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God’s People Are Comforted

40Comfort, O comfort my people,
   says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
   and cry to her
that she has served her term,
   that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
   double for all her sins.

³ A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
   make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
   and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
   and the rough places a plain.
⁵ Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
   and all people shall see it together,
   for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’

⁹ Get you up to a high mountain,
   O Zion, herald of good tidings;^*
lift up your voice with strength,
   O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,^*
   lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
   ‘Here is your God!’
¹⁰ See, the Lord God comes with might,
   and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
   and his recompense before him.
¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
   he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
   and gently lead the mother sheep.

Psalm 104

God the Creator and Provider

¹ Bless the Lord, O my soul.
   O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honour and majesty,
²   wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
³   you set the beams of your^* chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your^* chariot,
   you ride on the wings of the wind,
⁴ you make the winds your^* messengers,
   fire and flame your^* ministers.

⁵ You set the earth on its foundations,
   so that it shall never be shaken.
⁶ You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
   the waters stood above the mountains.
⁷ At your rebuke they flee;
   at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
⁸ They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys
   to the place that you appointed for them.
⁹ You set a boundary that they may not pass,
   so that they might not again cover the earth.

¹⁰ You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
   they flow between the hills,
¹¹ giving drink to every wild animal;
   the wild asses quench their thirst.
¹² By the streams^* the birds of the air have their habitation;
   they sing among the branches.
¹³ From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
   the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

¹⁴ You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
   and plants for people to use,^*
to bring forth food from the earth,
¹⁵   and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine,
   and bread to strengthen the human heart.
¹⁶ The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
   the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
¹⁷ In them the birds build their nests;
   the stork has its home in the fir trees.
¹⁸ The high mountains are for the wild goats;
   the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
¹⁹ You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
   the sun knows its time for setting.
²⁰ You make darkness, and it is night,
   when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
²¹ The young lions roar for their prey,
   seeking their food from God.
²² When the sun rises, they withdraw
   and lie down in their dens.
²³ People go out to their work
   and to their labour until the evening.

²⁴ O Lord, how manifold are your works!
   In wisdom you have made them all;
   the earth is full of your creatures.
²⁵ Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
   creeping things innumerable are there,
   living things both small and great.
²⁶ There go the ships,
   and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.

²⁷ These all look to you
   to give them their food in due season;
²⁸ when you give to them, they gather it up;
   when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
²⁹ When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
   when you take away their breath, they die
   and return to their dust.
³⁰ When you send forth your spirit,^* they are created;
   and you renew the face of the ground.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;
   may the Lord rejoice in his works—
³² who looks on the earth and it trembles,
   who touches the mountains and they smoke.
³³ I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
   I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him,
   for I rejoice in the Lord.
³⁵ Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
   and let the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,^{* 12}training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Saviour,^* Jesus Christ. ¹⁴He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. ⁴But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Saviour appeared, ⁵he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water^* of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. ⁶This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, ⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,^{* 16}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.

The Baptism of Jesus

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, ²²and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved;^* with you I am well pleased.’^*