Thursday of the 3rd week of Advent

1Give praise, you who are barren and unable to conceive. Sing praise and make a joyful noise, you who have not given birth. For many are the children of the desolate, more so than of her who has a husband, says the Lord. 2Enlarge the place of your tent and extend the skins of your tabernacles, unsparingly. Lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. 3For you shall extend to the right and to the left. And your offspring shall inherit the nations, and you shall inhabit the desolate cities. 4Do not be afraid! For you will not be confounded, and you will not blush. And you will not be put to shame, because you shall forget the confusion of your youth, and you shall no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood. 5For the One who made you will rule over you. The Lord of hosts is his name. And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, will be called the God of all the earth. 6For the Lord has called you, like a woman forsaken and mourning in spirit, and like a wife rejected in her youth, said your God. 7For a brief moment, I have forsaken you, and with great pities, I will gather you. 8In a moment of indignation, I have hidden my face from you, for a little while. But with everlasting mercy, I have taken pity on you, said your Redeemer, the Lord. 9For me, it is just as in the days of Noah, to whom I swore that I would no longer bring in the waters of Noah over the earth. Thus have I sworn not to be angry with you, and not to rebuke you. 10For the mountains will be moved, and the hills will tremble. But my mercy will not depart from you, and the covenant of my peace will not be shaken, said the Lord, who has compassion on you.

2I will extol you, Lord, for you have sustained me, and you have not allowed my enemies to delight over me.

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4Lord, you led my soul away from Hell. You have saved me from those who descend into the pit.

5Sing a psalm to the Lord, you his saints, and confess with remembrance of his holiness.

6For wrath is in his indignation, and life is in his will. Toward evening, weeping will linger, and toward morning, gladness.

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11The Lord has heard, and he has been merciful to me. The Lord has become my helper.

12You have turned my mourning into gladness for me. You have cut off my sackcloth, and you have surrounded me with joy.

13So then, may my glory sing to you, and may I not regret it. O Lord, my God, I will confess to you for eternity.

24And when the messengers of John had withdrawn, he began to speak about John to the crowds. “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25Then what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those who are in costly apparel and finery are in the houses of kings. 26Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Certainly, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27This is he of whom it is written: “Behold, I send my Angel before your face, who shall prepare your way before you.” 28For I say to you, among those born of women, no one is greater than the prophet John the Baptist. But he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29And upon hearing this, all the people and the tax collectors justified God, by being baptized with the baptism of John. 30But the Pharisees and the experts in the law despised the counsel of God concerning themselves, by not being baptized by him.