Old/New Testament
Praise to the Creator and Protector.
33 (A)Sing for joy in the Lord, you righteous ones;
Praise is (B)becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the (C)lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a (D)harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a (E)new song;
Play skillfully with (F)a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord (G)is right,
And all His work is done (H)in faithfulness.
5 He (I)loves righteousness and justice;
The (J)earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6 By the (K)word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And (L)by the breath of His mouth (M)all their [a]lights.
7 He gathers the (N)waters of the sea together [b]as a heap;
He puts the depths in storehouses.
8 Let (O)all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world (P)stand in awe of Him.
9 For (Q)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it [c]stood firm.
10 The Lord (R)nullifies the plan of nations;
He frustrates the plans of peoples.
11 The (S)plan of the Lord stands forever,
The (T)plans of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the (U)nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has (V)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 The Lord (W)looks from heaven;
He (X)sees all the sons of mankind;
14 From (Y)His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (Z)fashions [d]the hearts of them all,
He who (AA)understands all their works.
16 (AB)The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not rescued by great strength.
17 A (AC)horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it rescue anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (AD)the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who (AE)wait for His faithfulness,
19 To (AF)rescue their soul from death
And to keep them alive (AG)in famine.
20 Our soul (AH)waits for the Lord;
He is our (AI)help and our shield.
21 For our (AJ)heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your favor, Lord, be upon us,
Just as we have waited for You.
The Lord, a Provider and the One Who Rescues Me.
A Psalm of David, when he pretended to be insane before [e]Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.
34 I will (AK)bless the Lord at all times;
His (AL)praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul will (AM)make its boast in the Lord;
The (AN)humble will hear it and rejoice.
3 (AO)Exalt the Lord with me,
And let’s (AP)exalt His name together.
4 I (AQ)sought the Lord and He answered me,
And (AR)rescued me from all my fears.
5 They (AS)looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will (AT)never be ashamed.
6 This wretched man cried out, and (AU)the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The (AV)angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.
8 (AW)Taste and see that the Lord is good;
How (AX)blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
9 Fear the Lord, you (AY)His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is (AZ)no lack of anything.
10 The young lions do without and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the Lord will (BA)not lack any good thing.
11 (BB)Come, you children, listen to me;
(BC)I will teach you (BD)the fear of the Lord.
12 (BE)Who is the person who desires life
And loves length of days, that he may (BF)see good?
13 Keep (BG)your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking (BH)deceit.
14 (BI)Turn from evil and do good;
Seek peace and (BJ)pursue it.
15 The (BK)eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
And His ears are toward their cry for help.
16 The (BL)face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To (BM)eliminate the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous (BN)cry out, and the Lord hears
And rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord (BO)is near to the (BP)brokenhearted
And saves those who are [f](BQ)crushed in spirit.
19 (BR)The (BS)afflictions of the righteous are many,
But the Lord (BT)rescues him from them all.
20 He protects all his bones,
(BU)Not one of them is broken.
21 (BV)Evil will bring death to the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will suffer for their guilt.
22 The Lord (BW)redeems the souls of His servants,
And none of those who (BX)take refuge in Him will suffer for their guilt.
Paul before Felix
24 Now after (A)five days the high priest (B)Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney named Tertullus, and they [a]brought charges against Paul to (C)the governor. 2 After [b]Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began accusing him, saying to the governor,
“Since we have attained great peace through you, and since reforms are being carried out for this nation by your foresight, 3 we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, (D)most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. 4 But, that I may not [c]weary you further, I beg you [d]to grant us a brief hearing, by your kindness. 5 For we have found this man a public menace and one who stirs up dissensions among all the Jews throughout [e]the world, and a ringleader of the (E)sect of the Nazarenes. 6 And he even tried to (F)desecrate the temple, so indeed we arrested him.[f] 8 By interrogating him yourself concerning all these matters, you will be able to ascertain the things of which we are accusing him.” 9 (G)The Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.
10 And when (H)the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded:
“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense, 11 since you can take note of the fact that no more than (I)twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12 (J)And neither in the temple did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or (K)causing [g]a riot, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself. 13 (L)Nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me. 14 But I confess this to you, that in accordance with [h](M)the Way, which they call a (N)sect, I do serve (O)the God of our fathers, (P)believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and is written in the Prophets; 15 having a hope in God, which (Q)these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. 16 In view of this (R)I also do my best to maintain a blameless conscience both before God and before other people, always. 17 Now (S)after several years I (T)came to bring charitable gifts to my nation and to present offerings, 18 in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been (U)purified, without any (V)crowd or uproar. But there were some (W)Jews from [i]Asia— 19 who ought to have been present before you and to have been (X)bringing charges, if they should have anything against me. 20 Or else have these men themselves declare what violation they discovered when I stood before (Y)the [j]Council, 21 other than in regard to this one declaration which (Z)I shouted while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today!’”
22 But Felix, [k]having quite accurate knowledge about [l](AA)the Way, adjourned them, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.” 23 He gave orders to the centurion for [m]Paul to be (AB)kept in custody and yet (AC)have some freedom, and not to prevent any of (AD)his friends from providing for his needs.
24 Now some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla his [n]wife, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about (AE)faith in Christ Jesus. 25 But as he was discussing (AF)righteousness, (AG)self-control, and (AH)the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and responded, “Go away for now, and when I have an opportunity, I will summon you.” 26 At the same time he was also hoping that (AI)money would be given to him by Paul; therefore he also used to send for him quite often and talk with him. 27 But after two years had passed, Felix [o]was succeeded by Porcius (AJ)Festus; and Felix, (AK)wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul (AL)imprisoned.
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