Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

20 In your day of trouble, may the Lord be with you! May the God of Jacob keep you from all harm. ² May he send you aid from his sanctuary in Zion. ³ May he remember with pleasure the gifts you have given him, your sacrifices and burnt offerings. ⁴ May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans. ⁵ May there be shouts of joy when we hear the news of your victory, flags flying with praise to God for all that he has done for you. May he answer all your prayers!

⁶ “God save the king”—I know he does! He hears me from highest heaven and sends great victories. ⁷ Some nations boast of armies and of weaponry, but our boast is in the Lord our God. ⁸ Those nations will collapse and perish; we will arise to stand firm and sure!

⁹ Give victory to our king, O Lord; oh, hear our prayer.

¹⁵ On the day the Tabernacle was raised the Cloud covered it; and that evening the Cloud changed to the appearance of fire, and stayed that way throughout the night. ¹⁶ It was always so—the daytime Cloud changing to the appearance of fire at night. ¹⁷ When the Cloud lifted, the people of Israel moved on to wherever it stopped, and camped there. ¹⁸ In this way they journeyed at the command of the Lord and stopped where he told them to, then remained there as long as the Cloud stayed. ¹⁹ If it stayed a long time, then they stayed a long time. But if it stayed only a few days, then they remained only a few days; for so the Lord had instructed them. ^20-21 Sometimes the fire-cloud stayed only during the night and moved on the next morning. But day or night, when it moved, the people broke camp and followed. ²² If the Cloud stayed above the Tabernacle two days, a month, or a year, that is how long the people of Israel stayed; but as soon as it moved, they moved. ²³ So it was that they camped or traveled at the commandment of the Lord; and whatever the Lord told Moses they should do, they did.

4 Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before, which sounded like a mighty trumpet blast, spoke to me and said, “Come up here and I will show you what must happen in the future!”

² And instantly I was in spirit there in heaven and saw—oh, the glory of it!—a throne and someone sitting on it! ³ Great bursts of light flashed forth from him as from a glittering diamond or from a shining ruby, and a rainbow glowing like an emerald encircled his throne. ⁴ Twenty-four smaller thrones surrounded his, with twenty-four Elders sitting on them; all were clothed in white, with golden crowns upon their heads. ⁵ Lightning and thunder issued from the throne, and there were voices in the thunder. Directly in front of his throne were seven lighted lamps representing the sevenfold Spirit of God.^{[a] 6} Spread out before it was a shiny crystal sea. Four Living Beings, dotted front and back with eyes, stood at the throne’s four sides. ⁷ The first of these Living Beings was in the form of a lion; the second looked like an ox; the third had the face of a man; and the fourth, the form of an eagle, with wings spread out as though in flight. ⁸ Each of these Living Beings had six wings, and the central sections of their wings were covered with eyes. Day after day and night after night they kept on saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty—the one who was, and is, and is to come.”