Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A song to sing as we climb.

Only God can keep me safe^[a]

God gives Ezekiel visions

1 It was the 30th year.^[a] God spoke to me on the fifth day of the fourth month.^[b] I was among the prisoners from Judah at the side of the Kebar river.^[c] At that time the skies opened and I saw visions from God.

² King Jehoiachin of Judah had been a prisoner in Babylon for five years. On the fifth day of the month, ³ the Lord spoke to Ezekiel, the priest.^[d] He was the son of Buzi. He was standing beside the River Kebar in Babylon. While Ezekiel was there, the Lord came to him with power.

⁴ As I looked, I saw a great storm that was coming from the north. It was a large cloud, with bright lightning. Light shone all around the cloud. It was like a fire that had bright metal in the centre of it. ⁵ I could see something like four living things in the middle of the fire. Each of them had the shape of a human. ⁶ But each of them had four faces and four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight. Their feet were like the feet of young cows. They shone like bright bronze. ⁸ They had human hands under their wings on the four sides. Each of these four living things had faces and wings that were like this: ⁹ Their wings touched each other. All the living things moved forward together. They did not turn as they moved.

¹⁰ This is what their faces looked like: Each of the living things had four faces. There was a human face at the front. There was a lion's face on the right side. There was a bull's face on the left side. Each of them also had the face of an eagle. ¹¹ Their wings waved up above them. Two wings of each living thing touched the wings of the living things on each side of them. Each living thing covered its body with its other two wings. ¹² The living things each moved forward, in the direction that the spirit wanted them to go. They did not turn as they moved.

¹³ In the middle of the living things was a fire. It looked like coals that were burning, or like bright flames. The fire moved around among the living things. It shone brightly, with lightning coming out from it. ¹⁴ The living things moved around very quickly, as fast as lightning.

¹⁵ I continued to look at the four living things. Each of them had a wheel on the ground at its side.^{[e] 16} The four wheels all looked the same. They shone like bright jewels. The wheels were made like this: Each wheel had another wheel that went across the middle of it. ¹⁷ They moved forward in the same direction that the living things moved. They did not turn in any other direction. ¹⁸ The wheels had high edges. Eyes completely covered the edges of all the wheels.

¹⁹ When the living things moved, the wheels moved with them. If the living beings rose up from the ground, the wheels rose with them. ²⁰ The living things went wherever the spirit wanted them to go. The wheels would also go with them. That was because the spirit of the living things was in each wheel. ²¹ When the living things moved, the wheels also moved. When the living things stopped, the wheels stopped moving too. When the living things rose up from the ground, the wheels went up at their side. That happened because the spirit of the living things was in each wheel.

²² I saw something over the heads of the living things. It looked like a high roof that shone brightly like ice. ²³ The living things all stood under the roof. Each of them stood with its wings held out towards the living things on each side of it. They covered their bodies with their other two wings. ²⁴ When they moved, I could hear the sound of their wings. They made a noise like lots of water that pours along a river. It was also like the voice of the Almighty God, or the noise of a great army. When the living things stopped moving, they put their wings down at their sides.

²⁵ While they stood with their wings down at their sides, I heard a voice. It came from above the roof over their heads.

¹⁹ Then Saul ate some food and he became strong again.

Saul teaches people about Jesus

Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. ²⁰ He immediately went to the Jewish meeting places and he taught people about Jesus. He told them that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹ All the people who heard what Saul said were very surprised. They said to each other, ‘This is the same man who caused much pain to the believers in Jerusalem. We are sure it is him! Now he has come here to Damascus to take hold of the believers and take them away to Jerusalem. He wants to make them stand in front of the leaders of the priests.’

²² But Saul became even more powerful when he taught the people. He showed very clearly that Jesus is God's Messiah. So the Jews who lived there in Damascus could not answer him.

²³ After many days, the Jews met together. They decided that they would kill Saul. ²⁴ But someone told Saul about this. The Jews carefully watched the gates of the city all day and all night. They wanted to catch Saul and to kill him. ²⁵ But one night, Saul's friends helped him to leave the city secretly. They put him in a basket. Then they put him through a hole in the city wall. Then they let the basket go slowly down to the ground outside the city.^[a]

Saul returns to Jerusalem

²⁶ Saul returned to Jerusalem. He wanted to join the group of believers there. But they were all afraid of him. They did not believe that he had really become a disciple of Jesus. ²⁷ But one of the believers who was called Barnabas helped Saul. He took Saul to meet the apostles. Barnabas then explained to the apostles what had happened to Saul. Barnabas said to them, ‘Saul saw the Lord when he was on his way to Damascus. The Lord spoke to him there. Then, while Saul was in Damascus, he bravely told people the message about Jesus.’

²⁸ After that, Saul stayed with the apostles. He went everywhere in Jerusalem and he bravely taught people the message about the Lord Jesus. ²⁹ Saul also talked with the Jews who spoke the Greek language.^[b] He argued with them about Jesus. As a result, they wanted to kill him.

³⁰ The other believers heard about this. So they took Saul away to Caesarea. From there, they sent him to Tarsus.

³¹ By this time there were believers everywhere in Judea, Galilee and Samaria. For some time they had no troubles. The Holy Spirit helped them to become strong. So more people became believers, and they obeyed God in everything that they did.