Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Voice of Yahweh

A Psalm of David.

^2 (A)Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel to Jerusalem, ^(B)to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, which is Zion. ^3 (C)And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at ^(D)the feast, that is in the seventh month. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^(E)the Levites carried the ark. ⁵ And they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up. ⁶ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who congregated with him before the ark, were sacrificing ^[a]so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁷ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles from above. ⁹ But the poles were so long that ^(F)the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and ^[b]they are there to this day. ^10 (G)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where Yahweh cut a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

The Glory of Yahweh Fills His House

¹¹ Now it happened that when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard ^(H)to divisions), ¹² and all the Levitical singers, ^(I)Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives, clothed in fine linen, ^(J)with cymbals, harps, and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them 120 priests ^(K)blowing trumpets ¹³ in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to give thanks to Yahweh, and when they lifted up their voice ^(L)accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised Yahweh saying, “^(M)He indeed is good for His lovingkindness endures forever,” then the house, the house of Yahweh, was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for ^(N)the glory of Yahweh filled the house of God.

¹⁹ “So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but kept declaring both ^(A)to those of Damascus first, and also ^(B)at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even ^(C)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(D)repent and turn to God, practicing deeds ^(E)appropriate to repentance. ²¹ For this reason some Jews ^(F)seized me in the temple and were trying ^(G)to put me to death. ²² Therefore, having obtained help from God to this day, I stand here ^(H)bearing witness both to small and great, stating nothing but what ^(I)the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; ^23 [a](J)that the ^[b]Christ was ^[c]to suffer, and ^[d]that ^(K)as first of the resurrection from the dead, He was going to proclaim ^(L)light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ Now while ^[e]Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! ^[f]Great ^(M)learning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵ But Paul *said, “I am not out of my mind, ^(N)most excellent Festus, but I utter words ^[g]of sober truth. ²⁶ For the king ^[h](O)knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a ^[i]corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know you believe.” ²⁸ But Agrippa replied to Paul, “^[j]In such short time ^[k]are you persuading me to become a ^(P)Christian?” ²⁹ And Paul said, “I would pray to God, that whether ^[l]in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these ^(Q)chains.”