¹The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus ²it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. ³Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. ⁴Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you."

⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; ⁶then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; ⁷the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

⁸A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God's people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. ⁹No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. ¹⁰And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

¹²"See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone's work. ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

¹⁴Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. ¹⁵Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹⁶"It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." ¹⁷The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let everyone who hears say, "Come." And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.

²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

⁶⁷Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy: ⁶⁸"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. ⁶⁹He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, ⁷⁰as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, ⁷¹that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. ⁷²Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, ⁷³the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us ⁷⁴that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, ⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. ⁷⁶And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, ⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. ⁷⁸By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, ⁷⁹to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

⁸⁰The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.

¹O LORD, remember in David's favor
     all the hardships he endured;
²how he swore to the LORD
     and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
³"I will not enter my house
     or get into my bed;
⁴I will not give sleep to my eyes
     or slumber to my eyelids,
⁵until I find a place for the LORD,
     a dwelling-place for the Mighty One of Jacob."

⁶We heard of it in Ephrathah;
     we found it in the fields of Jaar.
⁷"Let us go to his dwelling place;
     let us worship at his footstool."

⁸Rise up, O LORD, and go to your resting-place,
     you and the ark of your might.
⁹Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
     and let your faithful shout for joy.
¹⁰For your servant David's sake
     do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

¹¹The LORD swore to David a sure oath
     from which he will not turn back:
"One of the sons of your body
     I will set on your throne.

¹²If your sons keep my covenant
     and my decrees that I shall teach them,
their sons also, forevermore,
     shall sit on your throne."

¹³For the LORD has chosen Zion;
     he has desired it for his habitation:
¹⁴"This is my resting place forever;
     here I will reside, for I have desired it.
¹⁵I will abundantly bless its provisions;
     I will satisfy its poor with bread.
¹⁶Its priests I will clothe with salvation,
     and its faithful will shout for joy.
¹⁷There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David;
     I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
¹⁸His enemies I will clothe with disgrace,
     but on him, his crown will gleam."

¹When Israel went out from Egypt,
     the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
²Judah became God's sanctuary,
     Israel his dominion.

³The sea looked and fled;
     Jordan turned back.
⁴The mountains skipped like rams,
     the hills like lambs.

⁵Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
     O Jordan, that you turn back?
⁶O mountains, that you skip like rams?
     O hills, like lambs?

⁷Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD,
     at the presence of the God of Jacob,
⁸who turns the rock into a pool of water,
     the flint into a spring of water.

^15b The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
          that there was no justice.
¹⁶  He saw that there was no one,
          and was appalled that there was      no one to intervene;
     so his own arm brought him victory,
          and his righteousness upheld him.
¹⁷  He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
          and a helmet of salvation on his head;
     he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
          and wrapped himself in fury as in a mantle.
¹⁸ According to their deeds, so will he repay;
          wrath to his adversaries, requital to his enemies;
          to the coastlands he will render requital.

¹⁹  So those in the west shall fear the name of the Lord,
          and those in the east, his glory;
     for he will come like a pent-up stream
          that the wind of the Lord drives on.

²⁰  And he will come to Zion as Redeemer,
          to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, says the Lord.
²¹And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouths of your children, or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now on and for ever.

⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
⁶   who, though he was in the form of God,
          did not regard equality with God
          as something to be exploited,
⁷   but emptied himself,
          taking the form of a slave,
          being born in human likeness.
     And being found in human form,
⁸        he humbled himself
          and became obedient to the point of death —
          even death on a cross.

⁹   Therefore God also highly exalted him
          and gave him the name
          that is above every name,
¹⁰  so that at the name of Jesus
          every knee should bend,
           in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹  and every tongue should confess
          that Jesus Christ is Lord,
          to the glory of God the Father.