Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord Extolled for His Goodness.

A Psalm of Praise, of David.

A Call to Repentance

1 In the eighth month of the second year of ^(A)Darius, the word of the Lord came to ^(B)Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of ^(C)Iddo saying, ² “The Lord was very ^(D)angry with your fathers. ³ Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “^(E)Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. ⁴ “Do not be ^(F)like your fathers, to whom the ^(G)former prophets proclaimed, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “^(H)Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.”’ But they did ^(I)not listen or give heed to Me,” declares the Lord. ⁵ “Your ^(J)fathers, where are they? And the ^(K)prophets, do they live forever? ⁶ But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, ^(L)overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘^(M)As the Lord of hosts purposed to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us.’”’”

Patrol of the Earth

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, as follows: ⁸ I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a ^(N)red horse, and he was standing among the ^(O)myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel and ^(P)white horses behind him. ⁹ Then I said, “My ^(Q)lord, what are these?” And the ^(R)angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.” ¹⁰ And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are those whom the Lord has sent to ^[a](S)patrol the earth.” ¹¹ So they answered the angel of the Lord who was ^(T)standing among the myrtle trees and said, “We have ^[b]patrolled the earth, and behold, ^(U)all the earth is ^[c]peaceful and quiet.”

¹² Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, ^(V)how long will You ^(W)have no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been ^(X)indignant these ^(Y)seventy years?” ¹³ The Lord answered the ^(Z)angel who was speaking with me with ^[d]gracious words, ^(AA)comforting words. ¹⁴ So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “^(AB)Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I am ^(AC)exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. ¹⁵ But I am very ^(AD)angry with the nations who are ^(AE)at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they ^[e](AF)furthered the disaster.” ¹⁶ Therefore thus says the Lord, “I will ^(AG)return to Jerusalem with compassion; My ^(AH)house will be built in it,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and a measuring ^(AI)line will be stretched over Jerusalem.”’ ¹⁷ Again, proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “My ^(AJ)cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again ^(AK)comfort Zion and again ^(AL)choose Jerusalem.”’”

²² They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “^(A)Away with such a fellow from the earth, for ^(B)he should not be allowed to live!” ²³ And as they were crying out and ^(C)throwing off their cloaks and ^(D)tossing dust into the air, ²⁴ the ^[a]commander ordered him to be brought into ^(E)the barracks, stating that he should be ^(F)examined by scourging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. ²⁵ But when they stretched him out ^[b]with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it ^[c]lawful for you to scourge ^(G)a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” ²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the ^[d]commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” ²⁷ The ^[e]commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸ The ^[f]commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” ²⁹ Therefore those who were about to ^(H)examine him immediately ^[g]let go of him; and the ^[h]commander also ^(I)was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had ^[i](J)put him in chains.

³⁰ But on the next day, ^(K)wishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he ^(L)released him and ordered the chief priests and all ^(M)the ^[j]Council to assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them.

Paul before the Council

23 Paul, looking intently at ^(N)the ^[k]Council, said, “^(O)Brethren, ^(P)I have ^[l]lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.” ² The high priest ^(Q)Ananias commanded those standing beside him ^(R)to strike him on the mouth. ³ Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, ^(S)you whitewashed wall! Do you ^(T)sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?” ⁴ But the bystanders said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?” ⁵ And Paul said, “I was not aware, brethren, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘^(U)You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶ But perceiving that one group were ^(V)Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in ^(W)the ^[m]Council, “^(X)Brethren, ^(Y)I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for ^(Z)the hope and resurrection of the dead!” ⁷ As he said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ For ^(AA)the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹ And there occurred a great uproar; and some of ^(AB)the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, “^(AC)We find nothing wrong with this man; ^(AD)suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” ¹⁰ And as a great dissension was developing, the ^[n]commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into ^(AE)the barracks.

¹¹ But on ^(AF)the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, “^(AG)Take courage; for ^(AH)as you have ^(AI)solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.”