Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁶ But when they reached the threshing floor of Nahon, Uzzah reached out to the ark of God and grasped it, for the oxen had stumbled. ⁷ Then the anger of Adonai was kindled against Uzzah. God struck him down there for his irreverence, so that he died there beside the ark of God. ⁸ David was upset because of Adonai’s outburst against Uzzah. That place is called Perez-uzzah^[a] to this day.

⁹ So David was frightened of Adonai that day. Then he said, “How can the ark of Adonai come to me?” ¹⁰ David was unwilling to move the ark of Adonai to him, to the City of David; instead, David diverted it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹¹ So the ark of Adonai remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months; meanwhile Adonai blessed Obed-edom and his entire household.

¹² Then it was reported to King David saying, “Adonai has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought the ark of God up from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with joy.

Trouble at the Temple

²⁷ When the seven days were about to be completed, the Jewish leaders from Asia^[a] saw Paul in the Temple and began stirring up the whole crowd. They grabbed him, ²⁸ shouting, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching all men everywhere against our people and the Torah and this place. Besides, he has even brought Greeks into the Temple and defiled^[b] this holy place!”

²⁹ For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they assumed that Paul had brought him into the Temple. ³⁰ The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the Temple, and the gates were shut at once.

³¹ As they were trying to kill him, news came to the commander of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in chaos. ³² Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and rushed down to them. Upon seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the commander came up, arrested Paul, ordered him to be bound with two chains, and began investigating what he had done. ³⁴ Some in the crowd shouted one thing, and some another. As he could not determine the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into headquarters.

³⁵ When he came to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd. ³⁶ For the multitude of people that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!”

³⁷ As Paul was about to be brought into the headquarters, he said to the commander, “Can I say something to you?”

The commander said, “You know Greek? ³⁸ Then you’re not the Egyptian who stirred up a rebellion some time ago—and led four thousand men of the Assassins out into the desert?”

³⁹ Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. I beg you, let me speak to the people.”