NT quote of the day

I'm reading selections from Acts right now for my Early Christianity class. This quote from chapter 26 amused me:

24 While he was making this defense, Festus exclaimed, "You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!" 25 But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth. 26 Indeed the king knows about these things, and to him I speak freely; for I am certain that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe." 28 Agrippa said to Paul, "Are you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian?" 29 Paul replied, "Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today might become such as I am--except for these chains."

It actually made me giggle out loud. Dr. Nasrallah mentions sometimes in her classes about the humor in ancient texts that most people miss. It's there, and it really does exist.

In that vein, a fun quote from the 1st chapter of I Corinthians:

12 What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)
[it should probably continue, "...I don't really remember. I was probably drunk at the time."]

Also in Galatians chapter 5 Paul says he wishes that the people telling the Gentiles that they need to be circumcised would castrate themselves.

Really, I am doing my reading.

(no subject)

I just learned my Rosh Hashana Torah reading in the span of about 10 minutes. Mostly it consisted of me going back to the leining I did 2 years ago and rereading that in order to get the high holiday trope, and then putting that on top of this leining. Granted, it's only 6 lines long. And there are no pazers, which is a shame, because I have a really awesome RH pazer. (It's the little symbol that looks like a "4." One of the less common ones, but by no means a rare symbol.) And no tlisha gedolahs, which is also a shame for the same reason. There are a couple of darga-tvirs, which are shiny, so I guess it makes up for it. Also, being able to learn my leining in 10 minutes probably makes it worth it, considering all the other things I still need to do.

Like ma'ariv. I just learned the festival kiddush, so now I can do that if we do it (I guess it's a matter of SCM tradition). Also, it's a good thing to know, because it's useful for things like meals. I guess it's not that obscure. (But it does mean I could make kiddush at our meal tomorrow night if you don't know it and need me to do so, currentlee.)

I guess the rest of the service isn't so hard, but I haven't had the chance to go through it more than 2 or 3 times, and I really need to polish it.

In other singing news, ( long rant on my loss of vocal ability, or alternatively Techiya Thinks I'm a Mezzo! (They'll learn better) )

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