Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
24 They have observed your processions, God,
the processions of my God,
my king, in the sanctuary.
25 The singers are in front,
the musicians follow,
strumming their stringed instruments
among the maidens who are playing their tambourines.
26 Bless God in the great congregation,
the Lord who is the fountain of Israel.
27 Little Benjamin is there, leading them,
and the princes of Judah all together
with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28 Summon the power of your God,
the power, God, that you have shown us.
29 Because of your Temple in Jerusalem,
kings bring tribute to you.
30 Rebuke the wildlife that lives among the reeds,
the nations that congregate like bulls and cows,
humbling themselves with pieces of silver,
for God[a] scatters the nations that delight in battle.
31 Envoys will come from Egypt.
Let the Ethiopians stretch out their hands to God.
32 You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God!
Sing praises to the Lord,
33 to the one who rides the heavens, the ancient heavens.
Behold! He thunders with a mighty voice.
34 Ascribe power to God, whose glory is over Israel,
whose power is in the skies.
35 You are awesome, God, from your sanctuaries.
The God of Israel is the one
who gives strength and power to the people.
Blessed be God!
6 When they arrived at Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out and grabbed the Ark of God because the oxen had stumbled. 7 Just then, the anger of the Lord blazed against Uzzah, and God struck him down right there because of his failure, and he died there beside the Ark of God.
8 David flew into a rage because the Lord had killed[a] Uzzah. That’s why that place is called Perez-uzzah[b] to this day. 9 But David feared the Lord that day, and asked, “How can the Ark of God come to me?” 10 As a result, David was unwilling to take the ark of the Lord into his care in the City of David. Instead, David left it at the home of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11 So the ark of the Lord remained for three months in the household of Obed-edom the Gittite while the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his entire household.
12 Later on, David was informed, “The Lord has blessed the home of Obed-edom and everything he has since he’s in possession[c] of the Ark of God.” So David went out joyfully and brought up the Ark of God to the City of David from Obed-edom’s home.
27 When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, seeing Paul[a] in the Temple, stirred up a large crowd. They grabbed Paul,[b] 28 yelling, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere to turn against our people, the Law, and this place. More than that, he has even brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this Holy Place.” 29 For they had earlier seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him and assumed that Paul had taken him into the Temple. 30 The whole city was in chaos. The people rushed together, grabbed Paul, dragged him out of the Temple, and at once the doors were sealed shut.
31 The crowd[c] was trying to kill Paul[d] when a report reached the tribune of the cohort[e] that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 Immediately the tribune[f] took some soldiers and officers and ran down to the crowd.[g] When the people[h] saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the tribune came up, grabbed Paul,[i] and ordered him to be tied up with two chains. He then asked who Paul[j] was and what he had done. 34 Some of the crowd shouted this and some that. Since the tribune[k] couldn’t learn the facts due to the confusion, he ordered Paul[l] to be taken into the barracks. 35 When Paul[m] got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because the mob had become so violent. 36 The crowd of people kept following him and shouting, “Kill him!”
Paul Speaks in His Own Defense
37 Just as Paul was about to be taken into the barracks, he asked the tribune, “May I say something to you?”
The tribune[n] asked, “Oh, do you speak Greek? 38 You’re not the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led 4,000 assassins into the desert, are you?”
39 Paul replied, “I’m a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. Please let me speak to the people.”
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