Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
24 God, those who worship you come marching into view.
My God and King, those who follow you have entered the sacred tent.
25 The singers are walking in front.
Next come the musicians.
Young women playing tambourines are with them.
26 The leaders sing, “Praise God among all those who worship him.
Praise the Lord in the community of Israel.”
27 The little tribe of Benjamin leads the worshipers.
Next comes the great crowd of Judah’s princes.
Then come the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28 God, show us your power.
Show us your strength.
God, do as you have done before.
29 Do it from your temple at Jerusalem,
where kings will bring you gifts.
30 Give a strong warning to Egypt, that beast among the tall grass.
It is like a herd of bulls among the calves.
May that beast bow down before you with gifts of silver.
Scatter the nations who like to make war.
31 Messengers will come from Egypt.
The people of Cush will be quick to bring gifts to you.
32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth.
Sing praise to the Lord.
33 He rides across the highest places in heaven.
He rides across the ancient skies above.
He thunders with his mighty voice.
34 Tell how powerful God is.
He rules as king over Israel.
The skies show how powerful he is.
35 How wonderful is God in his holy place!
The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
Give praise to God!
6 They came to the threshing floor of Nakon. The oxen nearly fell there. So Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God. 7 Then the Lord was very angry with Uzzah. That’s because what Uzzah did showed that he didn’t have any respect for the Lord. So God struck him down. He died there beside the ark of God.
8 David was angry because the Lord’s great anger had broken out against Uzzah. That’s why the place is still called Perez Uzzah to this day.
9 David was afraid of the Lord that day. He asked, “How can the ark of the Lord ever be brought to me?” 10 He didn’t want to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom. Obed-Edom was from Gath. 11 The ark of the Lord remained in Obed-Edom’s house for three months. And the Lord blessed him and his whole family.
12 King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom. He has also blessed everything that belongs to him. That’s because the ark of God is in Obed-Edom’s house.” So David went down there to bring up the ark. With great joy he brought it up from the house of Obed-Edom. He took it to the City of David.
Paul Is Arrested
27 The seven days of cleansing were almost over. Some Jews from Asia Minor saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and grabbed Paul. 28 “Fellow Israelites, help us!” they shouted. “This is the man who teaches everyone in all places against our people. He speaks against our law and against this holy place. Besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple. He has made this holy place ‘unclean.’ ” 29 They said this because they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul. They thought Paul had brought him into the temple.
30 The whole city was stirred up. People came running from all directions. They grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the temple. Right away the temple gates were shut. 31 The people were trying to kill Paul. But news reached the commander of the Roman troops. He heard that people were making trouble in the whole city of Jerusalem. 32 Right away he took some officers and soldiers with him. They ran down to the crowd. The people causing the trouble saw the commander and his soldiers. So they stopped beating Paul.
33 The commander came up and arrested Paul. He ordered him to be held with two chains. Then he asked who Paul was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another. But the commander couldn’t get the facts because of all the noise. So he ordered that Paul be taken into the fort. 35 Paul reached the steps. But then the mob became so wild that he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36 The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”
Paul Speaks to the Crowd
37 The soldiers were about to take Paul into the fort. Then he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”
“Do you speak Greek?” he replied. 38 “Aren’t you the Egyptian who turned some of our people against their leaders? Didn’t you lead 4,000 terrorists out into the desert some time ago?”
39 Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia. I am a citizen of an important city. Please let me speak to the people.”
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