The desert and the parched land will exult;/ the steppe will rejoice and bloom./ They will bloom with abundant flowers,/ and rejoice with joyful song./ The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,/ the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;/ they will see the glory of the Lord,/ the splendor of our God./ Strengthen the hands that are feeble,/ make firm the knees that are weak,/ say to those whose hearts are frightened:/ Be strong, fear not!/ Here is your God,/ he comes with vindication;/ with divine re­compense/ he comes to save you./ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,/ the ears of the deaf be cleared;/ then will the lame leap like a stag,/ then the tongue of the mute will sing.

When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.

In those days,/ like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah/ whose words were as a flaming furnace./ Their staff of bread he shattered,/ in his zeal he reduced them to straits;/ By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens/ and three times brought down fire./ How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!/ Whose glory is equal to yours?/ You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,/ in a chariot with fiery horses./ You were destined, it is written, in time to come/ to put an end to wrath before the day of the Lord,/ To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,/ and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob./ Blessed is he who shall have seen you/ and who falls asleep in your friendship.

As they were coming down from the mountain, the ­disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!

God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.

I am the Lord, your God,/ who grasp your right hand;/ It is I who say to you, “Fear not,/ I will help you.”/ Fear not, O worm Jacob,/ O maggot Israel;/ I will help you, says the Lord;/ your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel./ I will make of you a threshing sledge,/ sharp, new, and double-edged,/ To thresh the mountains and crush them,/ to make the hills like chaff./ When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off/ and the storm shall scatter them./ But you shall rejoice in the Lord,/ and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Jesus said to the crowds: “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.