Irreverently Reverend

  Second Sunday of Advent In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,  2  during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.  3  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  4  As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,     make his paths straight. 5  Every valley shall be filled,     and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight,     and the rough places shal...

  Fourth Sunday in Lent 4  Then they traveled from Mount Hor on the road toward the Sea of Suf in order to go around the land of Edom; but the people’s tempers grew short because of the detour.  5  The people spoke against God and against Moshe: “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? To die in the desert? There’s no real food, there’s no water, and we’re sick of this miserable stuff we’re eating!” 6  In response, Adonai sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit the people, and many of Isra’el’s people died.  7  The people came to Moshe and said, “We sinned by speaking against Adonai and against you. Pray to Adonai that he rid us of these snakes.” Moshe prayed for the people,  8  and Adonai answered Moshe: “Make a poisonous snake and put it on a pole. When anyone who has been bitten sees it, he will live.”  9  Moshe made a bronze snake and put it on the pole; if a snake had bitten some...