. He seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.
21 CPDV Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? BSB BSB: Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?
22 CPDV He is the One who sits upon the globe of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He extends the heavens as if they were nothing, and he spreads them out like a tent, in which to dwell. BSB BSB: He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23 CPDV He has brought those who examine what is secret to nothingness. He has brought the judges of the earth to emptiness. BSB BSB: He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.
24 CPDV And certainly, their stalk was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the ground. He has suddenly blown across them, and they have withered, and a whirlwind will carry them away like chaff. BSB BSB: No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.
25 CPDV “And to whom would you compare me or equate me?” says the Holy One. BSB BSB: “To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 CPDV Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things. He leads forth their army by number, and he calls them all by name. Because of the fullness of his strength and robustness and virtue, not one of them was left behind. BSB BSB: Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
27 CPDV Why do you say this, O Jacob, and why do you speak this way, O Israel? “My way has been hidden from the Lord, and my judgment escaped notice by my God.” BSB BSB: Why do you say, O Jacob, and why do you assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God”?
29 CPDV It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing. BSB BSB: He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.
30 CPDV Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity. BSB BSB: Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
31 CPDV But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will walk and not tire. BSB BSB: But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.