Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Jehovah the psalmist’s shepherd.

A Psalm of David.

11 Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of Jehovah’s house, which looketh eastward: and behold, at the door of the gate five and twenty men; and I saw in the midst of them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. ² And he said unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise iniquity, and that give wicked counsel in this city; ³ that say, ^[a]The time is not near to build houses: this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh. ⁴ Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.

⁵ And the Spirit of Jehovah fell upon me, and he said unto me, Speak, Thus saith Jehovah: Thus have ye said, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. ⁶ Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain. ⁷ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron; but ^[b]ye shall be brought forth out of the midst of it. ⁸ Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword upon you, saith the Lord Jehovah. ⁹ And I will bring you forth out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. ¹⁰ Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. ¹¹ This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; I will judge you in the border of Israel; ¹² and ye shall know that I am Jehovah: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither have ye executed mine ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you.

¹³ And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord Jehovah! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

¹⁴ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ¹⁵ Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy ^[c]kindred, and all the house of Israel, all of them, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from Jehovah; unto us is this land given for a possession. ¹⁶ Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, ^[d]yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they are come. ¹⁷ Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. ¹⁸ And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. ¹⁹ And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; ²⁰ that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord Jehovah.

²² Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels were ^[e]beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. ²³ And the glory of Jehovah went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. ²⁴ And the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. ²⁵ Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that Jehovah had showed me.

5 And I saw ^[a]in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back, close sealed with seven seals. ² And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? ³ And no one in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look thereon. ⁴ And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look thereon: ⁵ and one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not; behold, the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book and the seven seals thereof. ⁶ And I saw ^[b]in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the ^[c]seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. ⁷ And he came, and he ^[d]taketh it out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sing a new song, saying,

Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, ¹⁰ and madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon the earth.