Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 145
A Psalm of Praise. Of David.
1 I will exalt you, my God and King,
and I will bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and His greatness is unfathomable.
4 One generation shall praise Your works to another
and shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 I will speak of the glorious honor of Your majesty
and of Your wondrous works.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways
and loving in all His works.
18 The Lord is near to all those who call upon Him,
to all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and will save them.
20 The Lord preserves all those who love Him,
but all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all people bless His holy name
forever and ever.
1 In the eighth month, during the second year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berekiah, son of Iddo, saying:
A Call to Repentance
2 The Lord was very angry with your fathers, 3 so you will say to them, Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts. 4 Do not be like your fathers to whom the former prophets cried, “Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Turn away from your evil ways and deeds!” But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, says the Lord. 5 So where are your fathers, and do the prophets live forever? 6 Surely My words and statutes that I commanded to My servants, the prophets, did they not persuade your fathers?
They turned back and said, “Whatever the Lord of Hosts planned to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.”
Vision of the Horsemen
7 On the twenty-fourth day, in the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, during the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berekiah, son of Iddo:
8 I saw during the night a man riding on a red horse. But he was standing among the myrtle trees that were in the ravine, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.
9 And I said, “What are these, my lord?”
Then the angel who was speaking with me said, “I will show you what these are.”
10 Then the man who was standing among the myrtle trees responded and said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent out to walk to and fro on the earth.”
11 They answered and said to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone to and fro on the earth, and all the earth is resting and peaceful.”
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “How much longer, O Lord of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with which You have been angry these seventy years?” 13 And the Lord answered the angel speaking to me with good and comforting words.
14 So the angel who spoke with me said, Cry out, saying: Thus says the Lord of Hosts: I have a great jealousy for Jerusalem and Zion. 15 And I have a great anger for those nations who are at ease, for while I was angry but a little, they helped to increase evil.
16 Therefore thus says the Lord: I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy, and My house will be built in it, says the Lord of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.
17 Cry out again, saying, Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Yet again My cities will overflow with goodness, and again the Lord will comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.
Paul and the Roman Commander
22 They listened to him up to this word, and then they lifted up their voices and said, “Away with such a man from the earth, for he is not fit to live!”
23 As they shouted and threw off their garments and threw dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks and examined with scourging, so that he might learn what crime they were alleging against him. 25 As they stretched him forward with straps, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to flog an uncondemned Roman citizen?”
26 On hearing this, the centurion reported to the commander, saying, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen.”
27 The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
He said, “Yes.”
28 The commander answered, “I bought my citizenship for a large sum.”
So Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”
29 Therefore those who were about to examine Paul immediately backed away from him. And the commander feared, knowing that he was a Roman citizen and because he had bound him.
Paul Before the Sanhedrin
30 On the next day, desiring to know exactly why he was accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble, and he brought Paul down to stand before them.
23 Paul looked at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” 2 The high priest Ananias ordered those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit judging me according to the law, yet order me to be struck contrary to the law?”
4 Those who stood by said, “Do you criticize God’s high priest?”
5 Paul said, “Brothers, I did not know that he was the high priest. For it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people.’[a]”
6 Then Paul, knowing that one sect were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, cried out among the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of a Pharisee. I am being judged for my hope in the resurrection of the dead.” 7 When he had said this, dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit. But the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
9 There was a great outcry. The scribes that were from the sect of Pharisees stood up and argued, “We find no evil in this man. But if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.” 10 When much dissension arose, fearing that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, the commander ordered the soldiers to go down and take him from them by force and bring him into the barracks.
11 The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, Paul. For as you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify at Rome.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.