Psalm 34-35

English Standard Version

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

^[a] Of David, when he ^(A)changed his behavior before ^(B)Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

34 I will bless the Lord ^(C)at all times;
    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
²My soul ^(D)makes its boast in the Lord;
    let the humble hear and ^(E)be glad.
³Oh, ^(F)magnify the Lord with me,
    and let us exalt his name together!

⁴I ^(G)sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.
⁵Those who look to him are ^(H)radiant,
    and their faces shall never be ashamed.
⁶^(I)This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
    and ^(J)saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷^(K)The angel of the Lord ^(L)encamps
    around those who fear him, and delivers them.

⁸Oh, ^(M)taste and see that ^(N)the Lord is good!
    ^(O)Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
⁹Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
    for those who fear him have no lack!
¹⁰^(P)The young lions suffer want and hunger;
    but those who ^(Q)seek the Lord lack no good thing.

¹¹^(R)Come, O children, listen to me;
    ^(S)I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹²^(T)What man is there who desires life
    and loves many days, that he may ^(U)see good?
¹³^(V)Keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from ^(W)speaking deceit.
¹⁴^(X)Turn away from evil and do good;
    seek peace and ^(Y)pursue it.

¹⁵^(Z)The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
    ^(AA)and his ears toward their cry.
¹⁶^(AB)The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to ^(AC)cut off the memory of them from the earth.
¹⁷^(AD)When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
    and delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸The Lord is near to ^(AE)the brokenhearted
    and saves ^(AF)the crushed in spirit.

¹⁹^(AG)Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    ^(AH)but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
²⁰He keeps all his bones;
    ^(AI)not one of them is broken.
²¹^(AJ)Affliction will slay the wicked,
    and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
²²The Lord ^(AK)redeems the life of his servants;
    none of those who take refuge in him will be ^(AL)condemned.

Great Is the Lord

Of David.

35 Contend, O Lord, with those who ^(AM)contend with me;
    ^(AN)fight against those who fight against me!
²Take hold of ^(AO)shield and buckler
    and rise for my help!
³Draw the spear and javelin^[b]
    against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
    “I am your salvation!”

⁴^(AP)Let them be ^(AQ)put to shame and dishonor
    who seek after my life!
Let them be ^(AR)turned back and disappointed
    who devise evil against me!
⁵Let them be like ^(AS)chaff before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
⁶Let their way be dark and ^(AT)slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

⁷For ^(AU)without cause ^(AV)they hid their net for me;
without cause they dug ^(AW)a pit for my life.^[c]
⁸Let ^(AX)destruction come upon him ^(AY)when he does not know it!
And let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his destruction!

⁹Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,
    ^(AZ)exulting in his salvation.
¹⁰All my ^(BA)bones shall say,
    “O Lord, ^(BB)who is like you,
delivering the poor
    from him who is too strong for him,
    the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

¹¹^(BC)Malicious^[d] witnesses rise up;
    they ask me of things that I do not know.
¹²^(BD)They repay me evil for good;
    my soul is bereft.^[e]
¹³But I, ^(BE)when they were sick—
    I ^(BF)wore sackcloth;
    I ^(BG)afflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed ^(BH)with head bowed^[f] on my chest.
¹⁴    I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
    I ^(BI)bowed down in mourning.

¹⁵But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
    they gathered together against me;
^(BJ)wretches whom I did not know
    tore at me without ceasing;
¹⁶like profane mockers at a feast,^[g]
    they ^(BK)gnash at me with their teeth.

¹⁷How long, O Lord, will you ^(BL)look on?
    Rescue me from their destruction,
    ^(BM)my precious life from the lions!
¹⁸I will thank you in ^(BN)the great congregation;
    in the mighty throng I will praise you.

¹⁹^(BO)Let not those rejoice over me
    who are ^(BP)wrongfully my foes,
and let not those ^(BQ)wink the eye
    who ^(BR)hate me ^(BS)without cause.
²⁰For they do not speak peace,
    but against those who are quiet in the land
    they devise words of deceit.
²¹They ^(BT)open wide their mouths against me;
    they say, ^(BU)“Aha, Aha!
    Our eyes have seen it!”

²²^(BV)You have seen, O Lord; ^(BW)be not silent!
    O Lord, ^(BX)be not far from me!
²³Awake and ^(BY)rouse yourself for ^(BZ)my vindication,
    for my cause, my God and my Lord!
²⁴^(CA)Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,
    according to your righteousness,
    and ^(CB)let them not rejoice over me!
²⁵Let them not say in their hearts,
    ^(CC)“Aha, our heart's desire!”
Let them not say, ^(CD)“We have swallowed him up.”

²⁶Let them be ^(CE)put to shame and disappointed altogether
who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be ^(CF)clothed with shame and dishonor
who ^(CG)magnify themselves against me!

²⁷Let those who delight in my righteousness
    shout for joy and be glad
    ^(CH)and say evermore,
^(CI)“Great is the Lord,
    who ^(CJ)delights in the welfare of his servant!”
²⁸Then my ^(CK)tongue shall tell of your righteousness
    and of your praise all the day long.

Footnotes

Psalm 34:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
Psalm 35:3 Or and close the way
Psalm 35:7 The word pit is transposed from the preceding line; Hebrew For without cause they hid the pit of their net for me; without cause they dug for my life
Psalm 35:11 Or Violent
Psalm 35:12 Hebrew it is bereavement to my soul
Psalm 35:13 Or my prayer shall turn back
Psalm 35:16 The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain

Acts 22

English Standard Version

22 ^(A)“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”

²And when they heard that he was addressing them in ^(B)the Hebrew language,^[a] they became even more quiet. And he said:

³^(C)“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated ^(D)at the feet of ^(E)Gamaliel^[b] ^(F)according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, ^(G)being zealous for God ^(H)as all of you are this day. ⁴^(I)I persecuted ^(J)this Way ^(K)to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, ⁵as ^(L)the high priest and ^(M)the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to ^(N)the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶^(O)“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. ⁷And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am ^(P)Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹^(Q)Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand^[c] the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰And I said, ^(R)‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

¹²“And ^(S)one Ananias, a devout man ^(T)according to the law, ^(U)well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³^(V)came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And ^(W)at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. ¹⁴And he said, ^(X)‘The God of our fathers ^(Y)appointed you to know his will, ^(Z)to see ^(AA)the Righteous One and ^(AB)to hear a voice from his mouth; ¹⁵for ^(AC)you will be a witness for him to everyone of what ^(AD)you have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now why do you wait? ^(AE)Rise and be baptized and ^(AF)wash away your sins, ^(AG)calling on his name.’

¹⁷^(AH)“When I had returned to Jerusalem and ^(AI)was praying in the temple, I fell into ^(AJ)a trance ¹⁸and saw him saying to me, ^(AK)‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another ^(AL)I imprisoned and ^(AM)beat those who believed in you. ²⁰And when the blood of Stephen ^(AN)your witness was being shed, ^(AO)I myself was standing by and ^(AP)approving and ^(AQ)watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ ²¹And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you ^(AR)far away to the Gentiles.’”

Paul and the Roman Tribune

²²Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, ^(AS)“Away with such a fellow from the earth! For ^(AT)he should not be allowed to live.” ²³And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴the tribune ordered him to be brought into ^(AU)the barracks, saying that he should be ^(AV)examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. ²⁵But when they had stretched him out for the whips,^[d] Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog ^(AW)a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” ²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” ²⁹So those who were about ^(AX)to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also ^(AY)was afraid, ^(AZ)for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that ^(BA)he had bound him.

Paul Before the Council

³⁰But on the next day, ^(BB)desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.