Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer for Help

130 O Lord, I have cried to You out of the deep places. ² Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears hear the voice of my prayers. ³ If you, Lord, should write down our sins, O Lord, who could stand? ⁴ But You are the One Who forgives, so You are honored with fear.

⁵ I wait for the Lord. My soul waits and I hope in His Word. ⁶ My soul waits for the Lord more than one who watches for the morning; yes, more than one who watches for the morning. ⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord! For there is loving-kindness with the Lord. With Him we are saved for sure. ⁸ And He will save Israel from all their sins.

Ezekiel Sees God’s Throne

1 On the fifth day of the fourth month in the thirtieth year, while I was by the Chebar River with the Jews who had been taken away from their land, the heavens were opened and I saw God in a special way. ² (On the fifth day of the month in the fifth year that King Jehoiachin had been living in a strange land, ³ the Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the religious leader, son of Buzi, in the land of the Babylonians by the Chebar River. There the hand of the Lord came upon him.)

⁸ “As for you, son of man, listen to what I am telling you. Do not be sinful like these sinful people. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” ⁹ Then I looked and saw that a hand was held out to me, and there was a book in it. ¹⁰ He held it out in front of me, and it had writing on the front and back. Words of trouble and sorrow were written on it.

3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what is in front of you. Eat this book, then go and speak to the people of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this book. ³ And He said to me, “Son of man, eat this book that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

The Angel and the Little Book

10 Then I saw another strong angel coming down from heaven covered with a cloud. He had many colors around his head. His face was like the sun. His feet were like long flames of fire. ² He had in his hand a little book that was open. The angel put his right foot on the sea. He put his left foot on the land. ³ He cried with a loud voice like the sound of a lion. The seven thunders sounded. ⁴ I was ready to write when the seven thunders had spoken. Then I heard the voice from heaven saying, “Lock up the things which the seven thunders have spoken. Do not write them!”

⁵ Then the strong angel that I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted his right hand to heaven. ⁶ He made a promise in the name of God Who lives forever, Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. He promised that there will be no more waiting. ⁷ And when the seventh angel blows his horn, God will put His secret plan into action. It will be done just as He told it to the early preachers, His servants.

⁸ Then the voice I heard from heaven spoke to me again. It said, “Go and take the little book that is open. It is in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹ I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. He said, “Take it and eat it. It will taste like honey in your mouth. But after you have eaten it, it will make your stomach sour.” ¹⁰ Then I took it from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but it made my stomach sour after I had eaten it.

¹¹ Then they said to me, “You must tell what will happen again in front of many people and nations and families and kings.”