Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Lord of Power and Justice
A psalm.
98 Sing to the Lord a new song,
because he has done miracles.
By his right hand and holy arm
he has won the victory.
2 The Lord has made known his power to save;
he has shown the other nations his victory for his people.
3 He has remembered his love
and his loyalty to the people of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
God’s power to save.
4 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth;
burst into songs and make music.
5 Make music to the Lord with harps,
with harps and the sound of singing.
6 Blow the trumpets and the sheep’s horns;
shout for joy to the Lord the King.
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout;
let the world and everyone in it sing.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the mountains sing together for joy.
9 Let them sing before the Lord,
because he is coming to judge the world.
He will judge the world fairly;
he will judge the peoples with fairness.
The Coals of Fire
10 Then I looked and saw in the dome above the heads of the living creatures something like a sapphire gem which looked like a throne. 2 The Lord said to the man dressed in linen, “Go in between the wheels under the living creatures, fill your hands with coals of fire from between the living creatures, and scatter the coals over the city.”
As I watched, the man with linen clothes went in. 3 Now the living creatures were standing on the south side of the Temple when the man went in. And a cloud filled the inner courtyard. 4 Then the glory of the Lord went up from the living creatures and stood over the door of the Temple. The Temple was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was full of the brightness from the glory of the Lord. 5 The sound of the wings of the living creatures was heard all the way to the outer courtyard. It was like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
6 When the Lord commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from between the wheels, from between the living creatures,” the man went in and stood by a wheel. 7 One living creature put out his hand to the fire that was among them, took some of the fire, and put it in the hands of the man dressed in linen. Then the man took the fire and went out.
The Wheels and the Creatures
8 Something that looked like a human hand could be seen under the wings of the living creatures. 9 I saw the four wheels by the living creatures, one wheel by each living creature. The wheels looked like shining chrysolite. 10 All four wheels looked alike: Each looked like a wheel crossways inside another wheel. 11 When the wheels moved, they went in any of the directions that the four living creatures faced. The wheels did not turn about, and the living creatures did not turn their bodies as they went. 12 All their bodies, their backs, their hands, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all over. Each of the four living creatures had a wheel. 13 I heard the wheels being called “whirling wheels.” 14 Each living creature had four faces. The first face was the face of a creature with wings. The second face was a human face, the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.
15 Then the living creatures flew up. They were the same living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River. 16 When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them. When the living creatures lifted their wings to fly up from the ground, the wheels did not leave their place beside them. 17 When the living creatures stopped, the wheels stopped. When the creatures went up, the wheels went up also, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
18 Then the glory of the Lord left the door of the Temple and stood over the living creatures. 19 As I watched, the living creatures spread their wings and flew up from the ground, with the wheels beside them. They stood where the east gate of the Temple of the Lord opened, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
God’s Kingdom Is Within You
20 Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the kingdom of God come?”
Jesus answered, “God’s kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes. 21 People will not say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ because God’s kingdom is within[a] you.”
22 Then Jesus said to his followers, “The time will come when you will want very much to see one of the days of the Son of Man. But you will not see it. 23 People will say to you, ‘Look, there he is!’ or, ‘Look, here he is!’ Stay where you are; don’t go away and search.
When Jesus Comes Again
24 “When the Son of Man comes again, he will shine like lightning, which flashes across the sky and lights it up from one side to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by the people of this time. 26 When the Son of Man comes again, it will be as it was when Noah lived. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying, and giving their children to be married until the day Noah entered the boat. Then the flood came and killed them all. 28 It will be the same as during the time of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom,[b] fire and sulfur rained down from the sky and killed them all. 30 This is how it will be when the Son of Man comes again.
31 “On that day, a person who is on the roof and whose belongings are in the house should not go inside to get them. A person who is in the field should not go back home. 32 Remember Lot’s wife.[c] 33 Those who try to keep their lives will lose them. But those who give up their lives will save them. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be sleeping in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 There will be two women grinding grain together; one will be taken, and the other will be left. [ 36 Two people will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left.]”[d]
37 The followers asked Jesus, “Where will this be, Lord?”
Jesus answered, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.