Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 69[a]
Cry of Anguish in Distress
1 For the director.[b] According to “Lilies.” Of David.
2 [c]Save me, my God,
for the waters have risen to my neck.
3 I am sinking in muddy depths
and can find no foothold.
I have fallen into deep waters,
and the floods[d] overwhelm me.
4 I am exhausted from crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes have been worn out
searching for my God.
5 More numerous than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me for no reason.[e]
Many are those who seek to destroy me,
and they are treacherous.
How can I restore
what I have not stolen?
30 But I am filled with pain and suffering;
may your saving power, O God, raise me up.
31 [a]I will praise the name of God with a song
and glorify him with a hymn of thanksgiving.
32 This will gratify the Lord more than an ox
or a young bull with horns and hoofs:[b]
33 “Let the poor[c] see this and rejoice;
let those who seek God take heart.
34 For the Lord hears the needy
and does not turn his back on captives.
35 Let the heavens and the earth offer praise,
the seas and everything that moves therein.”
36 For God will deliver Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
His people will live there and possess it;
22 The Anointing Oil. The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Take the finest spices: five hundred shekels of flowing myrrh, half that amount of sweet-smelling cinnamon, namely two hundred and fifty shekels of it, two hundred and fifty shekels of aromatic cane, 24 five hundred shekels of cassia, all according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. 25 Make a holy anointing oil out of them using the craft of the perfumer who blends oils. It shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 With it you are to anoint the meeting tent, the Ark of Testimony, 27 the table and all its accessories, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offerings and all of its accessories, and the basin and its base. 29 You shall consecrate these things, and they shall become most holy. Whatever touches them will be holy.
30 “You shall also anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so that they may serve me as priests. 31 Say to the children of Israel: ‘This shall be my holy anointing oil for all your generations. 32 You shall not pour it out on anyone’s body, nor shall you make anything else like it. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you.’
33 “Anyone who makes anything like it, or who pours it on an outsider, shall be cut off from his people.”
34 The Incense. The Lord said to Moses, “Gather sweet spices, gum of stacte, onycha, resin of galbanum, equal measures of sweet spices and pure frankincense, 35 and make an incense using the skill of the perfumer. It is to be salted, pure and holy. 36 Beat some of it very fine and put it before the Testimony in the meeting tent where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.
37 “You shall not make for yourselves anything like this incense according to its composition. You shall consider it to be holy to the Lord. 38 Whoever makes anything like it to use for its sweet odor shall be cut off from his people.”
2 When they heard him addressing them in Aramaic, they became even more quiet than before.
Then he continued, 3 “I am a Jew, born atTarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. As a pupil of Gamaliel, I was thoroughly trained in the Law of our ancestors. I have always been zealous toward God, just as all of you are today. 4 I even persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, sending both men and women to prison in chains, 5 as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify. From them I also received letters to our brethren in Damascus, and I set out to bring prisoners back from there to Jerusalem for punishment.
6 “While I was on my way and drawing near Damascus, around midday a great light from the sky suddenly shone all around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Then he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’
9 “Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 I asked, ‘What do you want me to do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told everything that you have been appointed to do.’ 11 I could not see because of the brilliance of that light, and so my companions led me by the hand to Damascus.
12 “A man named Ananias, who was a devout observer of the Law and highly regarded by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to see me. Standing beside me, he said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ Instantly, I saw him.
14 “Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear him speak. 15 For you will be his witness[a] to tell all what you have seen and heard. 16 And now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’
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