Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Song of God’s Majesty and Love
(A)A Praise of David.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
18 (A)The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him (B)in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
20 (C)The Lord preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever.
The Command to Crown Joshua
9 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 10 “Receive the gift from the captives—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon—and go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and gold, make (A)an[a] elaborate crown, and set it on the head of (B)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying:
“Behold, (C)the Man whose name is the (D)BRANCH!
From His place He shall [b]branch out,
(E)And He shall build the temple of the Lord;
13 Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord.
He (F)shall bear the glory,
And shall sit and rule on His throne;
So (G)He shall be a priest on His throne,
And the counsel of peace shall be between [c]them both.” ’
14 “Now the [d]elaborate crown shall be (H)for a memorial in the temple of the Lord [e]for Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah. 15 Even (I)those from afar shall come and build the temple of the Lord. Then you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. And this shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
The Defense Before Felix
10 Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered: “Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself, 11 because you may ascertain that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem (A)to worship. 12 (B)And they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city. 13 Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me. 14 But this I confess to you, that according to (C)the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the (D)God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in (E)the Law and in the Prophets. 15 (F)I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, (G)that there will be a resurrection [a]of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. 16 (H)This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.
17 “Now after many years (I)I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation, 18 (J)in the midst of which some Jews from Asia found me (K)purified in the temple, neither with a mob nor with tumult. 19 (L)They ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me. 20 Or else let those who are here themselves say [b]if they found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council, 21 unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, (M)‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day.’ ”
Felix Procrastinates
22 But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the (N)Way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, “When (O)Lysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case.” 23 So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and (P)told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.