Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 29

A psalm of David.

Solomon dedicates the temple

² Then Solomon assembled Israel’s elders, all the tribal leaders, and the clan chieftains of Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the chest containing the Lord’s covenant from Zion, David’s City. ³ Everyone in Israel assembled before the king in the seventh month,^[a] during the festival. ⁴ When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the Levites picked up the chest. ⁵ They brought the chest, the meeting tent, and all the holy objects that were in the tent. The priests and^[b] the Levites brought them up, ⁶ while King Solomon and the entire Israelite assembly that had joined him before the chest sacrificed countless sheep and oxen. ⁷ The priests brought the chest containing the Lord’s covenant to its designated spot beneath the wings of the winged creatures in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the most holy place. ⁸ The winged creatures spread their wings over the place where the chest rested, covering the chest and its carrying poles. ⁹ The carrying poles were so long that their tips could be seen from the holy place^[c] in front of the inner sanctuary, though they weren’t visible from outside. They are still there today. ¹⁰ Nothing was in the chest except the two stone tablets Moses placed there while at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they left Egypt.

¹¹ Then the priests left the holy place. All the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, regardless of their divisions. ¹² All the levitical musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their families and relatives—were dressed in fine linen and stood east of the altar with cymbals, harps, and zithers, along with one hundred twenty priests blowing trumpets. ¹³ The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord as one. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments, they began to sing, praising the Lord:

Then a cloud filled the Lord’s temple.^{[d] 14} The priests were unable to carry out their duties on account of the cloud because the Lord’s glory filled God’s temple.

¹⁹ “So, King Agrippa, I wasn’t disobedient to that heavenly vision. ²⁰ Instead, I proclaimed first to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to the whole region of Judea and to the Gentiles. My message was that they should change their hearts and lives and turn to God, and that they should demonstrate this change in their behavior. ²¹ Because of this, some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to murder me. ²² God has helped me up to this very day. Therefore, I stand here and bear witness to the lowly and the great. I’m saying nothing more than what the Prophets and Moses declared would happen: ²³ that the Christ would suffer and that, as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to my people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ At this point in Paul’s defense, Festus declared with a loud voice, “You’ve lost your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you mad!”

²⁵ But Paul replied, “I’m not mad, most honorable Festus! I’m speaking what is sound and true. ²⁶ King Agrippa knows about these things, and I have been speaking openly to him. I’m certain that none of these things have escaped his attention. This didn’t happen secretly or in some out-of-the-way place. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

²⁸ Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you trying to convince me that, in such a short time, you’ve made me a Christian?”

²⁹ Paul responded, “Whether it is a short or a long time, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today will become like me, except for these chains.”