November 16, 2022

Revelation 4: 1-11

4:1	After these things, I saw, and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the voice that I heard speaking with me first was like a trumpet, saying: “Ascend to here, and I will reveal to you what must occur after these things.”
4:2	And immediately I was in the Spirit. And behold, a throne had been placed in heaven, and there was One sitting upon the throne.
4:3	And the One who was sitting there was similar in appearance to a stone of jasper and sardius. And there was an iridescence surrounding the throne, in aspect similar to an emerald.
4:4	And surrounding the throne were twenty-four smaller thrones. And upon the thrones, twenty-four elders were sitting, clothed entirely in white vestments, and on their heads were gold crowns.
4:5	And from the throne, lightnings and voices and thunders went forth. And there were seven burning lamps before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.
4:6	And in view of the throne, there was something that seemed like a sea of glass, similar to crystal. And in the middle of the throne, and all around the throne, there were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and in back.
4:7	And the first living creature resembled a lion, and the second living creature resembled a calf, and the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature resembled a flying eagle.
4:8	And each of the four living creatures had upon them six wings, and all around and within they are full of eyes. And they took no rest, day or night, from saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.”
4:9	And while those living creatures were giving glory and honor and blessings to the One sitting upon the throne, who lives forever and ever,
4:10	the twenty-four elders fell prostrate before the One sitting upon the throne, and they adored him who lives forever and ever, and they cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
4:11	“You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you have created all things, and they became and were created because of your will.”

Luke 19: 11- 28

19:11	As they were listening to these things, continuing on, he spoke a parable, because he was nearing Jerusalem, and because they guessed that the kingdom of God might be manifested without delay.
19:12	Therefore, he said: “A certain man of nobility traveled to a far away region, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
19:13	And calling his ten servants, he gave them ten pounds, and he said to them: ‘Do business until I return.’
19:14	But his citizens hated him. And so they sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this one to reign over us.’
19:15	And it happened that he returned, having received the kingdom. And he ordered the servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called so that he would know how much each one had earned by doing business.
19:16	Now the first approached, saying: ‘Lord, your one pound has earned ten pounds.’
19:17	And he said to him: ‘Well done, good servant. Since you have been faithful in a small matter, you will hold authority over ten cities.’
19:18	And the second came, saying: ‘Lord, your one pound has earned five pounds.’
19:19	And he said to him, ‘And so, you shall be over five cities.’
19:20	And another approached, saying: ‘Lord, behold your one pound, which I kept stored in a cloth.
19:21	For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You take up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.’
19:22	He said to him: ‘By your own mouth, do I judge you, O wicked servant. You knew that I am an austere man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow.
19:23	And so, why did you not give my money to the bank, so that, upon my return, I might have withdrawn it with interest?’
19:24	And he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the pound away from him, and give it to him who has ten pounds.’
19:25	And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten pounds.’
19:26	So then, I say to you, that to all who have, it shall be given, and he will have in abundance. And from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
19:27	‘Yet truly, as for those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here, and put them to death before me.’ ”
19:28	And having said these things, he went ahead, ascending to Jerusalem.