First Reading

I, John, heard a voice from heaven speak to me.

Then the voice spoke to me and said:

“Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel

who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll.

He said to me, “Take and swallow it.

It will turn your stomach sour,

but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”

I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and swallowed it.

In my mouth it was like sweet honey,

but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.

Then someone said to me, “You must prophesy again

about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”