Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁹ This message from Adonai came to me: ¹⁰ “Take [gifts] from the exiles of Heldai, Toviyah, and Y’da‘yah, who have arrived from Bavel; then you, go to the house of Yoshiyah the son of Tz’fanyah. ¹¹ Take silver and gold; make crowns; put one on the head of Y’hoshua the son of Y’hotzadak, the cohen hagadol; ¹² and tell him, ‘Adonai-Tzva’ot says: “There is coming a man whose name is Tzemach [Sprout]. He will sprout up from his place and rebuild the temple of Adonai. ¹³ Yes, he will rebuild the temple of Adonai; and he will take up royal splendor, sitting and ruling from his throne. There will be a cohen before his throne; and they will accept each other’s advice in complete harmony. ¹⁴ The other crowns will be for Helem, Toviyah, Y’da‘yah and Hen the son of Tz’fanyah; then [they are to be kept] as a memorial in the temple of Adonai. ¹⁵ Those who are now far away will come and help rebuild the temple of Adonai.” Then you will know that it is Adonai-Tzva’ot who sent me to you. And it will all come about, provided you heed carefully what Adonai your God says.’”

¹⁰ When the governor motioned for Sha’ul to speak, he replied, “I know that you have been judge over this nation for a number of years, so I am glad to make my defense. ¹¹ As you can verify for yourself, it has not been more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Yerushalayim; ¹² and neither in the Temple nor in the synagogues nor anywhere else in the city did they find me either arguing with anyone or collecting a crowd. ¹³ Nor can they give any proof of the things of which they are accusing me.

¹⁴ “But this I do admit to you: I worship the God of our fathers^[a] in accordance with the Way (which they call a sect). I continue to believe everything that accords with the Torah and everything written in the Prophets. ¹⁵ And I continue to have a hope in God — which they too accept — that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. ¹⁶ Indeed, it is because of this that I make a point of always having a clear conscience in the sight of both God and man.

¹⁷ “After an absence of several years, I came to Yerushalayim to bring a charitable gift to my nation and to offer sacrifices. ¹⁸ It was in connection with the latter that they found me in the Temple. I had been ceremonially purified, I was not with a crowd, and I was not causing a disturbance. ¹⁹ But some Jews from the province of Asia — they ought to be here before you to make a charge if they have anything against me! ²⁰ Or else, let these men themselves say what crime they found me guilty of when I stood in front of the Sanhedrin, ²¹ other than this one thing which I shouted out when I was standing among them: ‘I am on trial before you today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!’”

²² But Felix, who had rather detailed knowledge of things connected with the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.” ²³ He ordered the captain to keep Sha’ul in custody, but to let him have considerable liberty and not prevent any of his friends from taking care of his needs.