Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 145

[A Psalm] of praise. Of David.

¹ I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever [with grateful, affectionate praise].

² Every day [with its new reasons] will I bless You [affectionately and gratefully praise You]; yes, I will praise Your name forever and ever.

³ Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; and His greatness is [so vast and deep as to be] unsearchable.^(A)

⁴ One generation shall laud Your works to another and shall declare Your mighty acts.

⁵ On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wondrous works I will meditate.

¹⁷ The Lord is [rigidly] righteous in all His ways and gracious and merciful in all His works.

¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him sincerely and in truth.

¹⁹ He will fulfill the desires of those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him; He also will hear their cry and will save them.

²⁰ The Lord preserves all those who love Him, but all the wicked will He destroy.

²¹ My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord; and let all flesh bless (affectionately and gratefully praise) His holy name forever and ever.

⁹ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁰ Accept donations and offerings from these [as representatives of the] exiles, from Heldai, from Tobijah, and from Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon; and come the same day and go to the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah.

¹¹ Yes, take from them silver and gold, and make crowns and set [one] upon the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest,

¹² And say to him, Thus says the Lord of hosts: [You, Joshua] behold (look at, keep in sight, watch) the Man [the Messiah] whose name is the Branch, for He shall grow up in His place and He shall build the [true] temple of the Lord.^(A)

¹³ Yes, [you are building a temple of the Lord, but] it is He Who shall build the [true] temple of the Lord, and He shall bear the honor and glory [as of the only begotten of the Father] and shall sit and rule upon His throne. And He shall be a ^[a]Priest upon His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between the two [offices—Priest and King].^(B)

¹⁴ And the [other] crown shall be [credited] to Helem (Heldai), to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to the kindness and favor of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, and shall be in the temple of the Lord for a reminder and memorial.^(C)

¹⁵ And those who are far off shall come and help build the temple of the Lord, and you shall know (recognize and understand) that the Lord sent me [Zechariah] to you. And [your part in this] shall come to pass if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.

¹⁰ And when the governor had beckoned to Paul to speak, he answered: Because I know that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I find it easier to make my defense and do it cheerfully and with good courage.

¹¹ As you can readily verify, it is not more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship;

¹² And neither in the temple nor in the synagogues nor in the city did they find me disputing with anybody or bringing together a seditious crowd.

¹³ Neither can they present argument or evidence to prove to you what they now bring against me.

¹⁴ But this I confess to you, however, that in accordance with the Way [of the Lord], which they call a [heretical, division-producing] sect, I worship (serve) the God of our fathers, still persuaded of the truth of and believing in and placing full confidence in everything laid down in the Law [of Moses] or written in the prophets;

¹⁵ Having [the same] hope in God which these themselves hold and look for, that there is to be a resurrection both of the righteous and the unrighteous (the just and the unjust).

¹⁶ Therefore I always exercise and discipline myself [mortifying my body, deadening my carnal affections, bodily appetites, and worldly desires, endeavoring in all respects] to have a clear (unshaken, blameless) conscience, void of offense toward God and toward men.

¹⁷ Now after several years I came up [to Jerusalem] to bring to my people contributions of charity and offerings.

¹⁸ While I was engaged in presenting these, they found me [occupied in the rites of purification] in the temple, without any crowd or uproar. But some Jews from [the province of] Asia [were there],

¹⁹ Who ought to be here before you and to present their charges, if they have anything against me.

²⁰ Or else let these men themselves tell of what crime or wrongdoing they found me guilty when I appeared before the council (Sanhedrin),

²¹ Unless it be this one sentence which I cried out as I stood among them, In regard to the resurrection of the dead I am indicted and on trial before you this day!

²² But Felix, having a rather accurate understanding of the Way [of the Lord], put them off and adjourned the trial, saying, When Lysias the commandant comes down, I will determine your case more fully.

²³ Then he ordered the centurion to keep [Paul] in custody, but to treat him with indulgence [giving him some liberty] and not to hinder his friends from ministering to his needs and serving him.