Old/New Testament
Yahweh Is a Fortress
For the music director. A psalm of David.[a]
31 In you, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge.
Let me not be put to shame ever.
Deliver me by your righteousness.
2 Incline your ear to me.
Quickly deliver me.
Become my rock of refuge,
a fortified keep[b] to save me.
3 For you are my rock and my fortress.
So, for the sake of your name,
lead me and guide me.
4 Bring me out of the net that they have secretly set for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit.
You have redeemed me, O Yahweh, faithful God.[c]
6 I hate those devoted to useless idols,
but I trust Yahweh.
7 I will exult and rejoice in your loyal love.
Because you have seen my misery,
you know the distresses of my life.[d]
8 And you have not delivered me
into the hand of the enemy.
You have set my feet in a broad place.
9 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh,
because I have distress.
My eye wastes away because of vexation,
along with my soul and my body.[e]
10 For my life is at an end with sorrow,
and my years with sighing.
My strength stumbles because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away.
11 Because of all my adversaries I have become a disgrace,
especially to my neighbors,
and a dread to my acquaintances.
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I have become forgotten like one dead, out of mind.[f]
I am like a destroyed vessel.
13 For I hear the rumor of many,
“Terror on every side!”
When conspiring together against me,
they have plotted to take my life.
14 But as for me, I trust you, O Yahweh.
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times[g] are in your hand.
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies
and from those who pursue me.
16 Shine your face upon your servant.
Save me by your loyal love.
17 O Yahweh, let me not be put to shame, for I call on you.
Let the wicked be put to shame.
Let them go silently[h] to Sheol.
18 Let lying lips be dumb,
that speak against the righteous[i] unrestrained
with arrogance and contempt.
19 How abundant is your goodness
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you perform for those who take refuge in you
before the children of humankind.
20 You will hide them in the protection of your presence
from the plots of man.
You will hide them in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed is Yahweh,
because he has worked marvelously his loyal love to me
in a besieged city.
22 As for me, I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from before your eyes.”
However you heard the voice of my supplications
when I cried to you for help.
23 Love Yahweh, all you his faithful ones.
Yahweh preserves the faithful
but repays abundantly the one who acts arrogantly.
24 Be strong and let your[j] heart show strength,
all you who wait for Yahweh.
Thanksgiving for Forgiveness of Sins
Of David. A maskil.[k]
32 Happy is he whose transgression is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
2 Happy is a person to whom Yahweh does not impute iniquity
and in whose spirit there is not deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones were worn out
due to my groaning all the day.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.
My vigor was changed into the dry heat of summer. Selah
5 I made known my sin to you, and my iniquity I did not cover.
I said, “I will confess concerning my transgressions to Yahweh,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
at the time for finding you.
Surely at the flood of many waters they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place;
from trouble you preserve me.
With cries of deliverance you surround me. Selah
8 I[l] will instruct you and teach you
in the way that you should go.
I will advise you with my eye upon you.
9 Do not be like a horse or like a mule, without understanding;
that needs his tackle—bridle and rein—for restraint
or he would not come near you.
10 Many are the pains of the wicked,
but for the one who trusts Yahweh
loyal love surrounds him.
11 Be glad in Yahweh and rejoice, you righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright of heart.
16 But when[a] the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush, he came and entered into the barracks[b] and[c] reported it[d] to Paul. 17 So Paul called one of the centurions and[e] said, “Bring this young man to the military tribune, because he has something to report to him.” 18 So he took him and[f] brought him[g] to the military tribune and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and[h] asked me[i] to bring this young man to you because he[j] has something to tell you.” 19 And the military tribune, taking hold of his hand and withdrawing privately, asked, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you that you bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow, as if they were going to inquire somewhat more accurately concerning him. 21 You therefore do not be persuaded by them, because more than forty men of their number[k] are lying in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse neither to eat nor to drink until they have done away with him. And now they are ready, waiting for you to agree.”[l] 22 So the military tribune sent the young man away, directing him,[m] “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.”
23 And he summoned two of the centurions and[n] said, “Make ready from the third hour of the night two hundred soldiers and seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen,[o] in order that they may proceed as far as Caesarea. 24 And provide mounts so that they can put Paul on them and[p] bring him[q] safely to Felix the governor.” 25 He wrote[r] a letter that had this form:[s]
26 Claudius Lysias.
To his excellency Governor Felix.
Greetings!
27 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I[t] came upon them[u] with the detachment and[v] rescued him,[w] because I[x] learned that he was a Roman citizen. 28 And because I[y] wanted to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him[z] down to their Sanhedrin.[aa] 29 I found he[ab] was accused concerning controversial questions of their law, but having no charge deserving death or imprisonment. 30 And when it[ac] was made known to me there would be a plot against the man, I sent him[ad] to you immediately, also ordering his[ae] accusers to speak against him[af] before you.
31 Therefore the soldiers, in accordance with their orders,[ag] took Paul and[ah] brought him[ai] to Antipatris during the night. 32 And on the next day they let the horsemen go on with him, and[aj] they returned to the barracks.[ak] 33 The horsemen,[al] when they[am] came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, also presented Paul to him. 34 So after[an] reading the letter[ao] and asking what province he was from, and learning that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing whenever your accusers arrive also,” giving orders for him to be guarded in the praetorium[ap] of Herod.
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