Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
24 The procession of God my King moves onward to the sanctuary— 25 singers in front, musicians behind, girls playing the timbrels in between. 26 Let all the people of Israel praise the Lord, who is Israel’s fountain. 27 The little tribe of Benjamin leads the way. The princes and elders of Judah, and the princes of Zebulun and Naphtali are right behind.[a] 28 Summon your might; display your strength, O God, for you have done such mighty things for us.
29 The kings of the earth are bringing their gifts to your Temple in Jerusalem. 30 Rebuke our enemies, O Lord. Bring them—submissive, tax in hand.[b] Scatter all who delight in war. 31 Egypt will send gifts of precious metals. Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God in adoration. 32 Sing to the Lord, O kingdoms of the earth—sing praises to the Lord, 33 to him who rides upon the ancient heavens, whose mighty voice thunders from the sky.
34 Power belongs to God! His majesty shines down on Israel; his strength is mighty in the heavens. 35 What awe we feel, kneeling here before him in the sanctuary. The God of Israel gives strength and mighty power to his people. Blessed be God!
6 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled and Uzzah put out his hand to steady the Ark. 7 Then the anger of the Lord flared out against Uzzah and he killed him for doing this, so he died there beside the Ark. 8 David was angry at what the Lord had done, and named the spot “The Place of Wrath upon Uzzah” (which it is still called to this day).
9 David was now afraid of the Lord and asked, “How can I ever bring the Ark home?” 10 So he decided against taking it into the City of David, but carried it instead to the home of Obed-edom, who had come from Gath. 11 It remained there for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.
12 When David heard this, he brought the Ark to the City of David with a great celebration.
26-27 So Paul agreed to their request and the next day went with the men to the Temple for the ceremony, thus publicizing his vow to offer a sacrifice seven days later with the others.
The seven days were almost ended when some Jews from Turkey saw him in the Temple and roused a mob against him. They grabbed him, 28 yelling, “Men of Israel! Help! Help! This is the man who preaches against our people and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He even talks against the Temple and defiles it by bringing Gentiles in!” 29 (For down in the city earlier that day, they had seen him with Trophimus, a Gentile[a] from Ephesus in Turkey, and assumed that Paul had taken him into the Temple.)
30 The whole population of the city was electrified by these accusations and a great riot followed. Paul was dragged out of the Temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him. 31 As they were killing him, word reached the commander of the Roman garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 He quickly ordered out his soldiers and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the troops coming, they quit beating Paul. 33 The commander arrested him and ordered him bound with double chains. Then he asked the crowd who he was and what he had done. 34 Some shouted one thing and some another. When he couldn’t find out anything in all the uproar and confusion, he ordered Paul to be taken to the armory.[b] 35 As they reached the stairs, the mob grew so violent that the soldiers lifted Paul to their shoulders to protect him, 36 and the crowd surged behind shouting, “Away with him, away with him!”
37-38 As Paul was about to be taken inside, he said to the commander, “May I have a word with you?”
“Do you know Greek?” the commander asked, surprised. “Aren’t you that Egyptian who led a rebellion a few years ago[c] and took 4,000 members of the Assassins with him into the desert?”
39 “No,” Paul replied, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia which is no small town. I request permission to talk to these people.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.