Psalm 70-71

English Standard Version

O Lord, Do Not Delay

To the choirmaster. Of David, ^(A)for the memorial offering.

70 ^(B)Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
    O Lord, make haste to help me!
²Let them be put to shame and confusion
    who seek my life!
Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor
    who delight in my hurt!
³Let them turn back because of their shame
    who say, “Aha, Aha!”

⁴May all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you!
May those who love your salvation
    say evermore, “God is great!”
⁵But I am poor and needy;
    ^(C)hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
    O Lord, do not delay!

Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent

71 ^(D)In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame!
²In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
    incline your ear to me, and save me!
³Be to me a rock of ^(E)refuge,
    to which I may continually come;
you have ^(F)given the command to save me,
    for you are my ^(G)rock and my fortress.

⁴^(H)Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
    from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
⁵For you, O Lord, are my ^(I)hope,
    my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
⁶Upon you I have leaned ^(J)from before my birth;
    you are he who ^(K)took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you.

⁷I have been as ^(L)a portent to many,
    but you are my strong refuge.
⁸My ^(M)mouth is filled with your praise,
    and with your glory all the day.
⁹^(N)Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
    forsake me not when my strength is spent.
¹⁰For my enemies speak concerning me;
    those who ^(O)watch for my life ^(P)consult together
¹¹and say, “God has forsaken him;
    pursue and seize him,
    for there is none to deliver him.”

¹²O God, be not ^(Q)far from me;
    O my God, ^(R)make haste to help me!
¹³May my accusers be ^(S)put to shame and consumed;
    ^(T)with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
    who ^(U)seek my hurt.
¹⁴But I will ^(V)hope continually
    and will ^(W)praise you yet more and more.
¹⁵My ^(X)mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
    of your deeds of salvation all the day,
    for ^(Y)their number is past my knowledge.
¹⁶With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
    I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

¹⁷O God, from my youth you have taught me,
    and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
¹⁸So even to ^(Z)old age and gray hairs,
    O God, ^(AA)do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
    your power to all those to come.
¹⁹Your ^(AB)righteousness, O God,
    reaches the high heavens.
You who have done ^(AC)great things,
    O God, ^(AD)who is like you?
²⁰You who have ^(AE)made me see many troubles and calamities
    will ^(AF)revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
    you will bring me up again.
²¹You will increase my greatness
    and comfort me again.

²²I will also praise you with ^(AG)the harp
    for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
    O ^(AH)Holy One of Israel.
²³My lips will shout for joy,
    when I sing praises to you;
    my soul also, which you have ^(AI)redeemed.
²⁴And my ^(AJ)tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been ^(AK)put to shame and disappointed
    who sought to do me hurt.

Acts 25

English Standard Version

Paul Appeals to Caesar

25 Now three days after Festus had arrived in ^(A)the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. ²And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews ^(B)laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, ³asking as a favor against Paul^[a] that he summon him to Jerusalem—because ^(C)they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. ⁴Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. ⁵“So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”

⁶After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on ^(D)the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. ⁷When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him ^(E)that they could not prove. ⁸Paul argued in his defense, “Neither ^(F)against ^(G)the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor ^(H)against Caesar have I committed any offense.” ⁹But Festus, ^(I)wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” ¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar's ^(J)tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. ^(K)I appeal to Caesar.” ¹²Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”

Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice

¹³Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. ¹⁴And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, ^(L)“There is a man left prisoner by Felix, ¹⁵and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case ^(M)against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. ¹⁶^(N)I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone ^(O)before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him. ¹⁷^(P)So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on ^(Q)the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. ¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed. ¹⁹Rather they ^(R)had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about ^(S)a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. ²⁰Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I ^(T)asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them. ²¹But ^(U)when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of ^(V)the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.” ²²Then ^(W)Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.”

²³So on the next day ^(X)Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. ²⁴And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom ^(Y)the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, ^(Z)shouting that he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵But I found that ^(AA)he had done nothing deserving death. And ^(AB)as he himself appealed to ^(AC)the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him. ²⁶But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write. ²⁷For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.”