Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A song for going up to the Temple.

²⁶ There was something that looked like a throne on top of the bowl. It was blue like sapphire. There was also something that looked like a man sitting on the throne. ²⁷ I looked at him from his waist up. He looked like hot metal with fire all around him. I looked at him from his waist down. It looked like fire with a glow that was shining all around him. ²⁸ The light shining around him was like a rainbow in a cloud. It was the Glory of the Lord. As soon as I saw that, I fell to the ground. I bowed with my face to the ground, and then I heard a voice speaking to me.

The Lord Speaks to Ezekiel

2 The voice said, “Son of man,^[a] stand up and I will speak with you.”

Paul Before King Agrippa

26 Agrippa said to Paul, “You may now speak to defend yourself.” Paul raised his hand to get their attention and began to speak. ² He said, “King Agrippa, I feel fortunate that I can stand here before you today and answer all the charges these Jews have made against me. ³ I am very happy to talk to you, because you know so much about all the Jewish customs and the things the Jews argue about. Please listen to me patiently.

⁴ “All the Jews know about my whole life. They know the way I lived from the beginning in my own country and later in Jerusalem. ⁵ These Jews have known me for a long time. If they want to, they can tell you that I was a good Pharisee. And the Pharisees obey the laws of the Jewish religion more carefully than any other group. ⁶ Now I am on trial because I hope for the promise that God made to our fathers. ⁷ This is the promise that all the twelve tribes of our people hope to receive. For this hope the Jews serve God day and night. My king, the Jews have accused me because I hope for this same promise. ⁸ Why do you people think it is impossible for God to raise people from death?

⁹ “I used to think that I should do everything I could against Jesus from Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that’s what I did, beginning in Jerusalem. The leading priests gave me the authority to put many of God’s people in jail. And when they were being killed, I agreed that it was a good thing. ¹¹ I visited all the synagogues and punished them, trying to make them curse^[a] Jesus. My anger against these people was so strong that I went to other cities to find them and punish them.

Paul Tells About Seeing Jesus

¹² “One time the leading priests gave me permission and the authority to go to the city of Damascus. ¹³ On the way there, at noon, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun. It shined all around me and those traveling with me. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground. Then I heard a voice talking to me in Aramaic. The voice said, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are only hurting yourself by fighting me.’

¹⁵ “I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“The Lord said, ‘I am Jesus. I am the one you are persecuting. ¹⁶ Stand up! I have chosen you to be my servant. You will tell people about me—what you have seen today and what I will show you. This is why I have come to you. ¹⁷ I will keep you safe from your own people and from the non-Jewish people, the ones I am sending you to. ¹⁸ You will make them able to understand the truth. They will turn away from darkness to the light. They will turn away from the power of Satan, and they will turn to God. Then their sins can be forgiven, and they can be given a place among God’s people—those who have been made holy by believing in me.’”