Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Praise to God the King

A song of praise. Of David.

The Lord Calls His People Back

1 It was the eighth month of the second year Darius was king of Persia. The Lord spoke his word to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah. Berekiah was the son of Iddo. The Lord said:

² “The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. ³ So tell the people: This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘Return to me, and I will return to you.’ ⁴ Don’t be like your ancestors. In the past the prophets spoke to them. They said: This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘Stop your evil ways and evil actions.’ But they wouldn’t listen or pay attention to me, says the Lord. ⁵ Your ancestors are dead. And those prophets didn’t live forever. ⁶ I commanded my words and laws to my servants the prophets. They preached to your ancestors, who returned to me. They said, ‘The Lord of heaven’s armies did as he said he would. He punished us for the way we lived and for what we did.’”

The Vision of the Horses

⁷ It was on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is called Shebat. It was Darius’s second year as king. The Lord spoke his word to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah. Berekiah was the son of Iddo.

⁸ During the night I had a vision. I saw a man riding a red horse. He was standing among some myrtle trees in the ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.

⁹ I asked, “What are these, sir?”

The angel who was talking with me answered. He said, “I’ll show you what they are.”

¹⁰ Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained. He said, “They are the ones the Lord sent through all the earth.”

¹¹ Then they spoke to the Lord’s angel. He was standing among the myrtle trees. They said, “We have gone through all the earth. Everything is calm and quiet.”

¹² Then the Lord’s angel asked, “Lord of heaven’s armies, how long before you show mercy to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? You have been angry with them for 70 years now.” ¹³ Then the Lord answered the angel who was talking with me. His words were comforting and good.

¹⁴ Then the angel told me, “Announce this: This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘I have a strong love for Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And I am very angry with the nations that feel so safe. I was only a little angry, but they made things worse for my people.’

¹⁶ “So this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy. My Temple will be rebuilt,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies. ‘And the measuring line will be used to rebuild Jerusalem.’

¹⁷ “Also announce: This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘My towns will be rich again. I will comfort Jerusalem again. I will still choose Jerusalem.’”

²² The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they began shouting, “Get rid of him! A man like this doesn’t deserve to live!” ²³ They shouted and threw off their coats.^[a] They threw dust into the air.^[b]

²⁴ Then the commander ordered the soldiers to take Paul into the army building and beat him. The commander wanted to make Paul tell why the people were shouting against him like this. ²⁵ So the soldiers were tying him up, preparing to beat him. But Paul said to an officer there, “Do you have the right to beat a Roman citizen^[c] who has not been proven guilty?”

²⁶ When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and told him about it. The officer said, “Do you know what you are doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”

²⁷ The commander came to Paul and said, “Tell me, are you really a Roman citizen?”

He answered, “Yes.”

²⁸ The commander said, “I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen.”

But Paul said, “I was born a citizen.”

²⁹ The men who were preparing to question Paul moved away from him immediately. The commander was frightened because he had already tied Paul, and Paul was a Roman citizen.

Paul Speaks to Jewish Leaders

³⁰ The next day the commander decided to learn why the Jews were accusing Paul. So he ordered the leading priests and the Jewish council to meet. The commander took Paul’s chains off. Then he brought Paul out and stood him before their meeting.

23 Paul looked at the Jewish council and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life in a good way before God up to this day.” ² Ananias,^[d] the high priest, heard this and told the men who were standing near Paul to hit him on his mouth. ³ Paul said to Ananias, “God will hit you too! You are like a wall that has been painted white! You sit there and judge me, using the law of Moses. But you are telling them to hit me, and that is against the law.”

⁴ The men standing near Paul said to him, “You cannot talk like that to God’s high priest! You are insulting him!”

⁵ Paul said, “Brothers, I did not know this man was the high priest. It is written in the Scriptures, ‘You must not curse a leader of your people.’”^[e]

⁶ Some of the men in the meeting were Sadducees, and others were Pharisees. So Paul shouted to them, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee and my father was a Pharisee! I am on trial here because I hope that people will rise from death!”

⁷ When Paul said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The group was divided. ⁸ (The Sadducees believe that after people die, they cannot live again. The Sadducees also teach that there are no angels or spirits. But the Pharisees believe in them all.) ⁹ So there was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of the law, who were Pharisees, stood up and argued, “We find nothing wrong with this man! Maybe an angel or a spirit did speak to him.”

¹⁰ The argument was beginning to turn into a fight. The commander was afraid that the Jews would tear Paul to pieces. So the commander told the soldiers to go down and take Paul away and put him in the army building.

¹¹ The next night the Lord came and stood by Paul. He said, “Be brave! You have told people in Jerusalem about me. You must do the same in Rome also.”