Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A song to sing as we climb.

Only God can keep me safe^[a]

²⁶ Above the roof, there was something that looked like a throne. It was made of a blue jewel called sapphire. On the throne, high above, I saw something that looked like the shape of a man. ²⁷ The top part of his body shone like a fire with bright metal in the centre of it. The lower part of his body looked like flames of fire. All around the human shape, there was a very bright light. ²⁸ It shone with the colours of a rainbow in the clouds when there is rain. This bright light showed the glory of the Lord, who was there.

When I saw this, I bent down low with my face on the ground. I heard a voice that was speaking to me.

God chooses Ezekiel to be his messenger

2 The voice said to me, ‘Son of man, you must stand up on your feet. Then I will speak to you.’

Paul speaks to Agrippa

26 King Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You may now say what you think about this problem.’

Paul raised his hand so that people would listen to him. ² He said, ‘King Agrippa, I am happy that you are here. I ask you to listen to me today. These Jews say that I have done some bad things. I will explain to you what is really true about all these things. ³ You yourself know all about the Jews. You know about how we live. You also know the things that we argue about with each other. So please be patient and listen to me.

⁴ The Jewish people have known me since I was born. They all know how I have lived among them. They knew me in the region where I was born. When I came to Jerusalem, they also know how I lived there. ⁵ So they have known me for a long time. They could tell you that I always obeyed our Jewish laws. They know that I was a Pharisee. I carefully obeyed God's Law, as a Pharisee does. But maybe they do not want to tell you all that. ⁶ So what is the reason that I stand here today for you to judge me? It is because I believe in God's promise to our ancestors. ⁷ He promised a great thing to our 12 Israelite families. We all expect to receive what God has promised to us. That is why we Jews always worship God, in the day and in the night. Like these Jews here, I believe in God's great promise. But that is the reason that they speak against me. ⁸ Is it impossible for God to cause dead people to become alive again? You should surely believe me when I say that.

⁹ I myself wanted to work against Jesus, the man from Nazareth, and against his message. ¹⁰ That is what I was doing in Jerusalem. The leaders of the priests gave me authority to put many of the believers in prison. I agreed with our leaders when they said, “These people must die.”

¹¹ I went to our Jewish meeting places to take hold of believers. I told my men to punish them. I tried to make the believers say bad things against God. I was very angry with them. So I even travelled to cities in other countries to punish them.

¹² For that reason, one day I was travelling to Damascus. The leaders of the priests in Jerusalem had sent me there. They had given me authority to take hold of the believers there. ¹³ Listen to this, King Agrippa! I was travelling along the road at midday. Suddenly I saw a very bright light in the sky. It was much brighter than the sun. It shone all round me and also round the men who were with me. ¹⁴ All of us fell down to the ground. I heard a voice that spoke to me in my own language, Hebrew.^[a] He said “Saul, Saul, why do you fight against me? You are like an ox that kicks against its master's stick. So you are hurting yourself.”^[b]

¹⁵ “Lord, who are you?” I asked.

He replied, “I am Jesus. And you are fighting against me. ¹⁶ Now you must get up. Stand on your feet. I have chosen you to be my servant. That is why I have appeared to you today. You must tell other people about what you have seen. After that, I will show you other things that you must tell people. ¹⁷ I will send you to speak about me to Jews and to Gentiles. Some of them will want to hurt you. But I will keep you safe. ¹⁸ You will help them to understand what is really true. They are like people who live in the dark. Teach them what is true about me. Then they will be like people who live in the light. Now Satan has power over them. Lead them from there into God's kingdom. Then God will forgive them for the wrong things that they have done. Because they believe in me, God will accept them as his own people.” ’