Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord Exalted for His Goodness.

A Psalm of Praise, of David.

A Call to Repentance

1 In the eighth month of the second year of ^(A)Darius, the word of the Lord came to ^(B)Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of ^(C)Iddo saying, ² “The Lord was very ^(D)angry with your fathers. ³ Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “^(E)Return to Me,” declares the Lord of armies, “^[a]that I may return to you,” says the Lord of armies. ⁴ “Do not be ^(F)like your fathers, to whom the ^(G)former prophets proclaimed, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “^(H)Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.”’ But they did ^(I)not listen or pay attention to Me,” declares the Lord. ⁵ “Your ^(J)fathers, where are they? And the ^(K)prophets, do they live forever? ⁶ But did My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, not ^[b](L)overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘^(M)Just as the Lord of armies planned to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us.’”’”

Patrol of the Earth

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, that is, the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, ^[c]as follows: ⁸ I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a ^(N)red horse, and he was standing among the ^(O)myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, ^[d]sorrel, and ^(P)white horses behind him. ⁹ Then I said, “What are these, my ^(Q)lord?” And the ^(R)angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.” ¹⁰ And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees responded and said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to ^[e](S)patrol the earth.” ¹¹ So they responded to the angel of the Lord who was ^(T)standing among the myrtle trees and said, “We have ^[f]patrolled the earth, and behold, ^(U)all the earth is ^[g]still and quiet.”

¹² Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord of armies, ^(V)how long will You ^(W)take no pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been ^(X)indignant for these ^(Y)seventy years?” ¹³ And the Lord responded to the ^(Z)angel who was speaking with me with ^[h]gracious words, ^(AA)comforting words. ¹⁴ So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “^(AB)Proclaim, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “I am ^(AC)exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. ¹⁵ But I am very ^(AD)angry with the nations who are ^(AE)carefree; for while I was only a little angry, they ^[i](AF)furthered the disaster.” ¹⁶ Therefore the Lord says this: “I will ^(AG)return to Jerusalem with compassion; My ^(AH)house will be built in it,” declares the Lord of armies, “and a measuring ^(AI)line will be stretched over Jerusalem.”’ ¹⁷ Again, proclaim, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “My ^(AJ)cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again ^(AK)comfort Zion and again ^(AL)choose Jerusalem.”’”

²² They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “^(A)Away with such a man from the earth, for ^(B)he should not be allowed to live!” ²³ And as they were shouting and ^(C)throwing off their cloaks and ^(D)tossing dust into the air, ²⁴ the commander ordered that he be brought into ^(E)the barracks, saying that he was to be ^(F)interrogated by flogging so that he would find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. ²⁵ But when they stretched him out ^[a]with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it ^[b]lawful for you to flog ^(G)a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” ²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” ²⁷ The commander came and said to ^[c]Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸ The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” ²⁹ Therefore, those who were about to ^(H)interrogate him immediately backed away from him; and the commander also ^(I)was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had ^[d](J)put him in chains.

³⁰ Now on the next day, ^(K)wanting to know for certain why Paul had been accused by the Jews, he ^(L)released him and ordered the chief priests and all ^(M)the ^[e]Council to assemble, and he brought Paul down and placed him before them.

Paul before the Council

23 Now looking intently at ^(N)the ^[f]Council, Paul said, “^[g](O)Brothers, ^(P)I have ^[h]lived my life with an entirely good conscience before God up to this day.” ² But the high priest ^(Q)Ananias commanded those standing beside him ^(R)to strike him on the mouth. ³ Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, ^(S)you whitewashed wall! Do you ^(T)sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law, order me to be struck?” ⁴ But those present said, “Are you insulting God’s high priest?” ⁵ And Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he is high priest; for it is written: ‘^(U)You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶ But Paul, perceiving that one group were ^(V)Sadducees and the other Pharisees, began crying out in ^(W)the ^[i]Council, “^[j](X)Brothers, ^(Y)I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for ^(Z)the hope and resurrection of the dead!” ⁷ When he said this, a dissension occurred between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ For ^(AA)the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹ And a great uproar occurred; and some of ^(AB)the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and started arguing heatedly, saying, “^(AC)We find nothing wrong with this man; ^(AD)suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” ¹⁰ And when a great dissension occurred, the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, and he ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into ^(AE)the barracks.

¹¹ But on ^(AF)the following night, the Lord stood near him and said, “^(AG)Be courageous! For ^(AH)as you have ^(AI)testified to the truth about Me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome also.”