Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Call of the Prophet^[a]

Chapter 1

The Vision of Four Living Creatures.^{[b] 1 [c]}In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Chebar, the heavens opened, and I saw divine visions. ² On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— ³ the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar. There the hand of the Lord was upon him.

^4 [d]As I looked, I beheld a stormy wind coming from the north: an immense cloud with flashing fire and a brilliant light surrounding it. In the middle of the fire there was something that looked like gleaming amber.^{[e] 5} Within it, there seemed to be four living creatures with human forms.^{[f] 6} Each had four faces; each had four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight, and they had hooves like those of a calf, sparkling with a gleam like that of burnished bronze.

⁸ Below their wings, they had human hands on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings. ⁹ They touched one another with their wings. They did not turn as they moved; each of them moved straight ahead.

¹⁰ As for their faces, each of the four had the face of a man, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle. ¹¹ Their wings were spread upward. Each creature had one wing touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. ¹² Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the Spirit wished them to go, they would do so; they never turned as they moved.

¹³ In the middle of the living creatures was what appeared to be burning coals of fire, like torches darting to and fro between the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning issued forth from the fire. ¹⁴ The living creatures kept disappearing and reappearing like flashes of lightning.

¹⁵ As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each of the four living creatures. ¹⁶ As for the appearance and the structure of the wheels, they all held the appearance of sparkling chrysolites, and all four of them looked alike; they were so constructed that each wheel appeared to have another wheel inside it. ¹⁷ They could move in any of the four directions they faced, without veering as they moved.

¹⁸ The four of them had rims that were awesome in their size, and those rims were filled with eyes all around. ¹⁹ When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose with them. ²⁰ They moved in whatever direction the Spirit wished to go, and the wheels rose with them, for the Spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. ²¹ When the creatures moved, the wheels also moved. When the creatures stood still, the wheels also stood still. When the creatures left the ground, the wheels also left the ground, for the Spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

²² Over the heads of the living creatures, there was what appeared to be a firmament, glittering like crystal and spread out over their heads. ²³ Beneath the firmament, their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another, and each of the creatures had two wings covering its body. ²⁴ I also heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of mighty waters, like the thunder of the Almighty. When they moved, the sound was like the noise emanating from an armed camp. And when they stood still, they lowered their wings.^[g]

²⁵ And there came a voice from above the dome over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. ²⁶ Above the dome over their heads there was something like a sapphire in the form of a throne, and seated high above the likeness of a throne there was a form with the appearance of a man.

²⁷ Upward from what resembled his waist I beheld what looked like fire that gave forth a brilliant light all around. ²⁸ The radiance of the encircling light was like a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I beheld it, I prostrated myself on the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me.

Chapter 2

The Vison of the Scroll. ¹ He said to me: Stand up, son of man.^[h] I wish to speak with you.

²³ So he invited them in and gave them lodging.

The next day, he set out with them, accompanied by some of the brethren from Joppa. ²⁴ On the following day, they reached Caesarea. Cornelius had been expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ When Peter arrived, Cornelius came out to meet him and, falling at his feet, did him reverence. ²⁶ But Peter helped him up, saying, “Stand up. I am only a man myself.”

²⁷ While they conversed together, they went inside where a large crowd had gathered. ²⁸ Peter said to them, “You are well aware that Jews are forbidden to associate with or visit a Gentile. However, God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean. ²⁹ That is why I came without offering any objection when I was summoned. I would like to know exactly why you sent for me.”

³⁰ Cornelius replied, “Four days ago, at this very hour, three o’clock in the afternoon,^[a] I was in my house praying when suddenly I saw a man in shining robes standing before me. ³¹ He said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your almsgiving has not been forgotten by God. ³² Therefore, send to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is also called Peter. He is lodging at the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’ ³³ And so I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now all of us have assembled here in the presence of God to listen to everything that the Lord has commanded you to say.”