Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
11 (A)Malicious witnesses rise up,
Who ask me of things that I do not know.
12 They (B)repay me evil for good,
It is bereavement to my soul.
13 But as for me, (C)when they were sick, my (D)clothing was sackcloth;
I (E)humbled my soul with fasting,
And my (F)prayer kept returning to my bosom.
14 I walked about as though it were my friend or brother;
I (G)bowed down [a]mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother.
15 But (H)at my [b]stumbling they were glad and gathered themselves together;
The [c](I)smiters whom I did not know gathered together against me,
They (J)tore at me and never were silent.
16 Amongst the godless jesters at a feast,
They (K)gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 Lord, (L)how long will You look on?
Bring back my soul (M)from their ravages,
My (N)only life from the lions.
18 I will (O)give You thanks in the great assembly;
I will (P)praise You among a mighty people.
19 (Q)Let those who are wrongfully (R)my enemies not be glad over me;
Nor let those (S)who hate me without cause [d](T)wink maliciously.
20 For they do not speak peace,
But they devise (U)deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
21 They (V)opened their mouth wide against me;
They said, “(W)Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!”
22 (X)You have seen it, O Yahweh, (Y)do not keep silent;
O Lord, (Z)do not be far from me.
23 (AA)Stir up Yourself, and awake to my justice
And to my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 (AB)Judge me, O Yahweh my God, according to Your righteousness,
And (AC)do not let them be glad over me.
25 Do not let them say in their heart, “(AD)Aha, our desire!”
Do not let them say, “We have (AE)swallowed him up!”
26 Let (AF)those be ashamed and humiliated altogether who are glad at the evil done to me;
Let those be (AG)clothed with shame and dishonor who (AH)magnify themselves over me.
The Vision of Four Living Creatures
1 Now it happened in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the (A)river Chebar among the exiles, that the (B)heavens were opened, and I saw [a](C)visions of God. 2 (On the fifth of the month [b]in the (D)fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile, 3 the (E)word of [c]Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the (F)land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there (G)the hand of Yahweh came upon him.)
4 Then I looked, and behold, a (H)storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light all around it, and in its midst something like the gleam of (I)glowing metal in the midst of the fire. 5 And within it there were figures with the likeness of (J)four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the (K)likeness of a man. 6 And each of them had (L)four faces and (M)four wings. 7 And their legs were straight, and [d]their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they sparkled like the gleam of (N)burnished bronze. 8 And under their wings on their (O)four sides were (P)hands of a man. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, 9 their wings touched one another; their faces did (Q)not turn as they went; each (R)went straight forward. 10 And as for the (S)likeness of their faces, each had the (T)face of a man; [e]all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and [f]all four had the face of an eagle. 11 And such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and (U)two covering their bodies. 12 And (V)each went straight forward; (W)wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went. 13 [g]As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of (X)fire, [h]like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning was [i]flashing from the fire. 14 And the living creatures (Y)ran to and fro with the appearance of (Z)lightning.
15 Then I looked at the living creatures, and behold, there was one (AA)wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, [j]for each of the four of them. 16 The (AB)appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like the gleam of (AC)beryl, and all four of them had the same likeness, their appearance and workmanship being as if [k]one wheel were within another. 17 Whenever they went, they went in any of their four [l]directions without (AD)turning as they went. 18 And as for their rims, they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were (AE)full of eyes all around. 19 (AF)And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them. And when the living creatures (AG)rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. 20 (AH)Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction, [m]where the spirit was about to go. And the wheels rose alongside of them; for the spirit of the living [n]creatures was in the wheels. 21 (AI)Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living [o]creatures was in the wheels.
The Vision of the Glory of Yahweh
22 Now (AJ)over the heads of the living [p]creatures there was something with the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome gleam of [q]crystal, spread out over their heads above. 23 And underneath the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had (AK)two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other. 24 I also heard the sound of their wings like the (AL)sound of many waters as they went, like the [r](AM)sound of [s]the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the (AN)sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. 25 And there came a sound from above the (AO)expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.
26 Now (AP)above the expanse that was over their heads there was something in the (AQ)likeness of a throne, like (AR)sapphire stone in appearance; and upon the likeness of the throne, high up, was the likeness of one with the appearance of a (AS)man. 27 Then I saw from the appearance of His loins and upward something (AT)like the gleam of [t]glowing metal with the appearance of fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something with the appearance of fire; and there was a radiance all around Him. 28 As the appearance of the (AU)rainbow [u]in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the radiance all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the (AV)glory of Yahweh. And I saw this, and I (AW)fell on my face and heard a sound of a voice speaking.
The Sending of Ezekiel
2 Then He said to me, “Son of man, (AX)stand on your feet that I may speak with you!”
23 So he invited them in and gave them lodging.
Peter at Caesarea
And on the next day he rose up and went away with them, and (A)some of (B)the brothers from (C)Joppa went with him. 24 And on the following day he entered (D)Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 And when Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and [a](E)worshiped him. 26 But Peter raised him up, saying, “(F)Stand up; I too am just a man.” 27 As he talked with him, he entered and *found (G)many people assembled. 28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how (H)unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet (I)God has shown me that I should not call any man defiled or unclean. 29 That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was summoned. So I ask for what reason you have summoned me.”
30 And Cornelius said, “(J)Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during (K)the [b]ninth hour; and behold, (L)a man stood before me in shining garments, 31 and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your [c]alms have been remembered before God. 32 Therefore send to (M)Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is lodging at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you immediately, and you have [d]been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been ordered by the Lord.”
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