Psalm 37-39
Contemporary English Version
(By David.)
Trust the Lord
1 Don't be annoyed by anyone
who does wrong,
and don't envy them.
2 They will soon disappear
like grass without rain.
3 Trust the Lord and live right!
The land will be yours,
and you will be safe.
4 Do what the Lord wants,
and he will give you
your heart's desire.
5 Let the Lord lead you
and trust him to help.
6 Then it will be as clear
as the noonday sun
that you were right.
7 Be patient and trust the Lord.
Don't let it bother you
when all goes well for those
who do sinful things.
8 Don't be angry or furious.
Anger can lead to sin.
9 All sinners will disappear,
but if you trust the Lord,
the land will be yours.
10 Sinners will soon disappear,
never to be found,
11 (A) but the poor will take the land
and enjoy a big harvest.
12 Merciless people make plots
against good people
and snarl like animals,
13 but the Lord laughs and knows
their time is coming soon.
14 The wicked kill with swords
and shoot arrows to murder
the poor and the needy
and all who do right.
15 But they will be killed
by their own swords,
and their arrows
will be broken.
16 It is better to live right
and be poor
than to be sinful and rich.
17 The wicked will lose all
of their power,
but the Lord gives strength
to everyone who is good.
18 Those who obey the Lord
are daily in his care,
and what he has given them
will be theirs forever.
19 They won't be in trouble
when times are bad,
and they will have plenty
when food is scarce.
20 Wicked people are enemies
of the Lord
and will vanish like smoke
from a field on fire.
21 An evil person borrows
and never pays back;
a good person is generous
and never stops giving.
22 Everyone the Lord blesses
will receive the land;
everyone the Lord curses
will be destroyed.
23 If you do what the Lord wants,
he will make certain
each step you take is sure.
24 The Lord will hold your hand,
and if you stumble,
you still won't fall.
25 As long as I can remember,
good people have never
been left helpless,
and their children have never
gone begging for food.
26 They gladly give and lend,
and their children
turn out good.
27 If you stop sinning
and start doing right,
you will keep living
and be secure forever.
28 The Lord loves justice,
and he won't ever desert
his faithful people.
He always protects them,
but destroys the children
of the wicked.
29 God's people will own the land
and live here forever.
30 Words of wisdom come
when good people speak
for justice.
31 They remember God's teachings,
and they never take
a wrong step.
32 The wicked try to trap
and kill good people,
33 but the Lord is on their side,
and he will defend them
when they are on trial.
34 Trust the Lord and follow him.
He will give you the land,
and you will see
the wicked destroyed.
35 I have seen brutal people
abuse others and grow strong
like trees in rich soil.[a]
36 Suddenly they disappeared!
I looked, but they were gone
and no longer there.
37 Think of the bright future
waiting for all the families
of honest, innocent,
and peace-loving people.
38 But not a trace will be left
of the wicked
or their families.
39 The Lord protects his people,
and they can come to him
in times of trouble.
40 The Lord helps his people
and saves them from the wicked
because they run to him.
(A psalm by David to be used when an offering is made.)
A Prayer in Times of Trouble
1 When you are angry, Lord,
please don't punish me
or even correct me.
2 You shot me with your arrows,
and you struck me
with your hand.
3 My body hurts all over
because of your anger.
Even my bones are in pain,
and my sins 4 are so heavy
that I am crushed.
5 Because of my foolishness,
I am covered with sores
that stink and spread.
6 My body is twisted and bent,
and I groan all day long.
7 Fever has my back in flames,
and I hurt everywhere.
8 I am worn out and weak,
moaning and in distress.
9 You, Lord, know every one
of my deepest desires,
and my noisy groans
are no secret to you.
10 My heart is beating fast.
I feel weak all over,
and my eyes are red.
11 Because of my sickness,
no friends or neighbors
will come near me.
12 All who want me dead
set traps to catch me,
and those who want
to harm and destroy me
plan and plot all day.
13 I am not able to hear
or speak a word;
14 I am completely deaf
and can't make a sound.
15 I trust you, Lord God,
and you will do something.
16 I said, “Don't let them laugh
or brag when I slip and fall.”
17 I am about to collapse
from constant pain.
18 I told you my sins,
and I am sorry for them.
19 Many deadly and powerful
enemies hate me,
20 and they repay evil for good
because I try to do right.
21 You are the Lord God!
Stay nearby
and don't desert me.
22 You are the one who saves me.
Please hurry and help.
(A psalm by David for Jeduthun, the music leader.)
A Prayer for Forgiveness
1 I told myself, “I'll be careful
not to sin by what I say,
and I'll muzzle my mouth
when evil people are near.”
