Psalm 50

English Standard Version

God Himself Is Judge

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

50 ^(B)The Mighty One, God the Lord,
    speaks and summons the earth
    ^(C)from the rising of the sun to its setting.
²Out of Zion, ^(D)the perfection of beauty,
    ^(E)God shines forth.

³Our God comes; he ^(F)does not keep silence;^[a]
    before him is a devouring ^(G)fire,
    around him a mighty tempest.
⁴^(H)He calls to the heavens above
    and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
⁵“Gather to me my faithful ones,
    who made ^(I)a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
⁶^(J)The heavens declare his righteousness,
    for ^(K)God himself is judge! Selah

⁷^(L)“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
    O Israel, I will testify against you.
    ^(M)I am God, your God.
⁸Not for your sacrifices ^(N)do I rebuke you;
    your burnt offerings are continually before me.
⁹I will not accept a bull from your house
    or goats from your folds.
¹⁰For every beast of the forest is mine,
    the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹^(O)I know all the birds of the hills,
    and all that moves in the field is mine.

¹²“If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
    ^(P)for the world and its fullness are mine.
¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?
¹⁴^(Q)Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,^[b]
    and ^(R)perform your vows to the Most High,
¹⁵and ^(S)call upon me in the day of trouble;
    I will ^(T)deliver you, and you shall ^(U)glorify me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked God says:
    “What right have you to recite my statutes
    or take my covenant on your lips?
¹⁷^(V)For you hate discipline,
    ^(W)and you cast my words behind you.
¹⁸If you see a thief, ^(X)you are pleased with him,
    ^(Y)and you keep company with adulterers.

¹⁹“You give your mouth free rein for evil,
    ^(Z)and your tongue frames deceit.
²⁰You sit and speak against your brother;
    you slander your own mother's son.
²¹These things you have done, and I ^(AA)have been silent;
    you thought that I^[c] was one like yourself.
But now I ^(AB)rebuke you and ^(AC)lay the charge before you.

²²“Mark this, then, you who ^(AD)forget God,
    lest I tear you apart, and there be ^(AE)none to deliver!
²³The one who ^(AF)offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
    to one who ^(AG)orders his way rightly
    I will show the ^(AH)salvation of God!”

Footnotes

Psalm 50:3 Or May our God come, and not keep silence
Psalm 50:14 Or Make thanksgiving your sacrifice to God
Psalm 50:21 Or that the I am

Acts 26

English Standard Version

Paul's Defense Before Agrippa

26 So ^(A)Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

²“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today ^(B)against all the accusations of the Jews, ³especially because you are familiar with all the ^(C)customs and ^(D)controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴^(E)“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among ^(F)my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. ⁵They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that ^(G)according to the strictest ^(H)party of our ^(I)religion I have lived as ^(J)a Pharisee. ⁶And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in ^(K)the promise made by God to our fathers, ⁷^(L)to which ^(M)our twelve tribes hope to ^(N)attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope ^(O)I am accused by Jews, O king! ⁸Why is it thought ^(P)incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

⁹^(Q)“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of ^(R)Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰^(S)And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority ^(T)from the chief priests, but ^(U)when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. ¹¹And ^(V)I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them ^(W)blaspheme, and ^(X)in raging fury against them I ^(Y)persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹²“In this connection ^(Z)I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me ^(AA)in the Hebrew language,^[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶But rise and ^(AB)stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^(AC)to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ¹⁷^(AD)delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—^(AE)to whom I ^(AF)am sending you ¹⁸^(AG)to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from ^(AH)the power of Satan to God, that they may receive ^(AI)forgiveness of sins and ^(AJ)a place among those who are sanctified ^(AK)by faith in me.’

¹⁹“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to ^(AL)the heavenly vision, ²⁰but declared first ^(AM)to those in Damascus, ^(AN)then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^(AO)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(AP)repent and ^(AQ)turn to God, performing deeds ^(AR)in keeping with their repentance. ²¹For this reason ^(AS)the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²²^(AT)To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so ^(AU)I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what ^(AV)the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ²³^(AW)that the Christ ^(AX)must suffer and that, ^(AY)by being the first ^(AZ)to rise from the dead, ^(BA)he would proclaim ^(BB)light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, ^(BC)you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, ^(BD)most excellent Festus, but I am speaking ^(BE)true and ^(BF)rational words. ²⁶For ^(BG)the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. ²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” ²⁸And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be ^(BH)a Christian?”^[b] ²⁹And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day ^(BI)might become such as I am—except for ^(BJ)these chains.”

³⁰Then the king rose, and ^(BK)the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. ³¹And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, ^(BL)“This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” ³²And Agrippa said to Festus, ^(BM)“This man could have been set ^(BN)free if he had not appealed ^(BO)to Caesar.”