Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Ceremony for Appointing the Priests

29 “Now I will tell you what you must do to show that Aaron and his sons serve me in a special way as priests. Find one young bull and two rams that have nothing wrong with them. ² Then use fine wheat flour without yeast to make bread. And use the same things to make cakes mixed with olive oil. Make small thin cakes spread with oil. ³ Put this bread and the cakes in a basket. Then give the basket to Aaron and his sons. At the same time, give them the bull and the two rams.

⁴ “Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Wash them with water. ⁵ Put the special clothes on Aaron. Put on him the white woven robe and the blue robe that is worn with the ephod. Put the ephod and the judgment pouch on him. Then tie the beautiful cloth belt on him. ⁶ Put the turban on his head and the special crown around the turban. ⁷ Take the anointing oil and pour it on Aaron’s head. This will show that he is chosen for this work.

⁸ “Then bring Aaron’s sons to that place. Put the white woven robes on them. ⁹ Then tie cloth belts around their waists, and give them cloth caps to wear. At that time they will begin to be priests. They will be priests because of the special law that will continue forever. This is the way you will make Aaron and his sons priests.

Paul Tells About His Conversion

⁶ “But something happened to me on my way to Damascus. It was about noon when I came close to Damascus. Suddenly a bright light from heaven shined all around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

⁸ “I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The voice said, ‘I am Jesus from Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.’ ⁹ The men who were with me did not understand the voice, but they saw the light.

¹⁰ “I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that I have planned for you to do.’ ¹¹ I could not see, because the bright light had made me blind. So the men led me into Damascus.

¹² “In Damascus a man named Ananias^[a] came to me. He was a man who was devoted to God and obeyed the Law of Moses. All the Jews who lived there respected him. ¹³ He came to me and said, ‘Saul, my brother, look up and see again!’ Immediately I was able to see him.

¹⁴ “Ananias told me, ‘The God of our fathers chose you long ago to know his plan. He chose you to see the Righteous One and to hear words from him. ¹⁵ You will be his witness to all people. You will tell them what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ Now, don’t wait any longer. Get up, be baptized and wash away your sins, trusting in Jesus to save you.^[b]’

¹⁷ “Later, I came back to Jerusalem. I was praying in the Temple area, and I saw a vision. ¹⁸ I saw Jesus, and he said to me, ‘Hurry and leave Jerusalem now! The people here will not accept the truth you tell them about me.’

¹⁹ “I said, ‘But, Lord, the people know that I was the one who put the believers in jail and beat them. I went through all the synagogues to find and arrest the people who believe in you. ²⁰ The people also know that I was there when Stephen, your witness, was killed. I stood there and agreed that they should kill him. I even held the coats of the men who were killing him!’

²¹ “But Jesus said to me, ‘Leave now. I will send you far away to the non-Jewish people.’”