Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A song for going up to the Temple.

Introduction

1 I am the priest, Ezekiel son of Buzi. I was in exile by the Kebar Canal in Babylonia when the skies opened up, and I saw visions of God. This was on the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year.^[a] (This was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile. The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel. The power of the Lord came over him at that place.)

The Chariot of the Lord—God’s Throne

⁴ I was watching a big storm come in from the north. It was a big cloud with a strong wind, and there was fire flashing from it. Light was shining out all around it. It looked like hot metal^[b] glowing in a fire. ⁵ Inside the cloud, there were four living beings that looked like people. ⁶ But each one of them had four faces and four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight. Their feet looked like calves’ feet, and they sparkled like polished brass. ⁸ Under their wings were human arms. There were four living beings. Each living being had four faces and four wings. ⁹ The wings touched each other. The living beings did not turn when they moved. They went in the direction they were looking.

¹⁰ Each living being had four faces. In the front they each had a man’s face. There was a lion’s face on the right side and a bull’s face on the left side. There was an eagle’s face on the back. ¹¹ Their wings were spread out over them. With two of the wings each living being reached out to touch the one near it, and with the other two wings it covered its body. ¹² Each living being went in the direction it was looking. They went wherever the spirit^[c] caused them to go, but they did not turn when they moved. ¹³ That is what the living beings looked like.

Inside the area between the living beings, there was something that looked like burning coals of fire. This fire was like small torches that kept moving around among the living beings. The fire glowed brightly and lightning flashed from it. ¹⁴ The living beings ran back and forth—as fast as lightning.^[d]

^15-16 I was looking at the living beings when I noticed four wheels that touched the ground. There was one wheel by each living being. All the wheels looked the same. The wheels looked as if they were made from a clear, yellow jewel. They looked like there was a wheel inside a wheel. ¹⁷ They could turn to move in any direction. But the living beings did not turn when they moved.^[e]

¹⁸ The rims of the wheels were tall and frightening. There were eyes all over the rims of all four wheels.

¹⁹ The wheels always moved with the living beings. If the living beings went up into the air, the wheels went with them. ²⁰ They went wherever the spirit wanted them to go, and the wheels went with them, because the power that moved the living being was in the wheels. ²¹ So if the living beings moved, the wheels moved. If the living beings stopped, the wheels stopped. If the wheels went into the air, the living beings went with them, because the spirit was in the wheels.

²² There was an amazing thing over the heads of the living beings. It was like a bowl^[f] turned upside down, and the bowl was clear like crystal. ²³ Under this bowl, each living being had wings reaching out to the one next to it. Two wings spread out one way and two wings spread out the other way, covering its body.

²⁴ Then I heard the wings. Every time the living beings moved, their wings made a very loud noise like a lot of water rushing by. They were loud like the Lord All-Powerful. They were as loud as an army or a crowd of people. When the living beings stopped moving, they put their wings down by their side.

²⁵ The living beings stopped moving and lowered their wings. Then there was another loud sound that came from above the bowl over their heads.

¹⁹ After he ate, he began to feel strong again.

Saul Begins to Tell About Jesus

Saul stayed with the followers of Jesus in Damascus for a few days. ²⁰ Soon he began to go to the synagogues and tell people about Jesus. He told the people, “Jesus is the Son of God!”

²¹ All the people who heard Saul were amazed. They said, “This is the same man who was in Jerusalem trying to destroy the people who trust in Jesus^[a]! And that’s why he has come here—to arrest the followers of Jesus and take them back to the leading priests.”

²² But Saul became more and more powerful in proving that Jesus is the Messiah. His proofs were so strong that the Jews who lived in Damascus could not argue with him.

Saul Escapes From Some Jews

²³ After many days, some Jews made plans to kill Saul. ²⁴ They were watching the city gates day and night. They wanted to kill Saul, but he learned about their plan. ²⁵ One night some followers that Saul had taught helped him leave the city. They put him in a basket and lowered it down through a hole in the city wall.

Saul in Jerusalem

²⁶ Then Saul went to Jerusalem. He tried to join the group of followers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe that he was really a follower of Jesus. ²⁷ But Barnabas accepted Saul and took him to the apostles. He told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. Then he told them how boldly Saul had spoken for the Lord in Damascus.

²⁸ And so Saul stayed with the followers and went all around Jerusalem speaking boldly for the Lord. ²⁹ He often had arguments with the Greek-speaking Jews, who began making plans to kill him. ³⁰ When the believers learned about this, they took Saul to Caesarea, and from there they sent him to the city of Tarsus.

³¹ The church in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, these groups of believers became stronger in faith and showed their respect for the Lord by the way they lived. So the church everywhere grew in numbers.