Luke 3:7-18

 John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’

 And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’

 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Numbers 24:2-7,15-17a

Balaam looked up and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. Then the spirit of God came upon him, and he uttered his oracle, saying:
‘The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
   the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,
the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
   who sees the vision of the Almighty,
   who falls down, but with eyes uncovered:
how fair are your tents, O Jacob,
   your encampments, O Israel!
Like palm groves that stretch far away,
   like gardens beside a river,
like aloes that the Lord has planted,
   like cedar trees beside the waters.
Water shall flow from his buckets,
   and his seed shall have abundant water,
his king shall be higher than Agag,
   and his kingdom shall be exalted.
Balaam’s Fourth Oracle

 So he uttered his oracle, saying:
‘The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
   the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,
the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
   and knows the knowledge of the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
   who falls down, but with his eyes uncovered:
I see him, but not now;
   I behold him, but not near—
a star shall come out of Jacob,
   and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel.

Psalm 25:3-8    Ad te, Domine, levavi

Matthew 21:23-27

When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13

Ah, soiled, defiled,
   oppressing city!
It has listened to no voice;
   it has accepted no correction.
It has not trusted in the Lord;
   it has not drawn near to its God.

At that time I will change the speech of the peoples
   to a pure speech,
that all of them may call on the name of the Lord
   and serve him with one accord.
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
   my suppliants, my scattered ones,
   shall bring my offering.

On that day you shall not be put to shame
   because of all the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then I will remove from your midst
   your proudly exultant ones,
and you shall no longer be haughty
   in my holy mountain.
For I will leave in the midst of you
   a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord—
   the remnant of Israel;
they shall do no wrong
   and utter no lies,
nor shall a deceitful tongue
   be found in their mouths.
Then they will pasture and lie down,
   and no one shall make them afraid.

Psalm 34:1-8    Benedicam Domine

Matthew 21:28-32

 ‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Isaiah 45:5-8(9-17)18-25

I am the Lord, and there is no other;
   besides me there is no god.
   I arm you, though you do not know me,
so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
   and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
   I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
   I make weal and create woe;
   I the Lord do all these things.

Shower, O heavens, from above,
   and let the skies rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,
   and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also;
   I the Lord have created it.

[Woe to you who strive with your Maker,
   earthen vessels with the potter!
Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’
   or ‘Your work has no handles’?
Woe to anyone who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
   or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labour?’
Thus says the Lord,
   the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:
Will you question me about my children,
   or command me concerning the work of my hands?
I made the earth,
   and created humankind upon it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
   and I commanded all their host.
I have aroused Cyrus in righteousness,
   and I will make all his paths straight;
he shall build my city
   and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,
   says the Lord of hosts.
Thus says the Lord:
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia,
   and the Sabeans, tall of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours,
   they shall follow you;
   they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying,
   ‘God is with you alone, and there is no other;
   there is no god besides him.’
Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
   O God of Israel, the Saviour.
All of them are put to shame and confounded,
   the makers of idols go in confusion together.
But Israel is saved by the Lord
   with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
   to all eternity.]

For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
   (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
   (he established it;
he did not create it a chaos,
   he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I did not speak in secret,
   in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
   ‘Seek me in chaos.’
I the Lord speak the truth,
   I declare what is right.

Idols Cannot Save Babylon

Assemble yourselves and come together,
   draw near, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge—
   those who carry about their wooden idols,
and keep on praying to a god
   that cannot save.
Declare and present your case;
   let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
   Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
   There is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Saviour;
   there is no one besides me.

Turn to me and be saved,
   all the ends of the earth!
   For I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn,
   from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
   a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
   every tongue shall swear.’

Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
   are righteousness and strength;
all who were incensed against him
   shall come to him and be ashamed.
In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
   shall triumph and glory.

Psalm 85    Benedixisti, Domine

Isaiah 54:1-10

Sing, O barren one who did not bear;
   burst into song and shout,
   you who have not been in labour!
For the children of the desolate woman will be more
   than the children of her that is married, says the Lord.
Enlarge the site of your tent,
   and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
   and strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
   and your descendants will possess the nations
   and will settle the desolate towns.

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
   do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
   and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.
For your Maker is your husband,
   the Lord of hosts is his name;
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
   the God of the whole earth he is called.
For the Lord has called you
   like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,
   says your God.
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
   but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing wrath for a moment
   I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
   says the Lord, your Redeemer.

This is like the days of Noah to me:
   Just as I swore that the waters of Noah
   would never again go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
   and will not rebuke you.
For the mountains may depart
   and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
   and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
   says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Luke 7:24-30

 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
   who will prepare your way before you.”
I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.’ (And all the people who heard this, including the tax-collectors, acknowledged the justice of God, because they had been baptized with John’s baptism. But by refusing to be baptized by him, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves.)