Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Davidic Song
A Prayer for Maturity
141 Lord, I call to you,
be quick to listen to me when I cry out!
2 Let my prayer be like incense offered before you,
and my uplifted hands like the evening sacrifice.
3 Lord, set a guard over my mouth;
keep watch over the door to my lips.
4 Don’t let my heart turn toward evil
or involve itself in wicked activities
with men who practice iniquity.
Let me not feast on their delicacies.
5 Let one who is righteous strike me;
It is an act of gracious love.
Let him rebuke me,
because it is oil for my head;
do not let my head refuse it.
My prayers continuously will be
against their wicked activities.
6 When their judges are thrown off the cliff,
the people[a] will hear my words,
for they are appropriate.
7 Just as one plows and breaks up the earth,
our[b] bones are scattered
near the entrance to the place of the dead.[c]
8 Nevertheless, my eyes are on you, Lord God,
as I seek protection in you.
Don’t leave me defenseless!
9 Protect me from the trap laid for me
and from the snares of those who practice evil.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I come through.
The Vision of the Gates
43 Next, he brought me to the east-facing gate, 2 and the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. His voice sounded like roaring[a] water, and the land shimmered from his glory. 3 His appearance in the vision that I was having was similar to what I observed in the vision where he had come to destroy the city, and also like the visions that I saw by the Chebar River. I fell flat on my face 4 while the glory of the Lord entered the Temple through the east-facing gate. 5 Just then, the Spirit lifted me up and carried me into the inner courtyard, where the glory of the Lord was filling the Temple! 6 I heard someone speaking to me from the Temple, and a man appeared, standing beside me!
God to Live among His People
7 “Son of Man,” the Lord God told[b] me, “This is where my throne is, where I place the soles of my feet, and where I will live among the Israelis forever. The house of Israel will no longer defile my holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their unfaithfulness, by the lifeless idols[c] of their kings on their funeral mounds,[d] 8 by their setting up their threshold too close to my threshold and their door post too close to my door post, with a wall between me and them. After all, they have defiled my holy name by the loathsome things that they did, so I devoured them in my anger. 9 But now let them send their unfaithfulness—that is, the lifeless idols[e] of their kings—far away from me, and I will live among them forever.”
Ezekiel Describes the Temple
10 “And now, Son of Man, describe the Temple to the house of Israel. They will be ashamed because of their sin. They will measure its pattern. 11 If they are ashamed of everything that they’ve done, you are to reveal to them the design of the Temple, its structure, its exits and entrances, its plans, its ordinances, and all of its regulations. Write it down where they can see it and remember all of its designs and regulations, so they will implement them. 12 This is to be the regulation for the Temple: the entire area on top of the mountain is to be considered wholly consecrated. This is to be the law of the Temple.”
Jesus Rebukes Jerusalem(A)
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! 38 Look! Your house is left abandoned! 39 I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”[a]
Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple(B)
24 After Jesus had left the Temple and was walking away, his disciples came up to him to point out to him the Temple buildings. 2 But in reply he responded to them, “You see all these things, don’t you? I tell all of you[b] with certainty, not even a single stone here will be left standing on top of another that won’t be completely demolished.”
Cults, Revolutions, Famines, and Earthquakes(C)
3 Now while Jesus[c] was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 In reply, Jesus told them, “See to it that no one deceives you, 5 because many will come in my name, proclaiming, ‘I’m the Messiah,’[d] and they will deceive many people. 6 You’ll begin to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you don’t panic. These things must take place, but the end won’t have come yet, 7 because nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 But all these things are only a beginning of agonies.”
Future Persecution, Apostasy, and Evangelism(D)
9 “Then they’ll hand you over to suffer[e] and will kill you, and you’ll be hated by all the nations[f] on account of my name. 10 Then many people will fall away, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people, 12 and because lawlessness will increase, the love of many people will grow cold. 13 But the person who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the inhabited world as a testimony to all nations,[g] and then the end will come.”
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