Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Song of Ascents

A Prayer for Mercy

An Introduction to Ezekiel’s Visions

1 On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year of the exile to Babylon,^[a] while I was among the captives on the bank of^[b] the Chebar River, heaven opened up and I saw visions from God.

The Vision of the Fire Cloud

² On the fifth day^[c] of the month in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s imprisonment in exile, ³ a message from^[d] the Lord came directly to Buzi’s son Ezekiel,^[e] the priest, by the Chebar River in the land of the Chaldeans.^[f] The hand of the Lord rested upon him there.

The Vision of the Edible Scroll

⁸ “Son of Man, you are to listen to what I tell you. You are never to be rebellious like they are: a rebellious group.^[a] Now, open your mouth and eat what I’m giving you…”

⁹ As I watched, all of a sudden there was a hand being stretched out in my direction! And there was a scroll ¹⁰ being unrolled right in front of me! Written on both sides were lamentations, mourning, and cries of grief.^[b]

Ezekiel’s Commission to Prophesy

3 Then he told me, “Son of Man, eat! Eat what you see^[c]—this scroll—and then go talk to the house of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth and he fed me^[d] the scroll.

³ Then he told me, “Son of Man, fill your stomach and digest this scroll that I’m giving you.” So I ate it, and it was like sweet honey in my mouth.

The Vision of the Powerful Angel

10 Then I saw another powerful angel come down from heaven. He was dressed in a cloud, and there was a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like columns of fire. ² He held a small, opened scroll in his hand. Setting his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³ he shouted in a loud voice as a lion roars. When he shouted, the seven thunders spoke with voices of their own. ⁴ When the seven thunders spoke, I was going to write, but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and don’t write it down.”

⁵ Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. ⁶ He swore an oath by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it: “There will be no more delay. ⁷ When the time approaches^[a] for the seventh angel to blow his trumpet, God’s secret plan^[b] will be fulfilled, as he had announced to his servants, the prophets.”

⁸ Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go and take the opened scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹ So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll. “Take it and eat it,” he told me. “It will turn bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

¹⁰ So I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, it turned bitter in my stomach. ¹¹ Then the seven thunders^[c] told me, “You must prophesy again about many people, nations, languages, and kings.”