Psalm 35-36

New American Standard Bible

Prayer for Rescue from Enemies.

A Psalm of David.

35 Contend, Lord, with those who ^(A)contend with me;
Fight against those who ^(B)fight against me.
²Take hold of ^[a]^(C)buckler and shield
And rise up as ^(D)my help.
³Draw also the spear and ^[b]the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me;
Say to my soul, “I am ^(E)your salvation.”
⁴Let those be ^(F)ashamed and dishonored who seek my ^[c]life;
Let those be ^(G)turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.
⁵Let them be ^(H)like chaff before the wind,
With the angel of the Lord driving them on.
⁶Let their way be dark and ^(I)slippery,
With the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
⁷For ^(J)they ^(K)hid their net for me without cause;
Without cause they dug a pit for my soul.
⁸Let ^(L)destruction come upon him when he is unaware,
And ^(M)let the net which he hid catch him;
Let him fall into that very ^(N)destruction.

⁹So my soul shall ^(O)rejoice in the Lord;
It shall ^(P)rejoice in His salvation.
¹⁰All my ^(Q)bones will say, “Lord, ^(R)who is like You,
Who rescues the afflicted from one ^(S)who is too strong for him,
And ^(T)the afflicted and the poor from one who robs him?”
¹¹^(U)Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me things that I do not know.
¹²They ^(V)repay me evil for good,
To the bereavement of my soul.
¹³But as for me, ^(W)when they were sick, my ^(X)clothing was sackcloth;
I ^(Y)humbled my soul with fasting,
But my ^(Z)prayer kept returning to ^[d]me.
¹⁴I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I ^(AA)bowed down ^[e]in mourning, like one who mourns for a mother.
¹⁵But ^(AB)at my ^[f]stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together;
The ^[g]^(AC)afflicted people whom I did not know gathered together against me,
They ^[h]^(AD)slandered me without ceasing.
¹⁶Like godless jesters at a feast,
They ^(AE)gnashed at me with their teeth.

¹⁷Lord, ^(AF)how long will You look on?
Rescue my soul ^(AG)from their ravages,
My ^(AH)only life from the lions.
¹⁸I will ^(AI)give You thanks in the great congregation;
I will ^(AJ)praise You among a mighty people.
¹⁹^(AK)Do not let those who are wrongfully ^(AL)my enemies rejoice over me;
Nor let those ^(AM)who hate me for no reason ^[i]^(AN)wink maliciously.
²⁰For they do not speak peace,
But they devise ^(AO)deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
²¹They ^(AP)opened their mouth wide against me;
They said, “^(AQ)Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it!”

²²^(AR)You have seen it, Lord, ^(AS)do not keep silent;
Lord, ^(AT)do not be far from me.
²³^(AU)Stir Yourself, and awake to my right
And to my cause, my God and my Lord.
²⁴^(AV)Judge me, Lord my God, according to Your righteousness,
And ^(AW)do not let them rejoice over me.
²⁵Do not let them say in their heart, “^(AX)Aha, our desire!”
Do not let them say, “We have ^(AY)swallowed him up!”
²⁶May ^(AZ)those be ashamed and altogether humiliated who rejoice at my distress;
May those who ^(BA)exalt themselves over me be ^(BB)clothed with shame and dishonor.

²⁷May those ^(BC)shout for joy and rejoice, who take delight in ^(BD)my vindication;
And ^(BE)may they say continually, “The Lord be exalted,
Who ^(BF)delights in the prosperity of His servant.”
²⁸And ^(BG)my tongue shall proclaim Your righteousness
And Your praise all day long.

Wickedness of Humanity and Goodness of God.

For the music director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.

36 ^[j]Wrongdoing speaks to the ungodly within ^[k]his heart;
There is ^(BH)no fear of God before his eyes.
²For it ^(BI)flatters him in his own eyes
Concerning the discovery of his wrongful deed and the hatred of it.
³The ^(BJ)words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
He has ^(BK)ceased to ^[l]be wise and to do good.
⁴He ^(BL)plans wickedness on his bed;
He sets himself on a ^(BM)path that is not good;
He ^(BN)does not reject evil.

