Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Vision of the Lord in the Temple
6 (A) In the year that King Uzziah died,[a] I had a vision of the Lord. He was on his throne high above, and his robe filled the temple. 2 Flaming creatures with six wings each were flying over him. They covered their faces with two of their wings and their bodies with two more. They used the other two wings for flying, 3 (B) as they shouted,
“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord All-Powerful!
The earth is filled
with your glory.”
4 (C) As they shouted, the doorposts of the temple shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 Then I cried out, “I'm doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful.”
6 One of the flaming creatures flew over to me with a burning coal that it had taken from the altar with a pair of metal tongs. 7 It touched my lips with the hot coal and said, “This has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer guilty.”
8 After this, I heard the Lord ask, “Is there anyone I can send? Will someone speak for us?”
“I'll go,” I answered. “Send me!”
(A psalm by David.)
The Voice of the Lord in a Storm
1 (A) All you angels[a] in heaven,
honor the glory and power
of the Lord!
2 Honor the wonderful name
of the Lord,
and worship the Lord
most holy and glorious.[b]
3 The voice of the Lord
echoes over the oceans.
The glorious Lord God
thunders above the roar
of the raging sea,
4 and his voice is mighty
and marvelous.
5 The voice of the Lord
destroys the cedar trees;
the Lord shatters cedars
on Mount Lebanon.
6 God makes Mount Lebanon
skip like a calf
and Mount Hermon
jump like a wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord
makes lightning flash
8 and the desert tremble.
And because of the Lord,
the desert near Kadesh
shivers and shakes.
9 The voice of the Lord
makes deer give birth
before their time.[c]
Forests are stripped of leaves,
and the temple is filled
with shouts of praise.
10 The Lord rules on his throne,
king of the flood[d] forever.
11 Pray that our Lord
will make us strong
and give us peace.
12 My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. 13 If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God's Spirit you say “No” to your desires. 14 Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are his children. 15 (A)(B) God's Spirit doesn't make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father.[a] 16 God's Spirit makes us sure that we are his children. 17 His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him.
Jesus and Nicodemus
3 There was a man named Nicodemus who was a Pharisee and a Jewish leader. 2 One night he went to Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we know that God has sent you to teach us. You could not work these miracles, unless God were with you.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you for certain that you must be born from above[a] before you can see God's kingdom!”
4 Nicodemus asked, “How can a grown man ever be born a second time?”
5 Jesus answered:
I tell you for certain that before you can get into God's kingdom, you must be born not only by water, but by the Spirit. 6 Humans give life to their children. Yet only God's Spirit can change you into a child of God. 7 Don't be surprised when I say that you must be born from above. 8 Only God's Spirit gives new life. The Spirit is like the wind that blows wherever it wants to. You can hear the wind, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going.
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 Jesus replied:
How can you be a teacher of Israel and not know these things? 11 I tell you for certain we know what we are talking about because we have seen it ourselves. But none of you will accept what we say. 12 (A) If you don't believe when I talk to you about things on earth, how can you possibly believe if I talk to you about things in heaven?
13 (B) No one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from there. 14 (C) And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as the metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert.[b] 15 Then everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life.
16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.