Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
135 Praise the Name of the LORD, you servants of the LORD! Praise,
2 you who stand in the House of the LORD and in the courts of the House of our God!
3 Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good! Sing praises to His Name; for it is a sweet thing.
4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself and Israel for His chief treasure.
5 For I know that the LORD is great and that our LORD is above all gods.
6 Whatever pleased the LORD, He did in Heaven and on Earth, in the sea and in all the depths.
7 He brings up the clouds from the ends of the Earth and makes the lightning with the rain. He draws forth the wind out of His treasures.
8 He struck the firstborn of Egypt (of both man and beast).
9 He has sent signs and wonders into the midst of You, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh and upon all his servants.
10 He struck many nations and slew mighty Kings—
11 Sihon, King of the Amorites and Og, King of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan—
12 and gave their land for an inheritance, an inheritance to Israel, His people.
13 Your Name, O LORD, endures forever! O LORD, Your remembrance is from generation to generation.
14 For the LORD will judge His people and be pacified toward His servants.
15 The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
16 They have a mouth and do not speak. They have eyes and do not see.
17 They have ears and do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouth.
18 Those who make them are like them, all who trust in them.
19 Praise the LORD, you House of Israel! Praise the LORD, you House of Aaron!
20 Praise the LORD, you House of Levi! You who fear the LORD, praise the LORD!
21 Praise the LORD out of Zion, Who dwells in Jerusalem! Praise the LORD!
8 And in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, the Hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there.
2 Then, I looked. And lo, there was a likeness, as the appearance of fire from His loins downward, and from His loins upward as the appearance of brightness, and like amber.
3 And He stretched out the likeness of a Hand and took me by a hairy lock of my head. And the Spirit lifted me up between the Earth and Heaven and brought me (in this vision) to Jerusalem, into the entry of the inner gate that lies toward the North, where there remained the idol of jealousy, which provoked jealousy.
4 And behold, the Glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the field.
5 Then He said to me: “Son of man, lift up your eyes toward the North now.” So, I lifted up my eyes toward the North. And behold, Northward, at the gate of the Altar, was this idol of jealousy in the entry.
6 Furthermore, He said to me: “Son of man, do you not see what they do—the great abominations that the House of Israel commits here, to cause Me to depart from My Sanctuary? But turn again. You shall yet see greater abominations.”
7 And He caused me to enter at the gate of the court. And when I looked, behold, a hole was in the wall.
8 Then He said to me: “Son of man, dig in the wall now.” And when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door.
9 And He said to me: “Go in and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.”
10 So I went in and looked. And behold, there was every likeness of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the House of Israel, painted upon the wall, all around.
11 And seventy ancients of the House of Israel stood before them. And Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, stood in the midst of them, each man with his censor in his hand; and the vapor of the incense went up like a cloud.
12 Then He said to me: “Son of man, have you seen what the ancients of the House of Israel do in the dark, each one in the chamber of his idols? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us. The LORD has forsaken the Earth.’”
13 Again, He said also to me, “Turn again, and you shall see greater abominations that they do.”
14 And He caused me to enter into the entry of the gate of the LORD’s House which was toward the North. And behold, women sat there, mourning for Tammuz.
15 Then He said to me: “Have you seen, O son of man? Turn again, and you shall see greater abominations than these.”
16 And He caused me to enter into the inner court of the LORD’s House. And behold, at the door of the Temple of the LORD, between the porch and the Altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the Temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the East. And they worshipped the Sun, toward the East.
17 Then He said to me: “Have you seen, O son of man? Is it a small thing to the House of Judah to commit these abominations which they do here? For they have filled the land with cruelty, and have returned to provoke Me. And lo, they have put the branch before their noses.
18 “Therefore, I will also execute wrath. My Eye shall not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in My Ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”
26 Then the Angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise, and go towards the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is a wasteland.”
27 And he arose and went on. And behold, a certain eunuch of Ethiopia (Candace the Queen of the Ethiopians’ Chief Governor, who had the rule over all her treasure) who came to Jerusalem to worship,
28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he read Isaiah the Prophet.
29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and enjoin this chariot.”
30 And Philip ran there, and heard him read the Prophet Isaiah, and said, “But do you understand what you read?”
31 And he said, “How can I unless I have a guide?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 Now the place of the Scripture which he read was this, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. And like a lamb, mute before his shearer, so also did He not open His mouth.
33 “In His humility, His judgment has been exalted. But who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the Earth.”
34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, “I ask you, of Whom does the Prophet say this, of himself, or of some other Man?”
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached Jesus to him.
36 And as they went on their way, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What must I do to be baptized?”
37 And Philip said to him, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” Then he answered, and said, “I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 Then he commanded the chariot to stop. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water. And he baptized him.
39 And as soon as they had come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more. So, he went on his way, rejoicing.
40 But Philip was found at Azotus. And he walked to and fro, preaching in all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
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