⁵Your ^(BO)mercy, Lord, ^[m]extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
⁶Your ^(BP)righteousness is like the ^[n]mountains of God;
Your ^(BQ)judgments are like the great deep.
Lord, You ^[o]^(BR)protect mankind and animals.
⁷How ^(BS)precious is Your mercy, God!
And the sons of mankind ^(BT)take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
⁸They ^(BU)drink their fill of the ^[p]abundance of Your house;
And You allow them to drink from the ^(BV)river of Your delights.
⁹For the ^(BW)fountain of life is with You;
In Your light we see light.

¹⁰Prolong Your mercy to ^(BX)those who know You,
And Your ^(BY)righteousness to the upright of heart.
¹¹May the foot of pride not come upon me,
And may the hand of the wicked not drive me away.
¹²Those who do injustice have fallen there;
They have been thrust down and ^(BZ)cannot rise.

Footnotes

Psalm 35:2 I.e., small shield
Psalm 35:3 Or close up the path against those
Psalm 35:4 Or soul
Psalm 35:13 Lit my chest
Psalm 35:14 Or dressed for mourning
Psalm 35:15 Or limping
Psalm 35:15 Or struck ones
Psalm 35:15 Lit tore
Psalm 35:19 Or wink the eye
Psalm 36:1 Or Rebellion
Psalm 36:1 Another reading is my heart
Psalm 36:3 Or understand to do good
Psalm 36:5 Lit is in
Psalm 36:6 Or mighty mountains
Psalm 36:6 Or help
Psalm 36:8 Lit fatness

Acts 25

New American Standard Bible

Paul before Festus

25 Festus, then, after arriving in ^(A)the province, went up to Jerusalem from ^(B)Caesarea three days later. ²And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews ^(C)brought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with ^[a]Festus, ³requesting a ^[b]concession against ^[c]Paul, that he might ^[d]have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, ^(D)setting an ambush to kill him on the way). ⁴Festus then ^(E)answered that Paul ^(F)was being kept in custody in ^(G)Caesarea, and that he himself was about to leave shortly. ⁵“Therefore,” he *said, “have the influential men among you ^[e]go there with me, and if there is anything wrong ^[f]about the man, have them bring charges against him.”

⁶After Festus had spent no more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to ^(H)Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on ^(I)the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought. ⁷After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing ^(J)many, and serious, charges against him ^(K)which they could not prove, ⁸while Paul said in his own defense, “^(L)I have not done anything wrong either against the Law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against Caesar.” ⁹But Festus, ^(M)wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul and said, “^(N)Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and ^[g]stand trial before me on these charges?” ¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s ^(O)tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. ¹¹If, therefore, I am in the wrong and have committed something deserving death, I am not trying to avoid execution; but if there is nothing to the accusations which these men are bringing against me, no one can hand me over to them. I ^(P)appeal to Caesar.” ¹²Then when Festus had conferred with ^[h]his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.”

¹³Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in ^(Q)Caesarea, paying their respects to Festus. ¹⁴And while they were spending many days there, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There is a man who was ^(R)left as a prisoner by Felix; ¹⁵and when I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews ^(S)brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. ¹⁶I ^(T)replied to them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any person before ^(U)the accused meets his accusers face to face, and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. ¹⁷So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on ^(V)the tribunal and ordered that the man be brought. ¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they did not begin bringing any charges ^[i]against him of crimes that I suspected, ¹⁹but they simply had some ^(W)points of disagreement with him about their own ^[j]^(X)religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. ²⁰And ^(Y)being at a loss how to investigate ^[k]such matters, I ^[l]asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these matters. ²¹But when Paul ^(Z)appealed to be held in custody for ^[m]the Emperor’s decision, I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.” ²²Then ^(AA)Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he *said, “you shall hear him.”

Paul before Agrippa

²³So, on the next day when ^(AB)Agrippa and ^(AC)Bernice came amid great pomp and entered the auditorium, ^[n]accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought before them. ²⁴And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen present with us, you see this man about whom ^(AD)all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that ^(AE)he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵But I found that he had committed ^(AF)nothing deserving death; and since he himself ^(AG)appealed to ^[o]the Emperor, I decided to send him. ²⁶^[p]Yet, I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore, I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. ²⁷For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him as well.”