Old/New Testament
Refuge, Sukkah, Shelter
Psalm 31
1 For the music director, a psalm of David.
2 In You, Adonai, have I taken refuge:
Let me never be put to shame.
In Your righteousness, deliver me.
3 Turn Your ear to me, rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me, a stronghold for my deliverance.
4 Since You are my rock and my fortress,
You lead me and guide me for Your Name’s sake.
5 Free me from the net they hid for me,
for You are my refuge.
6 Into Your hand I commit my spirit.[a]
You have redeemed me, Adonai, God of truth.
7 I detest those who continue to watch worthless idols,
but I trust in Adonai.
8 I will be glad and rejoice in Your lovingkindness,
for You saw my affliction.
You knew the troubles of my soul.
9 You did not hand me over to the enemy.
You set my feet in a wide-open place.
10 Be gracious to me, Adonai,
for I am in distress.
My eyes waste away with grief,
my soul and my body as well.
11 For my life is consumed in sorrow
and my years in sighing.
My strength fails because of my anguish
and my bones waste away.
12 Because of all my adversaries
I am the contempt of my neighbors
and a dread to my acquaintances.
Seeing me on the street, they flee from me.
13 I am as forgotten as a dead man.
I have become like a broken vessel.
14 For I have heard the whispering of many.
There is terror on every side
as they conspire against me
and plot to take my life.
15 But I have trusted in You, Adonai.
I said: “You are my God.”
16 My times are in Your hands.
Deliver me from the hands of my foes and from those who pursue me.
17 Make Your face shine on Your servant.
Save me in Your lovingkindness.
18 Adonai, let me not be ashamed,
for I have called upon You.
Let the wicked be ashamed—
let them be silent in Sheol.
19 Let the lying lips be mute.
For they speak arrogantly against the righteous,
with pride and contempt.
20 How great is Your goodness,
which You have stored up for those who fear You,
which You have given to those who take refuge in You,
before the children of men.
21 In the shelter of Your presence
You hide them from people’s plots.
You conceal them in a sukkah
from the strife of tongues.
22 Blessed be Adonai,
for He has shown me His wonderful love
in a besieged city.
23 I said in my alarm,
“I have been cut off from Your sight!”
But You heard the sound of my pleas
when I cried out to You.
24 Love Adonai, all His kedoshim!
Adonai preserves all the faithful,
but the proud He pays back in full.
25 Chazak! Let your heart take courage,[b]
all you who wait for Adonai.
Confess, Return and Learn
Psalm 32
1 Of David, a contemplative song.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is pardoned.
2 Blessed is the one whose guilt Adonai does not count,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.[c]
3 When I kept silent,
my bones became brittle
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me.
My strength was drained as in the droughts of summer.
Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to You
and did not hide my iniquity. I said:
“I confess my transgressions to Adonai,”
and You forgave the guilt of my sin.[d]
Selah
6 So let everyone who is godly pray to You
in a time when You may be found.
When great floodwaters rise,
they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place—
You will protect me from distress.
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.
I will give counsel—My eye is on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding,
and must be held in with bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.”
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but lovingkindness surrounds the one who trusts in Adonai.
11 Be glad in Adonai and rejoice,
you righteous, and shout for joy,
all who are upright in heart.
16 But the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush. He went into the headquarters and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has a message for him.”
18 So the centurion took him and led him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.”
19 The commander took him by the hand, stepped aside, and began asking him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?”
20 And he said, “The Judean leaders have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow—as if they are about to investigate more thoroughly about him. 21 But do not give in to them, for more than forty of them have bound themselves by an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Even now, they are ready and waiting for your consent.”
22 So the commander dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me about these things.”
Escorted to Caesarea
23 Calling two of his centurions, he said, “At the third hour of the night,[a] prepare two hundred soldiers, along with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, to proceed as far as Caesarea. 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, so that he might be brought safely to Felix the governor.”
25 He wrote a letter to this effect:
26 “Claudius Lysias,
To the Most Excellent Governor Felix:
Greetings!
27 This man was seized by the Judean leaders and was about to be killed by them, when I came on the scene with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he is a Roman citizen. 28 Desiring to know the charge of which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Sanhedrin. 29 I found that he was accused concerning issues of their law, but charged with nothing worthy of death or imprisonment. 30 When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you immediately, also ordering his accusers to state before you what they have against him.”
31 So the soldiers, in keeping with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 On the next day, they returned to headquarters, leaving the horsemen to go on with him. 33 When they came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul before him. 34 Upon reading the letter, the governor asked what province he was from. When he learned that Paul was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers have arrived also.” Then he gave orders for Paul to be guarded in Herod’s Praetorium.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.