December 7-8, 2024

1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight. 5Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;
6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

(Luke 3:1-6)