Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord the Shepherd of His People

A Psalm of David.

Judgment on Wicked Counselors

11 Then ^(A)the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to ^(B)the East Gate of the Lord’s house, which faces eastward; and there ^(C)at the door of the gate were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. ² And He said to me: “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked ^[a]counsel in this city, ³ who say, ‘The time is not ^(D)near to build houses; ^(E)this city is the ^[b]caldron, and we are the meat.’ ⁴ Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man!”

⁵ Then ^(F)the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me, “Speak! ‘Thus says the Lord: “Thus you have said, O house of Israel; for ^(G)I know the things that come into your mind. ^6 (H)You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.” ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(I)“Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this city is the caldron; ^(J)but I shall bring you out of the midst of it. ⁸ You have ^(K)feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you,” says the Lord God. ⁹ “And I will bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and ^(L)execute judgments on you. ^10 (M)You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at ^(N)the border of Israel. ^(O)Then you shall know that I am the Lord. ^11 (P)This city shall not be your ^[c]caldron, nor shall you be the meat in its midst. I will judge you at the border of Israel. ¹² And you shall know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My judgments, but ^(Q)have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you.” ’ ”

¹³ Now it happened, while I was prophesying, that ^(R)Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then ^(S)I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?”

God Will Restore Israel

¹⁴ Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁵ “Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Get far away from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’ ¹⁶ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, ^(T)yet I shall be a little ^[d]sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.” ’ ¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ^(U)“I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” ’ ¹⁸ And they will go there, and they will take away all its ^(V)detestable things and all its abominations from there. ¹⁹ Then ^(W)I will give them one heart, and I will put ^(X)a new spirit within ^[e]them, and take ^(Y)the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, ^20 (Z)that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; ^(AA)and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, ^(AB)I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.

²² So the cherubim ^(AC)lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them. ²³ And ^(AD)the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood ^(AE)on the mountain, ^(AF)which is on the east side of the city.

²⁴ Then ^(AG)the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into ^[f]Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me. ²⁵ So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the Lord had shown me.

The Lamb Takes the Scroll

5 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne ^(A)a scroll written inside and on the back, ^(B)sealed with seven seals. ² Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ^(C)“Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” ³ And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.

⁴ So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open ^[a]and read the scroll, or to look at it. ⁵ But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, ^(D)the Lion of the tribe of ^(E)Judah, ^(F)the Root of David, has ^(G)prevailed to open the scroll ^(H)and ^[b]to loose its seven seals.”

⁶ And I looked, ^[c]and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood ^(I)a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and ^(J)seven eyes, which are ^(K)the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand ^(L)of Him who sat on the throne.

Worthy Is the Lamb

⁸ Now when He had taken the scroll, ^(M)the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the ^(N)prayers of the saints. ⁹ And ^(O)they sang a new song, saying: