A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

31 (A)In You, Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never (B)be [a]put to shame;
(C)In Your righteousness rescue me.
(D)Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be a (E)rock of [b]strength for me,
A [c]stronghold to save me.
For You are my rock and (F)my fortress;
For the (G)sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me.
You will (H)pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my (I)strength.
(J)Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;
You have (K)redeemed me, Lord, (L)God of [d]truth.

I hate those who (M)devote themselves to worthless [e]idols,
But I (N)trust in the Lord.
I will (O)rejoice and be glad in Your faithfulness,
Because You have (P)seen my misery;
You have known the troubles of my soul,
And You have not (Q)handed me over to the enemy;
You have set my feet in a large place.

Be gracious to me, Lord, for (R)I am in distress;
My (S)eye is wasted away from grief, (T)my soul and my body too.
10 For my life is spent with (U)sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My (V)strength has failed because of my guilt,
And (W)my [f]body has wasted away.
11 Because of all my adversaries, I have become a (X)disgrace,
Especially to my (Y)neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I am (Z)forgotten like a dead person, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I have heard the [g](AA)slander of many,
(AB)Terror is on every side;
While they (AC)took counsel together against me,
They (AD)schemed to take away my life.

14 But as for me, I trust in You, Lord,
I say, “(AE)You are my God.”
15 My (AF)times are in Your hand;
(AG)Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
16 Make Your (AH)face shine upon Your servant;
(AI)Save me in Your faithfulness.
17 Let me not be (AJ)put to shame, Lord, for I call upon You;
Let the (AK)wicked be put to shame, let them (AL)be silent in [h]Sheol.
18 Let the (AM)lying lips be speechless,
Which (AN)speak arrogantly against the righteous
With pride and contempt.

19 How great is Your (AO)goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have performed for those who (AP)take refuge in You,
(AQ)Before the sons of mankind!
20 You hide them in the (AR)secret place of Your presence from the (AS)conspiracies of mankind;
You keep them secretly in a [i]shelter from the (AT)strife of tongues.
21 (AU)Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown His (AV)marvelous faithfulness to me in a besieged (AW)city.
22 As for me, (AX)I said in my alarm,
“I am (AY)cut off from Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You (AZ)heard the sound of my pleadings
When I called to You for help.

23 Love the Lord, all (BA)His godly ones!
The Lord (BB)watches over the faithful
But fully (BC)repays the one who acts arrogantly.
24 (BD)Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who wait for the Lord.

Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.

A Psalm of David. A [j]Maskil.

32 (BE)How blessed is he whose wrongdoing is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
How blessed is a person whose guilt the Lord (BF)does not take into account,
And in whose spirit there is (BG)no deceit!

When (BH)I kept silent about my sin, (BI)my [k]body wasted away
Through my [l](BJ)groaning all day long.
For day and night (BK)Your hand was heavy upon me;
My [m](BL)vitality failed as with the dry heat of summer. Selah
I (BM)acknowledged my sin to You,
And I (BN)did not hide my guilt;
I said, “(BO)I will confess my wrongdoings to the Lord”;
And You (BP)forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [n](BQ)in a time when You may be found;
Certainly (BR)in a flood of great waters, they will not reach him.
You are (BS)my hiding place; You (BT)keep me from trouble;
You surround me with [o](BU)songs of deliverance. Selah

I will (BV)instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will advise you (BW)with My eye upon you.
Do not be (BX)like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10 The (BY)sorrows of the wicked are many,
But (BZ)the one who trusts in the Lord, goodness will surround him.
11 Be (CA)glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are (CB)upright in heart.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 31:1 Or ashamed;
  2. Psalm 31:2 Or refuge, protection
  3. Psalm 31:2 Lit house of a stronghold
  4. Psalm 31:5 Or faithfulness
  5. Psalm 31:6 Lit futilities
  6. Psalm 31:10 Or bones, substance
  7. Psalm 31:13 Lit whispering
  8. Psalm 31:17 I.e., the netherworld
  9. Psalm 31:20 Or pavilion
  10. Psalm 32 Title Possibly Contemplative; or Didactic; or Skillful Psalm
  11. Psalm 32:3 Or bones, substance
  12. Psalm 32:3 Lit roaring
  13. Psalm 32:4 Lit life juices were turned into the drought of summer
  14. Psalm 32:6 Lit in a time of finding out
  15. Psalm 32:7 Or shouts

16 But the son of Paul’s sister heard about their ambush, [a]and he came and entered (A)the barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions to himself and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 So he took him and led him to the commander and *said, “Paul (B)the prisoner called me over to him and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.” 19 The commander took him by the hand, and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 And he said, “(C)The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to (D)the [b]Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. 21 So do not [c]listen to them, for more than forty [d]of them are (E)in hiding to ambush him, and these men have (F)put themselves under an oath not to eat or drink until they kill him; and now they are ready and waiting for assurance from you.” 22 Then the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”

Paul Moved to Caesarea

23 And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by [e]the third hour of the night to proceed to (G)Caesarea, [f]with seventy horsemen and two hundred [g]spearmen.” 24 They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to (H)Felix the governor. 25 And he wrote a letter [h]with the following content:

26 “Claudius Lysias, to the (I)most excellent governor Felix: (J)Greetings.

27 When this man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, (K)I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, (L)after learning that he was a Roman. 28 And (M)wanting to ascertain the basis for the charges they were bringing against him, I (N)brought him down to their [i](O)Council; 29 and I found that he was being accused regarding (P)questions in their Law, but [j]was (Q)not charged with anything deserving death or [k]imprisonment.

30 When I was (R)informed that there would be (S)a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing (T)his accusers to [l]bring charges against him before you.”

31 So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 But on the next day they let (U)the horsemen go on with him, and they returned to (V)the barracks. 33 When these horsemen had come to (W)Caesarea and delivered the letter to (X)the governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34 Now when he had read it, he also asked from what (Y)province Paul was, and when he learned that (Z)he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing when your (AA)accusers arrive as well,” giving orders for [m]Paul to be (AB)kept in Herod’s [n]Praetorium.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 23:16 Or having been present with them, and he also entered
  2. Acts 23:20 Or Sanhedrin
  3. Acts 23:21 Lit be persuaded by them
  4. Acts 23:21 Lit men of them
  5. Acts 23:23 I.e., 9 p.m.
  6. Acts 23:23 Lit and
  7. Acts 23:23 Or slingers; or bowmen
  8. Acts 23:25 Or to this effect
  9. Acts 23:28 Or Sanhedrin
  10. Acts 23:29 Lit had no charge of
  11. Acts 23:29 Lit bonds
  12. Acts 23:30 Lit speak against him
  13. Acts 23:35 Lit him
  14. Acts 23:35 I.e., governor’s official residence

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