Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A psalm.
98 Sing a new song to the Lord
because he has done miraculous things.
His right hand and his holy arm have gained victory for him.
2 The Lord has made his salvation known.
He has uncovered his righteousness for the nations to see.
3 He has not forgotten to be merciful and faithful
to Israel’s descendants.
All the ends of the earth have seen how our God saves ⌞them⌟.
4 Shout happily to the Lord, all the earth.
Break out into joyful singing, and make music.
5 Make music to the Lord with a lyre,
with a lyre and the melody of a psalm,
6 with trumpets and the playing of a ram’s horn.
Shout happily in the presence of the king, the Lord.
7 Let the sea, everything in it,
the world, and those who live in it roar like thunder.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands
and the mountains sing joyfully
9 in the Lord’s presence
because he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice
and its people with fairness.
The Glory of the Lord Leaves His Temple
10 As I looked at the dome over the heads of the angels,[a] I saw something that looked like a throne made of sapphire. 2 The Lord said to the person dressed in linen, “Go between the wheels under the angels, and fill your hands with burning coals. Then scatter them over the city.” So he went between the wheels as I watched.
3 The angels were standing on the south side of the temple as the person went. A cloud filled the inner courtyard. 4 The Lord’s glory rose from the angels to the entrance of the temple, the cloud filled the temple, and the brightness of the Lord’s glory filled the courtyard. 5 The sound of the angels’ wings was heard as far as the outer courtyard. It was like the sound of the Almighty God when he speaks.
6 After the Lord had commanded the person dressed in linen to take burning coals from between the wheels beside the angels, the person went in and stood beside one of the wheels. 7 One of the angels reached into the fire that was between the angels and took out some coals. This angel put them in the hands of the person dressed in linen. The person took them and left.
8 The angels appeared to have what looked like human hands under their wings. 9 As I looked, I saw four wheels beside the angels, one wheel beside each of the angels. The wheels looked like beryl. 10 All four wheels looked the same. Each was like a wheel within a wheel. 11 Whenever the angels moved, they moved in any of the four directions without turning as they moved. They always moved in the direction they faced without turning as they moved. 12 Their entire bodies, their backs, hands, wings, and wheels were covered with eyes. Each of the angels had a wheel. 13 I heard that the wheels were called the whirling wheels. 14 Each of the angels had four faces. The first was the face of an angel, the second was the face of a human, the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.
15 The angels rose. These were the living creatures that I saw at the Chebar River. 16 When the angels moved, the wheels moved beside them. When the angels lifted their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels didn’t leave their side. 17 When the angels stood still, the wheels stood still. When the angels rose, the wheels rose with them. The spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 18 Then the glory of the Lord left the temple’s entrance and stood over the angels. 19 The angels lifted their wings and rose from the ground. I was watching them as they left with the wheels beside them. The angels stood at the door to the east gate of the Lord’s temple, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
The Pharisees Ask about God’s Kingdom
20 The Pharisees asked Jesus when God’s kingdom would come.
He answered them, “People can’t observe the coming of God’s kingdom. 21 They can’t say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ You see, God’s kingdom is within [a] you.”
Jesus Teaches about the Time When He Will Come Again
22 Jesus said to his disciples, “The time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will say, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Don’t run after those people. 24 The day of the Son of Man [b] will be like lightning that flashes from one end of the sky to the other. 25 But first he must suffer a lot and be rejected by the people of his day.
26 “When the Son of Man comes again, the situation will be like the time of Noah. 27 People were eating, drinking, and getting married until the day that Noah went into the ship. Then the flood destroyed all of them.
28 “The situation will also be like the time of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But on the day that Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from the sky and destroyed all of them. 30 The day when the Son of Man is revealed will be like that.
31 “On that day those who are on the roof shouldn’t come down to get their belongings out of their houses. Those who are in the field shouldn’t turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Those who try to save their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives will save them.
34 “I can guarantee that on that night if two people are in one bed, one will be taken and the other one will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together. One will be taken, and the other one will be left.” [c]
37 They asked him, “Where, Lord?”
Jesus told them, “Vultures will gather wherever there is a dead body.”
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