Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Cry for Help^[a]

The Anointing Oil

^22 (A)The Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Take the finest spices—12 pounds of liquid myrrh, 6 pounds of sweet-smelling cinnamon, 6 pounds of sweet-smelling cane, ²⁴ and 12 pounds of cassia (all weighed according to the official standard). Add one gallon of olive oil, ²⁵ and make a sacred anointing oil, mixed like perfume. ²⁶ Use it to anoint the Tent of my presence, the Covenant Box, ²⁷ the table and all its equipment, the lampstand and its equipment, the altar for burning incense, ²⁸ the altar for burning offerings, together with all its equipment, and the washbasin with its base. ²⁹ Dedicate these things in this way, and they will be completely holy, and anyone or anything that touches them will be harmed by the power of its holiness.^{[a] 30} Then anoint Aaron and his sons, and ordain them as priests in my service. ³¹ Say to the people of Israel, ‘This holy anointing oil is to be used in my service for all time to come. ³² It must not be poured on ordinary men, and you must not use the same formula to make any mixture like it. It is holy, and you must treat it as holy. ³³ Whoever makes any like it or uses any of it on anyone who is not a priest will no longer be considered one of my people.’”

The Incense

³⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Take an equal part of each of the following sweet spices—stacte, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense. ³⁵ Use them to make incense, mixed like perfume. Add salt to keep it pure and holy. ³⁶ Beat part of it into a fine powder, take it into the Tent of my presence, and sprinkle it in front of the Covenant Box. Treat this incense as completely holy. ³⁷ Do not use the same formula to make any incense like it for yourselves. Treat it as a holy thing dedicated to me. ³⁸ If anyone makes any like it for use as perfume, he will no longer be considered one of my people.”

² When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even quieter; and Paul went on:

^3 (A)“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in Jerusalem as a student of Gamaliel. I received strict instruction in the Law of our ancestors and was just as dedicated to God as are all of you who are here today. ^4 (B)I persecuted to the death the people who followed this Way. I arrested men and women and threw them into prison. ⁵ The High Priest and the whole Council can prove that I am telling the truth. I received from them letters written to fellow Jews in Damascus, so I went there to arrest these people and bring them back in chains to Jerusalem to be punished.

Paul Tells of His Conversion^(C)

⁶ “As I was traveling and coming near Damascus, about midday a bright light from the sky flashed suddenly around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ ⁸ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute,’ he said to me. ⁹ The men with me saw the light, but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ I asked, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ and the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that God has determined for you to do.’ ¹¹ I was blind because of the bright light, and so my companions took me by the hand and led me into Damascus.

¹² “In that city was a man named Ananias, a religious man who obeyed our Law and was highly respected by all the Jews living there. ¹³ He came to me, stood by me, and said, ‘Brother Saul, see again!’ At that very moment I saw again and looked at him. ¹⁴ He said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see his righteous Servant, and to hear him speaking with his own voice. ¹⁵ For you will be a witness for him to tell everyone what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now, why wait any longer? Get up and be baptized and have your sins washed away by praying to him.’