2 I kept completely silent,
but it did no good,[b]
and I hurt even worse.
3 I felt a fire burning inside,
and the more I thought,
the more it burned,
until at last I said:
4 “Please, Lord,
show me my future.
Will I soon be gone?
5 You made my life short,
so brief that the time
means nothing to you.
“Human life is but a breath,
6 and it disappears
like a shadow.
Our struggles are senseless;
we store up more and more,
without ever knowing
who will get it all.
7 “What am I waiting for?
I depend on you, Lord!
8 Save me from my sins.
Don't let fools sneer at me.
9 You treated me like this,
and I kept silent,
not saying a word.
10 “Won't you stop punishing me?
You have worn me down.
11 You punish us severely
because of our sins.
Like a moth, you destroy
what we treasure most.
We are as frail as a breath.
12 “Listen, Lord, to my prayer!
My eyes are flooded with tears,
as I pray to you.
I am merely a stranger
visiting in your home
as my ancestors did.
13 Stop being angry with me
and let me smile again
before I am dead and gone.”
Acts 26
Contemporary English Version
Paul's Defense before Agrippa
26 Agrippa told Paul, “You may now speak for yourself.”
Paul stretched out his hand and said:
2 King Agrippa, I am glad for this chance to defend myself before you today on all these charges my own people have brought against me. 3 You know a lot about our religious customs and the beliefs that divide us. So I ask you to listen patiently to me.
4-5 (A) All the Jews have known me since I was a child. They know what kind of life I have lived in my own country and in Jerusalem. And if they were willing, they could tell you I was a Pharisee, a member of a group that is stricter than any other. 6 Now I am on trial because I believe the promise God made to our people long ago.
7 Day and night our twelve tribes have earnestly served God, waiting for his promised blessings. King Agrippa, because of this hope, some of our leaders have brought charges against me. 8 (B) Why should any of you doubt that God raises the dead to life?
9 (C) I once thought that I should do everything I could to oppose Jesus from Nazareth. 10 I did this first in Jerusalem, and with the authority of the chief priests I put many of God's people in jail. I even voted for them to be killed. 11 I often had them punished in our synagogues, and I tried to make them give up their faith. In fact, I was so angry with them, that I went looking for them in foreign cities.
12 King Agrippa, one day I was on my way to Damascus with the authority and permission of the chief priests. 13 About noon I saw a light brighter than the sun. It flashed from heaven on me and on everyone traveling with me. 14 We all fell to the ground. Then I heard a voice say to me in Aramaic,[a] “Saul, Saul, why are you so cruel to me? It's foolish to fight against me!”
15 “Who are you?” I asked.
Then the Lord answered, “I am Jesus! I am the one you are so cruel to. 16 Now stand up. I have appeared to you, because I have chosen you to be my servant. You are to tell others what you have learned about me and what I will show you later.”
17 The Lord also said, “I will protect you from the Jews and from the Gentiles that I am sending you to. 18 I want you to open their eyes, so they will turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then their sins will be forgiven, and by faith in me they will become part of God's holy people.”
19 King Agrippa, I obeyed this vision from heaven. 20 (D) First I preached to the people in Damascus, and then I went to Jerusalem and all over Judea. Finally, I went to the Gentiles and said, “Stop sinning and turn to God! Then prove what you have done by the way you live.”
21 That is why some men grabbed me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 But all this time God has helped me, and I have preached both to the rich and to the poor. I have told them only what the prophets and Moses said would happen. 23 (E) I told them how the Messiah would suffer and be the first to be raised from death, so he could bring light to his own people and to the Gentiles.
24 Before Paul finished defending himself, Festus shouted, “Paul, you're crazy! Too much learning has driven you out of your mind.”
25 But Paul replied, “Honorable Festus, I am not crazy. What I am saying is true, and it makes sense. 26 None of these things happened off in a corner somewhere. I am sure that King Agrippa knows what I am talking about. That's why I can speak so plainly to him.”
27 Then Paul said to Agrippa, “Do you believe what the prophets said? I know you do.”
28 Agrippa asked Paul, “In such a short time do you think you can talk me into being a Christian?”
29 Paul answered, “Whether it takes a short time or a long time, I wish you and everyone else who hears me today would become just like me! Except, of course, for these chains.”
30 Then King Agrippa, Governor Festus, Bernice, and everyone who was with them got up. 31 But before they left, they said, “This man isn't guilty of anything. He doesn't deserve to die or to be put in jail.”
32 Agrippa told Festus, “Paul could have been set free, if he had not asked to be tried by the Roman Emperor.”
Footnotes
- 26.14 Aramaic: Or “Hebrew.” Aramaic is a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew.
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