First Reading: A reading from the prophet Zephaniah Zeph 3:14-18

With gladness the Lord will rejoice over you.

Shout for joy, daughter of Zion, Israel, shout aloud! Rejoice, exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has repealed your sentence; he has driven your enemies away. The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst; you have no more evil to fear. when that day comes, word will come to Jerusalem:

Zion, have no fear, do not let your hands fall limp. The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult with joy over you, he will renew you by his love; he will dance with shouts of joy for you as on a day of festival.

This is the word of the Lord

Second Reading: A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Philippians Phil 4:4-7

The Lord is near.

I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord; I repeat, what I want is your happiness. Let your tolerance be evident to everyone: the Lord is very near. There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus.

This is the word of the Lord.

Gospel Reading: A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke Lk 3:10-18

What, then, must we do?

When all the people asked John, 'What must we do? he answered, 'If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same'. There were tax collectors too who came for baptism, and these said to him, 'Master, what must we do?' He said to them, 'Extract no more than your rate'. Some soldiers asked him in their turn, 'What must we do?' He said to them, 'No intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay!'

A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ, so John declared bedore them all, 'I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will patise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fan is in his hand to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out'. As well as this, there were many other things he said to exhort the people and to announce the Good News to them.

The Gospel of the Lord.