Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the Director: A song by the Sons of Korah.

The Ruler over the Nations

¹⁵ When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it. ¹⁶ The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. Then on the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud. ¹⁷ To the Israelis^[a] the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. ¹⁸ When Moses went up on the mountain, he went into the center of the cloud and was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.

John’s Vision of the Messiah

⁹ I am John, your brother and partner in the oppression, kingdom, and patience that comes because of Jesus. I was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. ¹⁰ I came to be in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord, when I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet, ¹¹ saying, “Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹² Then I turned to see who^[a] was talking to me, and when I turned I saw seven gold lamp stands. ¹³ Among the lamp stands there was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash around his chest.^{[b] 14} His head and his hair were white like wool, in fact, as white as snow. His eyes were like flames of fire, ¹⁵ his feet were like glowing bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of raging waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His face was like the sun when it shines with full force.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. But he placed his right hand on me and said, “Stop being afraid! I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ the living one. I was dead—but look!—I am alive forever and ever! I have the keys of Death and Hades.^[c]