Old/New Testament
David wrote this song.
God, please help me
35 Lord, please attack those people who are attacking me.
Fight against those people who are fighting against me.
2 Yes, pick up your shield
and put on your armour!
Prepare to fight and give me help!
3 Take your spears and throw them,
to stop the people who are chasing me.
Say to me, ‘I will make you safe.’
4 Cause the people who want to kill me
to become ashamed.
Chase away the people who want to hurt me,
so that they become confused.
5 Make them become like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Send the angel of the Lord
to chase them away.
6 Make their way dark and dangerous,
as the angel of the Lord chases after them.
7 They hid a trap to catch me.
There was no reason for them to do that.
They even dug a deep hole for me to fall into.
8 Surprise my enemies and destroy them!
Let their own traps catch them!
Let them fall to their own death!
9 Then I will be happy
because of what the Lord has done.
I will be happy
because he has made me safe.
10 I will shout with all my strength,
‘Lord, who is like you?
When strong people try to hurt weak people,
you are the one who keeps the weak people safe.
You also keep poor people safe
when robbers try to take things from them.’
11 Cruel people tell lies against me in court.
I do not even know what they are talking about.
12 When I do good things to help them,
they pay me back with evil things!
That makes me feel very sad and upset.
13 When they were ill,
I wore rough clothes,
and I stopped eating food.
I bent down my head as I prayed for them.
14 I wept as I prayed,
as I would weep when a friend or my mother had died.
15 But when I had troubles myself,
they were happy.
They stood together
and they laughed at me.
Even strangers attacked me
and they would not stop.
16 Useless people like that insulted me,
and they showed their teeth to frighten me.
17 My Lord, how long will you continue to watch
as they do this to me?
Keep me safe when they attack me.
They attack me like hungry lions.
Do not let them kill me!
18 Then I will praise you
in the great meeting of your people.
I will thank you so that everyone hears me.
19 My enemies tell lies about me.
Do not let them win against me,
and be happy.
They have no reason to hate me,
so do not let them laugh at me.
20 They do not talk in a way that brings peace.
Instead, they try to deceive people who want to live quietly.
21 They open their mouths wide
to speak against me.
They say, ‘Aha![a]
We have seen the bad things that you do!’
22 Lord, you have seen all this.
Do not remain silent, my Lord.
Do not stay far away from me.
23 Wake up! Get ready to give me justice!
Show that I am not guilty,
my Lord and my God.
24 Lord, you are righteous.
Give me justice, my God.
Do not let them laugh at me.
25 Do not let them say,
‘Aha! This is what we wanted.’
Do not let them say,
‘We have eaten him alive!’
26 Punish those people who are happy when I have troubles.
Make them ashamed and confused!
Bring down those proud people who laugh at me.
Make them feel very ashamed.
27 But for those who want justice for me,
let them shout aloud in their pleasure.
May they always say, ‘The Lord is great!
He is happy when his servant is safe and well!’
28 Then I will tell everyone that you are righteous.
I will praise you all through each day.
The Lord's servant, David, wrote this song for the music leader.
A message from God
36 A wicked person turns against God completely.
He does not respect God.
2 He is too proud to think about his sin,
so he does not hate it.
3 He speaks wicked things to deceive people.
He does nothing that is wise or good.
4 While he lies on his bed at night,
he thinks about bad things that he can do.
He lives only to do things that are not good.
He does not turn away from evil things.
5 Lord your faithful love reaches as high as the sky.
People can trust you beyond the clouds.
6 Your justice is like the strongest mountains.
You always do what is right,
more than the seas are deep.[b]
You take care of people and animals
and you keep them safe.
7 God, your faithful love has great value!
You keep all humans safe,
like birds protect their babies under their wings.
8 You have plenty of food in your house,
to give them all that they need.
You give them water from your river,
that makes them happy when they drink it.
9 Yes, you are the one who gives us light and life.
10 Continue to love those who serve you as your people.
Let good, honest people receive your justice.
11 Do not let proud people hurt me.
Do not let evil people chase me away from home.
12 Now I see that those wicked people have fallen down!
They are lying there on the ground,
and they cannot get up again!
Festus travels to Jerusalem to speak to the leaders of the Jews
25 Three days after Festus began to rule in Caesarea, he travelled from there to Jerusalem. 2 When he arrived there, the leaders of the priests and the Jewish leaders told him about Paul. They spoke bad things against Paul. 3 They said to Festus, ‘Please listen to us. We really want you to bring Paul here to Jerusalem. You can judge him here. Then we would be very happy.’ They wanted to kill Paul while he was travelling to Jerusalem.
