Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A psalm by David.

The Lord Comes to His Temple^(A)

² Then Solomon assembled the respected leaders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the Israelite families. They came to Jerusalem to take the ark of the Lord’s promise from the City of David (that is, Zion). ³ All the men of Israel gathered around the king at the Festival ⌞of Booths⌟ in the seventh month.

⁴ When all the leaders of Israel had arrived, the Levites picked up the ark. ⁵ They brought the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils in it ⌞to the temple⌟. The priests and the Levites carried them ⁶ while King Solomon and the whole assembly from Israel were offering countless sheep and cattle sacrifices in front of the ark. ⁷ The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s promise to its place in the inner room of the temple (the most holy place) under the wings of the angels.^[a]

⁸ The angels’ outstretched wings were over the place where the ark ⌞rested⌟ so that the angels became a covering above the ark and its poles. ⁹ The poles were so long that their ends could be seen in the holy place by anyone standing in front of the inner room,^[b] but they couldn’t be seen outside. (They are still there today.) ¹⁰ There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses placed there at Horeb, where the Lord made a promise to the Israelites after they left Egypt.

¹¹ All the priests who were present had performed the ceremonies to make themselves holy to God without regard to staying in their divisions. ¹² All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, their sons, and their relatives—were dressed in fine linen and stood east of the altar with cymbals, harps, and lyres. With the musicians were 120 priests blowing trumpets. When the priests left the holy place,^{[c] 13} the trumpeters and singers praised and thanked the Lord in unison. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments, they sang in praise to the Lord: “He is good; his mercy endures forever.” Then the Lord’s temple was filled with a cloud. ¹⁴ The priests couldn’t serve because of the cloud. The Lord’s glory filled God’s temple.

¹⁹ “At that point I did not disobey the vision I saw from heaven, King Agrippa. ²⁰ Instead, I spread the message that I first told to the ⌞Jewish⌟ people in Damascus and Jerusalem and throughout the whole country of Judea. I spread the same message to non-Jewish people. Both groups were expected to change the way they thought and acted and to turn to God. I told them to do things that prove they had changed their lives. ²¹ For this reason the Jews took me prisoner in the temple courtyard and tried to murder me.

²² “God has been helping me to this day so that I can stand and testify to important and unimportant people. I tell them only what the prophets and Moses said would happen. ²³ They said that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to come back to life and would spread light to Jewish and non-Jewish people.”

²⁴ As Paul was defending himself in this way, Festus shouted, “Paul, you’re crazy! Too much education is driving you crazy!”

²⁵ Paul replied, “I’m not crazy, Your Excellency Festus. What I’m saying is true and sane. ²⁶ I can easily speak to a king who knows about these things. I’m sure that none of these things has escaped his attention. None of this was done secretly. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you believe them!”

²⁸ Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think you can quickly persuade me to become a Christian?”

²⁹ Paul replied, “I wish to God that you and everyone listening to me today would quickly and completely become as I am (except for being a prisoner).”