Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 “The Lord is merciful and compassionate,
very patient, and full of faithful love.
9 The Lord is good to everyone and everything;
God’s compassion extends to all his handiwork!”
10 All that you have made gives thanks to you, Lord;
all your faithful ones bless you!
11 They speak of the glory of your kingdom;
they talk all about your power,
12 to inform all human beings about God’s power
and the majestic glory of God’s kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is a kingship that lasts forever;
your rule endures for all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all that he says,
faithful in all that he does.[a]
14 The Lord supports all who fall down,
straightens up all who are bent low.
Fifth night vision
4 The messenger speaking with me returned and woke me like one who awakens someone who is asleep.
2 Then he said to me, “What do you see?”
I said, “I see a lampstand
made entirely of gold.
It has a bowl on top.
The bowl has seven lamps on top
and seven metal pipes for those lamps.
3 It has two olive trees beside the lampstand,
one to the right of its bowl and one to the left.”
4 I responded to the messenger speaking with me,
“What are these, sir?”
5 The messenger responded to me:
“Don’t you know what these are?”
I said, “No, sir. I don’t.”
6 He answered me:
“This is the Lord’s word to Zerubbabel:
Neither by power, nor by strength,
but by my spirit, says the Lord of heavenly forces.”
7 Who are you, great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain.
He will present the capstone to shouts of great gratitude.
21 At that very moment, Jesus overflowed with joy from the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you’ve hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and shown them to babies. Indeed, Father, this brings you happiness. 22 My Father has handed all things over to me. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him.” 23 Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Happy are the eyes that see what you see. 24 I assure you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see and hear what you hear, but they didn’t.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible