Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord

A Psalm.

The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple

10 Then I looked, and behold, ^(A)on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something ^(B)like a sapphire,^[a] in appearance like a throne. ² And he said to ^(C)the man clothed in linen, “Go in among ^(D)the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with ^(E)burning coals from between the cherubim, and ^(F)scatter them over the city.”

And he went in ^(G)before my eyes. ³ Now the cherubim were standing ^(H)on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and ^(I)a cloud filled ^(J)the inner court. ⁴ And ^(K)the glory of the Lord ^(L)went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house ^(M)was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with ^(N)the brightness of the glory of the Lord. ⁵ And ^(O)the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, ^(P)like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

⁶ And when he commanded ^(Q)the man clothed in linen, ^(R)“Take fire from between ^(S)the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim”, he went in and stood beside a wheel. ⁷ And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸ The cherubim appeared to have ^(T)the form of a human hand under their wings.

^9 (U)And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and ^(V)the appearance of the wheels was ^(W)like sparkling ^(X)beryl. ¹⁰ And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. ^11 (Y)When they went, they went in any of their four directions^{[b] (Z)}without turning as they went, ^(AA)but in whatever direction the front wheel^[c] faced, the others followed without turning as they went. ^12 (AB)And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings,^[d] and the wheels were full of eyes all round—the wheels that the four of them had. ¹³ As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing ^(AC)“the whirling wheels”. ^14 (AD)And every one had four faces: ^(AE)the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was ^(AF)a human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

^15 (AG)And the cherubim mounted up. These were ^(AH)the living creatures that I saw by ^(AI)the Chebar canal. ^16 (AJ)And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And ^(AK)when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. ^17 (AL)When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures^[e] was in them.

^18 (AM)Then ^(AN)the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. ^19 (AO)And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth ^(AP)before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the ^(AQ)east gate of the house of the Lord, and ^(AR)the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

The Coming of the Kingdom

²⁰ Being asked by the Pharisees ^(A)when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God ^(B)is not coming with signs to be observed, ²¹ nor ^(C)will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”^[a]

²² And he said to the disciples, ^(D)“The days are coming when you will desire ^(E)to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ^23 (F)And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. ^24 (G)For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be ^(H)in his day.^{[b] 25} But first ^(I)he must suffer many things and ^(J)be rejected by this generation. ^26 (K)Just as it was in the days of ^(L)Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ^27 (M)They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise, just as it was in the days of ^(N)Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, ^29 (O)but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— ³⁰ so will it be ^(P)on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, ^(Q)let the one who is on ^(R)the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. ^32 (S)Remember Lot's wife. ^33 (T)Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will ^(U)keep it. ³⁴ I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. ^35 (V)There will be two women ^(W)grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”^{[c] 37} And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, ^(X)“Where the corpse^[d] is, there the vultures^[e] will gather.”