26 Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in mine integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.

² Examine me, O Lord, and test me; try my reins and my heart.

³ For Thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes, and I have walked in Thy truth.

⁴ I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I consort with dissemblers.

⁵ I have hated the congregation of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked.

⁶ I will wash mine hands in innocence; so will I compass Thine altar, O Lord,

⁷ that I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Thy wondrous works.

⁸ Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honor dwelleth.

⁹ Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men,

¹⁰ in whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.

¹¹ But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity; redeem me and be merciful unto me.

¹² My foot standeth on a level place; in the congregations will I bless the Lord.

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

² When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

³ Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, even in this will I be confident.

⁴ One thing have I desired of the Lord; that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.

⁵ For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret places of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me upon a rock.

⁶ And then shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me; therefore I will offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

⁷ Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me and answer me.

⁸ When Thou saidst, “Seek ye My face,” my heart said unto Thee, “Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”

⁹ Hide not Thy face far from me; put not Thy servant away in anger. Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

¹⁰ When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.

¹¹ Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a level path because of mine enemies.

¹² Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies; for false witnesses have risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

¹³ I would have fainted, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

¹⁴ Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord!

28 Unto Thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me, lest, if Thou be silent, I become like them that go down into the pit.

² Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry unto Thee, when I lift up my hands toward the oracle of Thy sanctuary.

³ Draw me not away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts.

⁴ Give to them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their endeavors; give to them according to the work of their hands; render to them their deserts.

⁵ Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them and not build them up.

⁶ Blessed be the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my supplications!

⁷ The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise Him.

⁸ The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving strength of His anointed.

⁹ Save the people, and bless Thine inheritance; feed them also, and lift them up forever.

22 “Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense which I make now unto you.”

² (And when they heard that he spoke in the Hebrew tongue to them, they were the more silent.) And he said,

³ “I am verily a man who am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taughtaccording to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

⁴ And I persecuted this Way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,

⁵ as also the high priest doth bear me witness and all the council of the elders. From them I also received letters unto the brethren, and I went to Damascus to bring those who were there bound unto Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶ “And it came to pass that, as I made my journey and had come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

⁷ And I fell unto the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?’

⁸ And I answered, ‘Who art Thou, Lord?’ And He said unto me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.’

⁹ And those who were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of Him that spoke to me.

¹⁰ And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said unto me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all the things which are appointed for thee to do.’

¹¹ And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹² “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, of good report among all the Jews who dwelt there,

¹³ came unto me and stood and said unto me, ‘Brother Saul, receive thy sight!’ And that same hour I looked up upon him.

¹⁴ And he said, ‘The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know His will and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of His mouth.

¹⁵ For thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

¹⁶ And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

¹⁷ “And it came to pass that when I had come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance

¹⁸ and saw Him saying unto me, ‘Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me.’

¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those who believed in Thee.

²⁰ And when the blood of Thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consenting unto his death and kept the raiment of those who slew him.’

²¹ And He said unto me, ‘Depart, for I will send thee far hence, unto the Gentiles.’”

²² And the crowd gave him an audience up to this word; and then they lifted up their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live!”

²³ And as they cried out and cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air,

²⁴ the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging, so that he might find out why they cried so against him.

²⁵ And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?”

²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went and told the chief captain, saying, “Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman.”

²⁷ Then the chief captain came and said unto him, “Tell me, art thou a Roman?” And he said, “Yea.”

²⁸ And the chief captain answered, “With a great sum I obtained this freedom.” And Paul said, “But I was free born.”

²⁹ Then straightway those who should have examined him departed from him, and the chief captain also was afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

³⁰ On the morrow, because he would know with certainty why he was accused by the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them.