Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

10 Then I looked, and suddenly, on the dome over the heads of the k’ruvim, there appeared above them something like sapphire that seemed to take the form of a throne. ² He spoke to the man clothed in linen; he said, “Go in between the wheels under the k’ruvim, fill both your hands with fiery coals from between the k’ruvim, and throw them on the city.” As I watched, he went. ³ Now the k’ruvim were standing to the right of the house when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner courtyard. ⁴ The glory of Adonai rose from above the keruv to the threshold of the house, leaving the house filled with the cloud and the courtyard full of the brilliance of Adonai’s glory. ⁵ The sound of the wings of the k’ruvim could be heard even in the outer courtyard sounding like the voice of God, Shaddai, when he speaks.

⁶ When he ordered the man clothed in linen to take fire from between the wheels, from between the k’ruvim, he went in and stood next to a wheel; ⁷ and a keruv put out his hand from between the k’ruvim into the fire between the k’ruvim, took some of it, and put it in the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out.

⁸ Now there appeared among the k’ruvim the form of a man’s hand under their wings. ⁹ I looked and saw four wheels next to the k’ruvim, one wheel next to one keruv and another wheel next to another keruv: the wheels had the color of beryl. ¹⁰ Their shape was the same for all four, like a wheel inside a wheel. ¹¹ When they moved, they could go in any of the four directions without turning as they moved; rather, wherever the head looked, they followed without turning as they moved. ¹² Their whole bodies, including their backs, hands and wings, and also the wheels, were full of eyes all around — even the wheels of the four k’ruvim. ¹³ As for the wheels, I heard them called “the wheel apparatus.” ¹⁴ Every one [of the k’ruvim] had four faces: the first face was the face of a keruv, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion and the fourth the face of an eagle.

¹⁵ Then the k’ruvim rose. These were the living creatures I had seen by the K’var River. ¹⁶ When the k’ruvim moved, the wheels went with them; and when the k’ruvim lifted their wings to rise off the ground, these wheels did not stop going with them. ¹⁷ When [the k’ruvim] stood still, [the wheels] stood still; and when the former rose, the latter rose with them; because the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

¹⁸ Now the glory of Adonai left the threshold of the house and halted above the k’ruvim. ¹⁹ The k’ruvim lifted their wings and rose off the earth — I was watching as they went off with the wheels next to them. They paused at the entrance to the east gate of Adonai’s house, with the glory of the God of Isra’el over them, from above.

²⁰ The P’rushim asked Yeshua when the Kingdom of God would come. “The Kingdom of God,” he answered, “does not come with visible signs; ²¹ nor will people be able to say, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or, ‘Over there!’ Because, you see, the Kingdom of God is among you.” ²² Then he said to his talmidim, “The time is coming when you will long to see even one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. ²³ People will say to you, ‘Look! Right here!’ or, ‘See! Over there!’ Don’t run off, don’t follow them, ²⁴ because the Son of Man in his day will be like lightning that flashes and lights up the sky from one horizon to the other. ²⁵ But first he must endure horrible suffering and be rejected by this generation.

²⁶ “Also, at the time of the Son of Man, it will be just as it was at the time of Noach. ²⁷ People ate and drank, and men and women married, right up until the day Noach entered the ark; then the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise, as it was in the time of Lot — people ate and drank, bought and sold, planted and built; ²⁹ but the day Lot left S’dom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ That is how it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, if someone is on the roof with his belongings in his house, he must not go down to take them away. Similarly, if someone is in the field, he must not turn back — ³² remember Lot’s wife! ³³ Whoever aims at preserving his own life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will stay alive. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed — one will be taken and the other left behind. ³⁵ There will be two women grinding grain together — one will be taken and the other left behind.” ^36 [a]

³⁷ They asked him, “Where, Lord?” He answered, “Wherever there’s a dead body, that’s where the vultures gather.”