Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Song of Praise

145 I will praise You, my God and King. I will honor Your name forever and ever. ² I will honor You every day, and praise Your name forever and ever. ³ The Lord is great and our praise to Him should be great. He is too great for anyone to understand. ⁴ Families of this time will praise Your works to the families-to-come. They will tell about Your powerful acts. ⁵ I will think about the shining-greatness of Your power and about Your great works.

¹⁷ The Lord is right and good in all His ways, and kind in all His works. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. ¹⁹ He will fill the desire of those who fear Him. He will also hear their cry and will save them. ²⁰ The Lord takes care of all who love Him. But He will destroy all the sinful. ²¹ My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. And all flesh will honor His holy name forever and ever.

The Lord Calls His People to Turn from Sin

1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the Word of the Lord came to Zechariah the man of God, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying, ² “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. ³ So tell them, ‘The Lord of All says, “Return to Me, that I may return to you. ⁴ Do not be like your fathers. The men who spoke for Me in the past told them, ‘The Lord of All says, “Return from your sinful ways and from your sinful works.”’ But they did not listen to Me,” says the Lord. ⁵ “Where are your fathers now? And the men who spoke for Me, do they live forever? ⁶ I gave My Words and My Laws to your fathers through My servants who spoke for Me. But they would not listen and so they were punished. Then they were sorry for their sins and said, ‘The Lord of All has punished us for our ways and our works, as He said He would.’”’”

Zechariah Sees Horses during the Night

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the Word of the Lord came to Zechariah the man of God, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo. ⁸ During the night while I was sleeping I saw a man traveling on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the narrow valley, with red, brown, and white horses behind him. ⁹ I asked, “My lord, what are these?” And the angel who was speaking with me said, “I will show you what these are.” ¹⁰ So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to travel all over the earth to keep watch.” ¹¹ And they said to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have looked over all the earth, and saw that the whole earth is at rest and in peace.”

The Lord Comforts Jerusalem

¹² Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of All, how long will You have no loving-pity for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? You have been angry with them for seventy years now.” ¹³ And the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me. ¹⁴ So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “Make this known: ‘The Lord of All says, “I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. ¹⁵ But I am very angry with the nations who take it easy. When I was only a little angry, they added to the trouble.” ¹⁶ So the Lord says, “I will return to Jerusalem with loving-pity. My house will be built in it and all Jerusalem will be built again,” says the Lord of All. ¹⁷ Also make this known: ‘The Lord of All says, “My cities will again be filled with riches. The Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”’”

²² They listened to him until he said that. Then they all cried out with loud voices, “Kill him! Take such a man from the earth! He should not live!” ²³ They kept on calling out. Then they pulled off their coats and threw dust in the air.

Paul Tells Who He Is

²⁴ The captain told them to bring Paul into the soldiers’ building. He told his soldiers to find out from Paul, by beating him, why the people were crying out against him. ²⁵ As they tied him up, Paul said to the soldier, “Does the law say that you can beat a Roman citizen when no one has said he is guilty?”

²⁶ When the soldier heard this, he told it to the captain. He said, “Listen! What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷ The captain came and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” Paul said, “Yes!” ²⁸ The captain said, “I had to pay a lot of money to be a citizen.” Paul said, “But I was born a Roman.” ²⁹ Those who were going to beat him left him at once. The captain was also afraid when he heard that Paul was a Roman citizen because he had him tied.

Paul Stands in Front of the Religious Leaders’ Court

³⁰ The next day they took off the chains that were holding Paul. The captain wanted to know why the Jews wanted to kill him. So the captain told the head religious leaders to gather for their court. They brought Paul and put him in front of them.

Paul Speaks to the Religious Leaders’ Court

23 Paul looked straight at the court and said, “Brother Jews, I have lived for God with a heart that has said I am not guilty to this day.” ² Then Ananias, the head religious leader, told those standing near him to hit him on the mouth. ³ Paul said, “God will hit you, you white-washed wall! Do you sit there and say I am guilty by the Law when you break the Law by having me hit?”

⁴ Those standing near said, “Do you talk like that to God’s head religious leader?” ⁵ Paul said, “Brother Jews, I did not know that he was God’s head religious leader. I know the Holy Writings say, ‘You must not speak against the leader of your people.’” ^(A)

⁶ Paul saw that part of the court was made up of the religious group who believe no one is raised from the dead. The other part were proud religious law-keepers. Then he cried out, “Brother Jews, I am a proud religious law-keeper and from a family of proud religious law-keepers. I have been brought in front of this court because of the hope of being raised from the dead.”

⁷ When they heard this, both religious groups started to argue and the people of the court were divided in what they thought. ⁸ The one religious group believes that no one is raised from the dead. Also, they do not believe in angels or spirits. But the other religious group, the proud religious law-keepers, believe that people are raised from the dead and that there are angels and spirits. ⁹ The courtroom was filled with noise. Some of the teachers of the Law working with the proud religious law-keepers stood up and said, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if an angel or spirit has spoken to him?”

¹⁰ They argued all the more. Then the captain was afraid they would pull Paul to pieces. He told his men to get Paul out of there and take him back to the soldiers’ building. ¹¹ The next night the Lord came to Paul and said, “Paul, do not be afraid! You will tell about Me in the city of Rome the same as you have told about Me in Jerusalem.”