4 But Festus answered them, ‘Paul will remain in prison in Caesarea. I myself will return there soon. 5 So your leaders should go to Caesarea with me. If this man has done anything wrong, they can speak against him there. I will listen and I will judge.’
6 Festus stayed for another eight or ten days in Jerusalem. Then he returned to Caesarea. On the next day, he sat down on his special seat as judge. He said to his soldiers, ‘Bring Paul here!’ 7 Some of the Jewish leaders had also come from Jerusalem. When Paul came into the room, they all stood round him. They began to speak to Festus against Paul. They said that he had done very many bad things. But they could not show Festus that these things were really true.
8 Then Paul spoke to show what was true. He said, ‘I have not done anything wrong against our Jewish laws or against the temple in Jerusalem. Also, I have not done anything wrong against your Roman ruler, Caesar.’
9 Festus wanted to make the Jewish leaders happy. So he asked Paul, ‘I would like to judge this problem in Jerusalem. Would you be happy to go there? Then I can decide if what these men are saying against you is true.’
10 Paul answered him, ‘I am already in the place where Caesar's officers judge people. This is the right place for you to judge me. I have never done anything wrong against the Jews. You yourself know very well that it is true. 11 Have I done something bad that you should kill me for it? If that is true, then I will agree to it. It is right that I should die. But these Jews are not speaking true words against me. Nobody should let them take hold of me. So now I ask you to send me to Caesar himself. I want him to be the judge.’
12 Festus talked to his officers about what Paul had said. Then he said to Paul, ‘You have asked to go to Caesar, for him to be your judge. So prepare yourself to go to Caesar!’
King Agrippa and Bernice visit Festus
13 Several days after this, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea. They wanted to say ‘welcome’ to Festus as the new ruler.[a]
14 They stayed in Caesarea for many days. While they were there, Festus explained to King Agrippa the problem about Paul. He said, ‘There is a man here that Felix left in prison. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the important Jews and the leaders of their priests spoke to me about him. They said, “Paul has done some very bad things. You should judge him and he should die.”
16 I answered them, “You are saying that this man has done wrong things. He must first stand in front of you who are speaking against him. Then he can answer you, and I can judge who is right. That is what our Roman law says must happen.”
17 So when I came back here, the Jewish leaders and the leaders of their priests came with me. I did not wait for long. On the next day I sat down on my special seat as judge. I told my soldiers to bring this man to me. 18 The men who had spoken against him stood up. I thought they would say that Paul had done some very bad thing. But they did not say that. 19 Instead, they were arguing with Paul about what the Jews teach about God. They were arguing about a man who is called Jesus. Jesus had died. But Paul was saying that he is alive. 20 I did not know how I could judge all these problems. So I told Paul, “I want to take you to Jerusalem. Would you be happy to go there? Then I will listen to what these men are saying against you. I will judge there who is right.” 21 But Paul did not want to go to Jerusalem. He said to me, “Please keep me safe here in prison. Then send me to Caesar. He himself should decide what to do with me.” So I said to my soldiers, “Guard Paul here until I send him to Caesar.” ’
22 Agrippa said to Festus, ‘I would like to hear this man myself.’
Festus replied, ‘You will hear him tomorrow.’
23 The next day, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea's public meeting room. They wore beautiful clothes to show that they were great people. Some Roman soldiers' officers and important men in the city also arrived there. Festus said to his soldiers, ‘Bring Paul here to us!’ So they brought Paul into the room. 24 Festus said, ‘King Agrippa, and everyone here today, listen to me! You see this man who is standing in front of you. Many Jews in Jerusalem, and also Jews here in Caesarea, have spoken to me about him. They say very loudly, “This man has done very bad things. He should not continue to live!” 25 But I could not find any reason to kill him. He has not done anything against our law. But he has asked for Caesar himself to judge him. So I have decided to send him to Rome. 26 But I do not know what to write about him to our ruler, Caesar. So I have brought him here to stand in front of all of you. I ask you, King Agrippa, to listen carefully to what Paul says. Then we can talk about the problem together. As a result, I will know what to write about him to Caesar. 27 I need to tell Caesar what wrong things this man has done. If I cannot do that, it would not be right to send him to Rome.’
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