Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁶ Then they came to the ^(A)threshing floor of Nacon. And ^[a]Uzzah ^(B)reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, because the oxen nearly upset it. ⁷ And the anger of Yahweh burned against Uzzah, and ^(C)God struck him down there for ^[b]his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God. ⁸ And David became angry because ^[c]of Yahweh’s breaking out against Uzzah; and that place is called ^[d]Perez-uzzah to this day. ⁹ So ^(D)David was afraid of Yahweh that day; and he said, “How can the ark of Yahweh come to me?” ¹⁰ And David was unwilling to move the ark of Yahweh into the city of David with him; but David took it aside to the house of ^(E)Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹¹ Thus the ark of Yahweh remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and Yahweh ^(F)blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

¹² Then it was told to King David, saying, “Yahweh has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, on account of the ark of God.” So ^(G)David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into ^(H)the city of David with gladness.

Paul Is Arrested

²⁷ Now when ^(A)the seven days were almost over, ^(B)the Jews from ^[a](C)Asia, upon noticing him in the temple, began to throw all the crowd into confusion and laid hands on him, ²⁸ crying out, “Men of Israel, help! ^(D)This is the man who teaches to everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has ^(E)defiled this holy place.” ²⁹ For they had previously seen ^(F)Trophimus the ^(G)Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. ³⁰ Then all the city was stirred, and ^[b]the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they ^(H)dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. ³¹ While they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the ^[c]commander of the ^(I)Roman ^[d]cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ³² At once he ^(J)took along soldiers and centurions and ran down to them; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered him to be ^(K)bound with ^(L)two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ But among the crowd ^(M)some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the ^[e]facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into ^(N)the barracks. ³⁵ And when he got to ^(O)the stairs, he actually was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd; ³⁶ for the multitude of the people kept following them, shouting, “^(P)Away with him!”

Paul’s Defense Before the Jews

³⁷ As Paul was about to be brought into ^(Q)the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he *said, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸ Then you are not ^(R)the Egyptian who some ^[f]time ago raised a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ^(S)into the wilderness?” ³⁹ But Paul said, “^(T)I am a Jew of Tarsus in ^(U)Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”