Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help!

² My help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

³ He will not permit thy foot to be moved; He that keepeth thee will not slumber.

⁴ Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

⁶ The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; He shall preserve thy soul.

⁸ The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

²⁶ And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, with the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness in appearance of a man above upon it.

²⁷ And I saw as the color of amber, with the appearance of fire round about within it. From the appearance of His loins even upward and from the appearance of His loins even downward, I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

²⁸ As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of One who spoke.

2 And He said unto me, “Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.”

26 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, “Thou art permitted to speak for thyself.” Then Paul stretched forth his hand and answered for himself:

² “I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee concerning all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews,

³ especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.

⁴ “My manner of life from my youth, which was from the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, is known to all the Jews.

⁵ They knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.

⁶ And now I stand and am judged because of the hope of the promise made by God unto our fathers,

⁷ unto which promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God day and night, hope to come. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.

⁸ Why should it be thought an incredible thing by you that God should raise the dead?

⁹ “I myself verily thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth,

¹⁰ which things I also did in Jerusalem; and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.

¹¹ And I punished them often in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly maddened against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities.

¹² “Thereupon, as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,

¹³ at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, brighter than the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and those who journeyed with me.

¹⁴ And when we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who art Thou, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

¹⁶ But rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose: to make thee a minister and a witness, both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in which I will appear unto thee,

¹⁷ delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee,

¹⁸ to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith that is in Me.’