Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help!

² My help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

³ He will not permit thy foot to be moved; He that keepeth thee will not slumber.

⁴ Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

⁶ The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; He shall preserve thy soul.

⁸ The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River of Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.

² On the fifth day of the month (which was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity),

³ the word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.

⁴ And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself; and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

⁵ Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.

⁶ And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.

⁷ And their feet were straight feet, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass.

⁸ And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and all four had their faces and their wings.

⁹ Their wings were joined one to another. They turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.

¹⁰ As for the likeness of their faces, all four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side, and all four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

¹¹ Thus were their faces. And their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.

¹² And they went every one straight forward; whither the spirit was to go, they went, and they turned not when they went.

¹³ As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire and like the appearance of lamps; it went up and down among the living creatures, and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

¹⁴ And the living creatures ran and returned, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

¹⁵ Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold, a wheel was upon the earth by each of the living creatures with his four faces.

¹⁶ The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness; and their appearance and their work was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

¹⁷ When they went, they went upon their four sides; and they turned not when they went.

¹⁸ As for their rims, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rims were full of eyes round about the four.

¹⁹ And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.

²⁰ Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went; thither was their spirit to go: and the wheels were lifted up opposite them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

²¹ When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up opposite them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

²² And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creatures was as the color of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.

²³ And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other; every one had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side of their bodies.

²⁴ And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech as the noise of a host. When they stood, they let down their wings;

²⁵ and there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads when they stood and had let down their wings.

¹⁹ And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples who were at Damascus.

²⁰ And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

²¹ But all that heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this he that destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither with the intent that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?”

²² But Saul increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that Jesus is the very Christ.

²³ And after many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him.

²⁴ But their lying in wait became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him.

²⁵ Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down through the wall in a basket.

²⁶ And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join himself to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him and believed not that he was a disciple.

²⁷ But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord on the way and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

²⁸ And he was with them, coming in and going out at Jerusalem.

²⁹ And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Grecians, but they went about to slay him.

³⁰ And when the brethren heard of this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him forth to Tarsus.

³¹ Then the churches throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had rest and were edified, and, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.