Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise to Yahweh for His Salvation and Judgment
A psalm.[a]
98 Sing to[b] Yahweh a new song, for he has done wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm have secured his victory.
2 Yahweh has made known his salvation;[c]
to the eyes of the nations he has revealed his righteousness.
3 He has remembered his loyal love and his faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation[d] of our God.
4 Shout joyfully to Yahweh, all the earth.
Be cheerful[e] and sing for joy and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to Yahweh with lyre,
with lyre and melodious sound.
6 With trumpets and sound of horn,
shout joyfully before the king, Yahweh.
7 Let the sea with[f] its fullness roar,
the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands.
Let the hills sing joyfully together
9 before Yahweh, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
God’s Presence Leaves the Temple
10 And I looked, and look! On the expanse that was above the head of the cherubim something like a stone of sapphire,[a] and like the appearance of the shape of a throne it appeared above them. 2 And he spoke[b] to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go in among the wheel area under the cherubim[c] and fill the hollow of your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and toss them on the city.” And he went right before my eyes. 3 Now[d] the cherubim were standing on the south of the temple when the man went,[e] and the cloud filled the inner courtyard. 4 And the glory of Yahweh rose up from on the cherub toward[f] the threshold of the house,[g] and the house[h] was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the glory of Yahweh. 5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as[i] the outer courtyard; it was like the voice of God Shaddai[j] when he speaks.[k]
6 And then at his command[l] to the man clothed in linen, saying,[m] “Take fire from among the wheel area from among the cherubim,” he went and stood beside the wheel. 7 Then the cherub stretched out his hand from among[n] the cherubim toward the fire that was among[o] the cherubim, and he lifted up and gave[p] it into the hollow of the hand of the man clothed with linen, and he took it, and he went out.
8 And there appeared for[q] the cherubim the form of a human hand[r] under their wings. 9 And I saw, and look, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub,[s] and the appearance of the wheels was like the outward appearance of turquoise stone.[t] 10 Their appearance[u] was the same for each of the four of them,[v] as if the wheel was in the midst of a wheel. 11 When they went[w] to the four of their directions that they went, they did not change direction when they went,[x] for the place to which the head[y] turned, they went behind him; they did not change direction at their going. 12 And their whole body,[z] and their rims, and their spokes, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels for the four of them.[aa] 13 Concerning the wheels, he was calling them “the wheelwork” in my hearing.[ab] 14 And each one had four faces;[ac] the face of the one was the face of a cherub, and the face of the second was the face of a human, and the face of the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.
15 And the cherubim rose; that is, the living creatures[ad] that I saw at the Kebar River.[ae] 16 And when the cherubim went,[af] the wheels beside them went; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise up from the earth,[ag] the wheels also did not turn aside from beside them. 17 When they stood,[ah] they stood, and at their rising, they rose with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. 18 And the glory of Yahweh went out from[ai] the threshold of the temple, and it stood above the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and they rose from the earth before my eyes. At their going out, the wheels were[aj] beside them. And he stood at the doorway of the eastern gate of the temple[ak] of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.[al]
The Coming of the Kingdom of God
20 Now when he[a] was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with things that can be observed,[b] 21 nor will they say, ‘Behold, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
The Coming of the Son of Man
22 And he said to the disciples, “Days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.[c] 23 And they will say to you, ‘Behold, there!’ ‘Behold, here!’[d] Do not go out or run after them![e] 24 For just as the lightning shines forth, flashing from one place under heaven to another place under heaven, so the Son of Man will be in his day. 25 But first it is necessary for him to suffer many things, and to be rejected by this generation. 26 And just as it was in the days of Noah, so also it will be in the days of the Son of Man— 27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building. 29 But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be just the same[f] on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, whoever is on the housetop and his goods are in the house must not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it[g] will keep it. 34 I tell you that in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 There will be two women[h] grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left.”[i]
37 And they answered and[j] said to him, “Where, Lord?” So he said to them, “Where the dead body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”
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