Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 146

The God of Compassion

¹⁷ The Lord instructed Moses, ¹⁸ “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: After you enter the land where I am bringing you, ¹⁹ you are to offer a contribution to the Lord when you eat from the food of the land. ²⁰ You are to offer a loaf from your first batch of dough^(A) as a contribution; offer it just like a contribution from the threshing floor.^{(B) 21} Throughout your generations, you are to give the Lord a contribution from the first batch of your dough.

²² “When you sin unintentionally and do not obey all these commands that the Lord spoke to Moses^(C)— ²³ all that the Lord has commanded you through Moses, from the day the Lord issued the commands and onward throughout your generations— ²⁴ and if it was done unintentionally without the community’s awareness, the entire community is to prepare one young bull for a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and drink offering according to the regulation, and one male goat as a sin offering. ²⁵ The priest will then make atonement for the entire Israelite community so that they may be forgiven,^(D) for the sin was unintentional. They are to bring their offering, a food offering to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord for their unintentional sin. ²⁶ The entire Israelite community and the alien who resides among them will be forgiven, since it happened to all the people unintentionally.

Paul’s Defense before Agrippa

26 Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”

Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense: ² “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, ³ especially since you are very knowledgeable about all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴ “All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.^{(A) 5} They have known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.^{(B) 6} And now I stand on trial because of the hope^(C) in what God promised^(D) to our ancestors, ⁷ the promise our twelve tribes hope to reach as they earnestly serve him night and day. King Agrippa, I am being accused by the Jews because of this hope.^{(E) 8} Why do any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead? ⁹ In fact, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.^{(F) 10} I actually did this in Jerusalem, and I locked up many of the saints in prison, since I had received authority for that from the chief priests. When they were put to death, I was in agreement against them.^{(G) 11} In all the synagogues I often punished them and tried to make them blaspheme.^(H) Since I was terribly enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.