Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 145[a]
The Greatness and Goodness of God
1 Praise. Of David.
I will extol you, my God and king;
I will bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you;
I will praise your name forever and ever.(A)
3 Great is the Lord and worthy of much praise,(B)
whose grandeur is beyond understanding.
4 One generation praises your deeds to the next
and proclaims your mighty works.(C)
5 They speak of the splendor of your majestic glory,
tell of your wonderful deeds.(D)
17 The Lord is just in all his ways,
merciful in all his works.(A)
18 The Lord is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.(B)
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.(C)
20 The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he destroys.(D)
21 My mouth will speak the praises of the Lord;
all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.
The Crowning. 9 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 10 Take from the exiles—Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah—and go the same day to the house of Josiah, son of Zephaniah. (These had come from Babylon.) 11 You will take silver and gold, and make crowns;[a] place one on the head of Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 And say to him: Thus says the Lord of hosts: There is a man whose name is Branch[b](A)—and from his place he will branch out and he will build the temple of the Lord. 13 He will build the temple of the Lord, and taking up the royal insignia, he will sit as ruler upon his throne. The priest will be at his right hand, and between the two of them there will be peaceful understanding.[c](B) 14 The other crown will be in the temple of the Lord as a gracious reminder to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and the son of Zephaniah. 15 And they who are from afar will come and build the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. This will happen if you truly obey the Lord your God.(C)
10 [a]Then the governor motioned to him to speak and Paul replied, “I know that you have been a judge over this nation for many years and so I am pleased to make my defense before you. 11 As you can verify, not more than twelve days have passed since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12 Neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor anywhere in the city did they find me arguing with anyone or instigating a riot among the people. 13 Nor can they prove to you the accusations they are now making against me. 14 But this I do admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our ancestors and I believe everything that is in accordance with the law and written in the prophets.(A) 15 I have the same hope in God as they themselves have that there will be a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous.(B) 16 Because of this, I always strive to keep my conscience clear before God and man.(C) 17 After many years, I came to bring alms for my nation and offerings.(D) 18 While I was so engaged, they found me, after my purification, in the temple without a crowd or disturbance.(E) 19 But some Jews from the province of Asia, who should be here before you to make whatever accusation they might have against me— 20 or let these men themselves state what crime they discovered when I stood before the Sanhedrin, 21 unless it was my one outcry as I stood among them, that ‘I am on trial before you today for the resurrection of the dead.’”(F)
22 Then Felix, who was accurately informed about the Way, postponed the trial, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I shall decide your case.” 23 He gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that he should not prevent any of his friends from caring for his needs.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.