Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
     my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
     he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
     not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
     and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
     the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
     I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
     as a covenant of the people,
     a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
     to bring out prisoners from confinement,
     and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

OR:

Is  40:1-5, 9-11

Comfort, give comfort to my people,
            says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
            that her service is at an end,
            her guilt is expiated;
indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
            double for all her sins.

            A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
            Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
            every mountain and hill shall be made low;
the rugged land shall be made a plain,
            the rough country, a broad valley. 
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
            and all people shall see it together;
            for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Go up on to a high mountain,
            Zion, herald of glad tidings;
cry out at the top of your voice,
            Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
            and say to the cities of Judah:
            Here is your God!
Here comes with power
            the Lord GOD,
            who rules by a strong arm;
here is his reward with him,
            his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
            in his arms he gathers the lambs,
carrying them in his bosom,
            and leading the ewes with care.

R. (11b)  The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Give to the LORD, you sons of God,
            give to the LORD glory and praise,
Give to the LORD the glory due his name;
            adore the LORD in holy attire.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
            the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
            the voice of the LORD is majestic. 
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The God of glory thunders,
            and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
The LORD is enthroned above the flood;
            the LORD is enthroned as king forever.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.

OR:

Ps 104:1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30 

R. (1)  O bless the Lord, my soul.
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
     you are clothed with majesty and glory,
robed in light as with a cloak.
     You have spread out the heavens like a tent-cloth;
R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
You have constructed your palace upon the waters.
     You make the clouds your chariot;
you travel on the wings of the wind.
     You make the winds your messengers,
and flaming fire your ministers.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
How manifold are your works, O LORD!
     In wisdom you have wrought them allC
the earth is full of your creatures;
     the sea also, great and wide,
in which are schools without number
     of living things both small and great.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
They look to you to give them food in due time.
     When you give it to them, they gather it;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul.
If you take away their breath, they perish and return to the dust.
     When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul.

Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered
in the house of Cornelius, saying: 
“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.
You know the word that he sent to the Israelites 
as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, 
what has happened all over Judea, 
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached, 
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good 
and healing all those oppressed by the devil, 
for God was with him.”

OR: 

Ti 2:11-14; 3:4-7

Beloved:
The grace of God has appeared, saving all
and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires
and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,
as we await the blessed hope,
the appearance of the glory of our great God
and savior Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness
and to cleanse for himself a people as his own,
eager to do what is good.

            When the kindness and generous love
                        of God our savior appeared,
            not because of any righteous deeds we had done
                        but because of his mercy,
            He saved us through the bath of rebirth
                        and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
            whom he richly poured out on us
                        through Jesus Christ our savior,
            so that we might be justified by his grace
                        and become heirs in hope of eternal life.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The heavens were opened and the voice of the Father thundered:
This is my beloved Son, listen to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

OR:

Cf. Lk 3:16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
John said: One mightier than I is coming;
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying, 
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

After all the people had been baptized 
and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, 
heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him
in bodily form like a dove. 
And a voice came from heaven, 
“You are my beloved Son;
with you I am well pleased.”

Beloved:
We have this confidence in him
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 
And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask,
we know that what we have asked him for is ours. 
If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly,
he should pray to God and he will give him life. 
This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. 
There is such a thing as deadly sin,
about which I do not say that you should pray. 
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

We know that anyone begotten by God does not sin;
but the one begotten by God he protects,
and the Evil One cannot touch him. 
We know that we belong to God,
and the whole world is under the power of the Evil One. 
We also know that the Son of God has come
and has given us discernment to know the one who is true. 
And we are in the one who is true,
in his Son Jesus Christ. 
He is the true God and eternal life. 
Children, be on your guard against idols.

R.        (see 4a)  The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R.        Alleluia.
Sing to the LORD a new song
            of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
            let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R.        The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R.        Alleluia.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
            let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
            and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R.        The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R.        Alleluia.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
            let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
            This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R.        The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R.        Alleluia.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea,
where he spent some time with them baptizing. 
John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim,
because there was an abundance of water there,
and people came to be baptized,
for John had not yet been imprisoned. 
Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew
about ceremonial washings. 
So they came to John and said to him,
“Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan,
to whom you testified,
here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.”
John answered and said,
“No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. 
You yourselves can testify that I said that I am not the Christ,
but that I was sent before him. 
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom;
the best man, who stands and listens for him,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. 
So this joy of mine has been made complete. 
He must increase; I must decrease.”