Psalm 31-32

New American Standard Bible

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.
²^(D)Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be a ^(E)rock of ^[b]strength for me,
A ^[c]stronghold to save me.
³For You are my rock and ^(F)my fortress;
For the ^(G)sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me.
⁴You will ^(H)pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my ^(I)strength.
⁵^(J)Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;
You have ^(K)redeemed me, Lord, ^(L)God of ^[d]truth.

⁶I hate those who ^(M)devote themselves to worthless ^[e]idols,
But I ^(N)trust in the Lord.
⁷I will ^(O)rejoice and be glad in Your faithfulness,
Because You have ^(P)seen my misery;
You have known the troubles of my soul,
⁸And You have not ^(Q)handed me over to the enemy;
You have set my feet in a large place.

⁹Be 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.
¹⁰For 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.
¹¹Because 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.
¹²I am ^(Z)forgotten like a dead person, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
¹³For 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.

¹⁴But as for me, I trust in You, Lord,
I say, “^(AE)You are my God.”
¹⁵My ^(AF)times are in Your hand;
^(AG)Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
¹⁶Make Your ^(AH)face shine upon Your servant;
^(AI)Save me in Your faithfulness.
¹⁷Let 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.
¹⁸Let the ^(AM)lying lips be speechless,
Which ^(AN)speak arrogantly against the righteous
With pride and contempt.

¹⁹How 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!
²⁰You 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.
²²As 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.

²³Love 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!
²How blessed is a person whose guilt the Lord ^(BF)does not take into account,
And in whose spirit there is ^(BG)no deceit!

³When ^(BH)I kept silent about my sin, ^(BI)my ^[k]body wasted away
Through my ^[l]^(BJ)groaning all day long.
⁴For day and night ^(BK)Your hand was heavy upon me;
My ^[m]^(BL)vitality failed as with the dry heat of summer. Selah
⁵I ^(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
⁶Therefore, 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.
⁷You are ^(BS)my hiding place; You ^(BT)keep me from trouble;
You surround me with ^[o]^(BU)songs of deliverance. Selah

⁸I will ^(BV)instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will advise you ^(BW)with My eye upon you.
⁹Do 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.
¹⁰The ^(BY)sorrows of the wicked are many,
But ^(BZ)the one who trusts in the Lord, goodness will surround him.
¹¹Be ^(CA)glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are ^(CB)upright in heart.

Footnotes

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

Acts 23:16-35

New American Standard Bible

¹⁶But the son of Paul’s sister heard about their ambush, ^[a]and he came and entered ^(A)the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷Paul called one of the centurions to himself and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” ¹⁸So 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.” ¹⁹The 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?” ²⁰And 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. ²¹So 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.” ²²Then the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”

Paul Moved to Caesarea

²³And 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.” ²⁴They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to ^(H)Felix the governor. ²⁵And he wrote a letter ^[h]with the following content:

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

²⁷When 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. ²⁸And ^(M)wanting to ascertain the basis for the charges they were bringing against him, I ^(N)brought him down to their ^[i]^(O)Council; ²⁹and 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.

³⁰When 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.”

³¹So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³²But on the next day they let ^(U)the horsemen go on with him, and they returned to ^(V)the barracks. ³³When these horsemen had come to ^(W)Caesarea and delivered the letter to ^(X)the governor, they also presented Paul to him. ³⁴Now when he had read it, he also asked from what ^(Y)province Paul was, and when he learned that ^(Z)he was from Cilicia, ³⁵he 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.