Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Vision of the Lampstand

4 Then the angel who was talking with me returned and woke me up as if I had been asleep. ² He asked me, “What do you see?”

I said, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top. And there are seven lamps and also seven places for wicks. ³ There are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on the left.”

⁴ I asked the angel who talked with me, “Sir, what are these?”

⁵ The angel said, “Don’t you know what they are?”

“No, sir,” I said.

⁶ Then he told me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘You will not succeed by your own strength or by your own power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord All-Powerful.

⁷ “Who are you, big mountain? In front of Zerubbabel you will become flat land, and he will bring out the topmost stone, shouting, ‘It’s beautiful! It’s beautiful!’”

Jesus Prays to the Father

²¹ Then Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the people who are wise and smart. But you have shown them to those who are like little children. Yes, Father, this is what you really wanted.

²² “My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father. And no one knows who the Father is, except the Son and those whom the Son chooses to tell.”

²³ Then Jesus turned to his followers and said privately, “You are blessed to see what you now see. ²⁴ I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you now see, but they did not, and they wanted to hear what you now hear, but they did not.”