Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer to Be Kept Safe

20 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe. ² May He send you help from the house of God, and give you strength from Zion. ³ May He remember all your gifts of grain given on the altar in worship. And may He be pleased with your burnt gifts.

⁴ May He give you the desire of your heart, and make all your plans go well. ⁵ We will sing for joy when you win. In the name of our God we will lift up our flags. May the Lord give you all the things you ask Him for.

⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves His chosen one. He will answer him from His holy heaven, with the saving power of His right hand. ⁷ Some trust in wagons and some in horses. But we will trust in the name of the Lord, our God. ⁸ They have fallen on their knees. But we rise up and stand straight. ⁹ O Lord, save! May the King answer us when we call.

The Cloud of Fire

¹⁵ On the day that the meeting tent was set up, the cloud covered the meeting tent, the tent of the law. In the evening it was over the meeting tent. It looked like fire until morning. ¹⁶ It was like this always. The cloud would cover it during the day. What looked like fire would cover it during the night. ¹⁷ When the cloud was lifted from over the meeting tent, the people of Israel would move on. Where the cloud rested, there the people of Israel would set up their tents. ¹⁸ The people of Israel would move on as the Lord told them. And they would set up their tents as the Lord told them. They stayed in one place as long as the cloud rested over the meeting tent. ¹⁹ Even when the cloud rested over the meeting tent for many days, the people of Israel would obey the Lord and not leave. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud stayed a few days over the meeting tent. But they obeyed the Lord and stayed in that place. Then they would leave when the Lord told them. ²¹ Sometimes the cloud stayed from evening until morning. When the cloud lifted in the morning, they would leave. If the cloud stayed during the day and the night, when it was lifted, they would leave that place. ²² Even when the cloud stayed over the meeting tent for two days, or a month, or a year the people of Israel would stay in that place and not leave. They would leave when it was lifted. ²³ They set up their tents as the Lord told them. And they moved on as the Lord told them. They obeyed what the Lord had told them to do through Moses.

The King’s Place of Power in Heaven

4 After this, I looked and saw a door standing open in heaven. The first voice I heard was like the loud sound of a horn. It said, “Come up here. I will show you what must happen after these things.” ² At once I was under the Spirit’s power. See! The throne was in heaven, and One was sitting on it. ³ The One Who sat there looked as bright as jasper and sardius stones. The colors like those of an emerald stone were all around the throne. ⁴ There were twenty-four smaller thrones around the throne. And on these thrones twenty-four leaders were sitting dressed in white clothes. They had crowns of gold on their heads. ⁵ Lightning and noise and thunder came from the throne. Seven lights of fire were burning before the throne. These were the seven Spirits of God.

⁶ Before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, shining and clear. Around the throne and on each side there were four living beings that were full of eyes in front and in back. ⁷ The first living being was like a lion. The second one was like a young cow. The third one had a face like a man. The fourth one was like a very large bird with its wings spread. ⁸ Each one of the four living beings had six wings. They had eyes all over them, inside and out. Day and night they never stop saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the All-powerful One. He is the One Who was and Who is and Who is to come.”