Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

God rules the world^[a]

God's glory leaves the temple

10 In the vision, I saw something that looked like a throne. It was made from a blue jewel called sapphire. It was above the roof and it was high over the heads of the cherubs. ² The Lord said to the man who was wearing linen clothes, ‘Go between the wheels that are under the cherubs. Pick up some of the hot coals that are burning among the cherubs. Fill your hands with them. Then throw them everywhere over the city.’ Then the man did this, as I watched him.

³ The cherubs stood at the south side of the temple when the man went in among them. A cloud filled the inside yard of the temple.^{[a] 4} Then the Lord's bright glory rose up. It went up from above the cherubs. It moved to the entrance of the temple. The cloud filled the temple. The bright glory of the Lord's shone everywhere in the yard. ⁵ The noise of the cherubs' wings was very loud. It reached as far as the outside yard. The noise was like the voice of Almighty God when he speaks.

⁶ The Lord gave a command to the man who was wearing linen clothes. He said, ‘Go in among the cherubs. Take coals of fire from between the wheels.’ So the man went in and he stood beside one of the wheels.

⁷ Then one of the cherubs put his hand towards the fire which was among the cherubs. He took some coals from the fire. He put them into the hands of the man who was wearing linen clothes. The man took the coals and he went out. ⁸ (Under the wings of the cherubs I could see something that looked like human hands.)

⁹ In the vision, I saw four wheels beside the cherubs. There was one wheel at the side of each cherub. The wheels shone like bright jewels. ¹⁰ All the four wheels looked the same. Each wheel had another wheel that went across the middle of it. ¹¹ When the cherubs moved, they could go forward in any of the four directions. They did not have to turn as they moved. When the head turned in a certain direction, they would move that way. They did not need to turn. ¹² Eyes completely covered their bodies. This included their backs, their hands and their wings. Eyes also covered the edges of all the wheels. ¹³ I heard someone call the wheels, ‘wheels that turn very fast’.^[b]

¹⁴ Each of the cherubs had four faces. One face was the face of a bull. The second face was the face of a man. The third face was a lion's face. And the fourth face was an eagle's face.

¹⁵ The cherubs rose up into the air. They were the same as the living things that I had seen beside the River Kebar. ¹⁶ When they moved, the wheels that were beside them also moved. When the cherubs lifted up their wings to fly into the air, the wheels moved beside them. ¹⁷ When the cherubs stood still, the wheels also stood still. And when the cherubs rose in the air, the wheels also rose with them. This was because the spirit of the living things was in the wheels.

¹⁸ Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the entrance of the temple. It stopped at a place above the cherubs. ¹⁹ Then the cherubs lifted up their wings and they rose up from the ground. The wheels also moved with them. I watched them do this. They stopped by the east gate of the Lord's temple. The glory of Israel's God stayed above them.^[c]

Jesus talks about the time when God will rule

²⁰ Then some Pharisees asked Jesus a question. ‘When will the kingdom of God begin here?’

Jesus replied, ‘When God begins to rule here, people will not see it with their eyes. ²¹ Nobody will say, “Look everyone! God is ruling here,” or “Look! God is ruling over there.” No, it is not like that. God is already ruling in the lives of his people.’

²² Jesus said to his disciples, ‘The time will come when you will very much want to see me, the Son of Man, return to the earth. But you will not see that day. ²³ People may say to you, “Look, there he is!” or “Here he is!” But do not go out with them to look. ²⁴ When lightning shines, it quickly makes the whole of the sky light from one side to the other. It will be like that on the day when the Son of Man returns.^{[a] 25} But before this happens, the people of today will refuse to accept me. And I will feel much pain.

²⁶ Remember what happened when Noah was alive.^[b] It will be like that at the time when the Son of Man returns to the earth. ²⁷ In Noah's time, people were eating their meals every day. Men and women continued to marry. They continued to do all this until the day when Noah went into his boat. Then it rained for a long time and there was deep water everywhere. The water killed all the people.

²⁸ The same kind of thing happened when Lot was alive.^[c] People in the city of Sodom were eating their meals every day. They were buying and selling things. They were planting their seeds and they were building their houses. ²⁹ But one day Lot went away from Sodom. On that same day, God caused it to rain fire and burning stones from the sky. This killed all the people in Sodom.

³⁰ It will happen quickly like that, on the day when I, the Son of Man, show myself clearly. ³¹ On that day, a person who is up on the roof of his house must not go back down into the house. He must not get his things that are inside the house to take with him. In the same way, people that are working outside in their fields must not go back to their homes. ³² Remember what happened to Lot's wife.^[d]

³³ Whoever wants to keep his own life safe will lose it. But whoever gives his life to serve me will have true life. ³⁴ I tell you this. At that time, two men will be sleeping in one bed. God will take one of them away but he will leave the other man behind. ^35-36 Two women will be preparing food together in the same place. God will take one of them away but he will leave the other one behind.’

³⁷ Jesus' disciples asked him, ‘Where will this happen?’ Jesus replied, ‘If a dead body is lying somewhere, vultures will come together in that place.’^[e]