Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Concluding Hallel—Pss 146–150[a]
Psalm 146[b]
Trust in God, Creator and Redeemer
1 [c]Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.[d]
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God throughout my life.[e]
3 Do not place your trust in princes,
in mortal men who have no power to save.
4 When the spirit departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day all their plans come to naught.[f]
5 [g]Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,[h]
whose hope is in the Lord, his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,[i]
the sea, and everything in them—
the one who keeps faith forever.
7 He grants justice to the oppressed[j]
and gives bread to the hungry.
The Lord releases prisoners
8 and opens the eyes of those who cannot see.[k]
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the stranger
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,[l]
but he blocks the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord will reign forever,[m]
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Alleluia.
17 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘When you enter into the land to which I am bringing you, 19 then when you eat the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the Lord. 20 You shall lift up a cake from the first[a] of your dough as an offering just as you present an offering from your threshing floor. 21 You shall give an offering to the Lord from the first of your dough for all your generations.
22 Atonement Offerings.“ ‘If by mistake you have not observed all the commandments that the Lord proclaimed through Moses, 23 all that the Lord commanded through Moses, from the day that the Lord gave the commandments and onward through all your generations, 24 this is what will be done: if the action was committed unintentionally and without the knowledge of the assembly, then the whole assembly is to offer up one young bull as a burnt offering, a pleasing fragrance to the Lord, along with its cereal and drink offerings, according to custom, as well as one kid goat as a sin offering. 25 The priest shall make atonement for the whole assembly of the people of Israel, and it will be forgiven them, for it was unintentional. They will have brought a sacrifice by fire to the Lord, a sin offering to the Lord for their mistake. 26 All of the assembly of the people of Israel and even the foreigner living among them shall be forgiven, for all the people participated in the mistake.
Chapter 26
Paul’s Defense before Agrippa. 1 Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began to defend himself: 2 “I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that it is before you today that I am to defend myself against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 particularly since you are well acquainted with all our Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I implore you to listen to me patiently.
4 “The Jews all know my way of life from my youth, which I first lived among my own people and in Jerusalem. 5 They have known about me from my youth, and they could testify, if they were willing, that I belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as a Pharisee. 6 But now I am on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors.
7 “Our twelve tribes worship night and day with intense devotion in the hope of seeing its fulfillment. It is because of this hope that I am accused by the Jews, O king. 8 Why should it seem incredible to any of you that God raises the dead?
9 “I myself once thought that I had to do everything possible against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With the authorization of the chief priests, I not only sent many of the saints[a] to prison, but when they were being condemned to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 In all the synagogues, I tried by inflicting repeated punishments to force them to blaspheme, and I was so enraged with fury against them that I even pursued them to foreign cities.
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