Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

145 Alleluia, of Aggeus and Zacharias.

² Praise the Lord, O my soul, in my life I will praise the Lord: I will sing to my God as long as I shall be. Put not your trust in princes:

³ In the children of men, in whom there is no salvation.

⁴ His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return into his earth: in that day all their thoughts shall perish.

⁵ Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God:

1 In the eighth month, in the second year of king Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zacharias the son of Barachias, the son of Addo, the prophet, saying:

² The Lord hath been exceeding angry with your fathers.

³ And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Turn ye to me, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will turn to you, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁴ Be not as your fathers, to whom the former prophets have cried, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Turn ye from your evil ways, and from your wicked thoughts: but they did not give ear, neither did they hearken to me, saith the Lord.

⁵ Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, shall they live always?

⁶ But yet my words, and my ordinances, which I gave in charge to my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers, and they returned, and said: As the Lord of hosts thought to do to us according to our ways, and according to our devices, so he hath done to us.

⁷ In the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month which is called Sabath, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zacharias the son of Barachias, the son of Addo, the prophet, saying:

⁸ I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees, that were in the bottom: and behind him were horses, red, speckled, and white.

⁹ And I said: What are these, my Lord? and the angel that spoke in me, said to me: I will shew thee what these are:

¹⁰ And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered, and said: These are they, whom the Lord hath sent to walk through the earth.

¹¹ And they answered the angel of the Lord, that stood among the myrtle trees, and said: We have walked through the earth, and behold all the earth is inhabited, and is at rest.

¹² And the angel of the Lord answered, and said: O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Juda, with which thou hast been angry? this is now the seventieth year.

¹³ And the Lord answered the angel, that spoke in me, good words, comfortable words.

¹⁴ And the angel that spoke in me, said to me: Cry thou, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am zealous for Jerusalem, and Sion with a great zeal.

¹⁵ And I am angry with a great anger with the wealthy nations: for I was angry a little, but they helped forward the evil.

¹⁶ Therefore thus saith the Lord: I will return to Jerusalem in mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts: and the building line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

¹⁷ Cry yet, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: My cities shall yet flow with good things: and the Lord will yet comfort Sion, and he will yet choose Jerusalem.

²² And they heard him until this word, and then lifted up their voice, saying: Away with such an one from the earth; for it is not fit that he should live.

²³ And as they cried out and threw off their garments, and cast dust into the air,

²⁴ The tribune commanded him to be brought into the castle, and that he should be scourged and tortured: to know for what cause they did so cry out against him.

²⁵ And when they had bound him with thongs, Paul saith to the centurion that stood by him: Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?

²⁶ Which the centurion hearing, went to the tribune, and told him, saying: What art thou about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.

²⁷ And the tribune coming, said to him: Tell me, art thou a Roman? But he said: Yea.

²⁸ And the tribune answered: I obtained the being free of this city with a great sum. And Paul said: But I was born so.

²⁹ Immediately therefore they departed from him that were about to torture him. The tribune also was afraid after he understood that he was a Roman citizen, and because he had bound him.

³⁰ But on the next day, meaning to know more diligently for what cause he was accused by the Jews, he loosed him, and commanded the priests to come together, and all the council: and bringing forth Paul, he set him before them.

23 And Paul looking upon the council, said: Men, brethren, I have conversed with all good conscience before God until this present day.

² And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to strike him on the mouth.

³ Then Paul said to him: God shall strike thee, thou whited wall. For sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and contrary to the law commandest me to be struck?

⁴ And they that stood by said: Dost thou revile the high priest of God?

⁵ And Paul said: I knew not, brethren, that he is the high priest. For it is written: Thou shalt not speak evil of the prince of thy people.

⁶ And Paul knowing that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, cried out in the council: Men, brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees: concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.

⁷ And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the multitude was divided.

⁸ For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.

⁹ And there arose a great cry. And some of the Pharisees rising up, strove, saying: We find no evil in this man. What if a spirit hath spoken to him, or an angel?

¹⁰ And when there arose a great dissension, the tribune fearing lest Paul should be pulled in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.

¹¹ And the night following the Lord standing by him, said: Be constant; for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.