Old/New Testament
A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
31 (A)In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never (B)be ashamed;
(C)In Your righteousness deliver me.
2 (D)Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be to me a (E)rock of [a]strength,
A stronghold to save me.
3 For You are my [b]rock and (F)my fortress;
For (G)Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.
4 You will (H)pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my (I)strength.
5 (J)Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have (K)ransomed me, O Lord, (L)God of [c]truth.
6 I hate those who (M)regard [d]vain idols,
But I (N)trust in the Lord.
7 I will (O)rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness,
Because You have (P)seen my affliction;
You have known the troubles of my soul,
8 And You have not (Q)given me over into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a large place.
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for (R)I am in distress;
My (S)eye is wasted away from grief, (T)my soul and my body also.
10 For my life is spent with (U)sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My (V)strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And (W)my [e]body has wasted away.
11 Because of all my adversaries, I have become a (X)reproach,
Especially to my (Y)neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I am (Z)forgotten as a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I have heard the [f](AA)slander of many,
(AB)Terror is on every side;
While they (AC)took counsel together against me,
They (AD)schemed to take away my life.
14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord,
I say, “(AE)You are my God.”
15 My (AF)times are in Your hand;
(AG)Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
16 Make Your (AH)face to shine upon Your servant;
(AI)Save me in Your lovingkindness.
17 Let me not be (AJ)put to shame, O Lord, for I call upon You;
Let the (AK)wicked be put to shame, let them (AL)be silent in [g]Sheol.
18 Let the (AM)lying lips be mute,
Which (AN)speak arrogantly against the righteous
With pride and contempt.
19 How great is Your (AO)goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have wrought for those who (AP)take refuge in You,
(AQ)Before the sons of men!
20 You hide them in the (AR)secret place of Your presence from the (AS)conspiracies of man;
You keep them secretly in a [h]shelter from the (AT)strife of tongues.
21 (AU)Blessed be the Lord,
For He has made (AV)marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged (AW)city.
22 As for me, (AX)I said in my alarm,
“I am (AY)cut off from before Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You (AZ)heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried to You.
23 O love the Lord, all you (BA)His godly ones!
The Lord (BB)preserves the faithful
And fully (BC)recompenses the proud doer.
24 (BD)Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who [i]hope in the Lord.
Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.
A Psalm of David. A [j]Maskil.
32 (BE)How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord (BF)does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is (BG)no deceit!
3 When (BH)I kept silent about my sin, (BI)my [k]body wasted away
Through my [l](BJ)groaning all day long.
4 For day and night (BK)Your hand was heavy upon me;
My [m](BL)vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. [n]Selah.
5 I (BM)acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I (BN)did not hide;
I said, “(BO)I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You (BP)forgave the [o]guilt of my sin. Selah.
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [p](BQ)in a time when You may be found;
Surely (BR)in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
7 You are (BS)my hiding place; You (BT)preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with [q](BU)songs of deliverance. Selah.
8 I will (BV)instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you (BW)with My eye upon you.
9 Do not be (BX)as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10 Many are the (BY)sorrows of the wicked,
But (BZ)he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.
11 Be (CA)glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are (CB)upright in heart.
16 But the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, [a]and he came and entered (A)the barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Lead this young man to the [b]commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 So he took him and led him to the [c]commander and *said, “Paul (B)the prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you since he has something to tell you.” 19 The [d]commander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 And he said, “(C)The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to (D)the [e]Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. 21 So do not [f]listen to them, for more than forty of them are (E)lying in wait for him who have (F)bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him; and now they are ready and waiting for the promise from you.” 22 So the [g]commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”
Paul Moved to Caesarea
23 And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by [h]the third hour of the night to proceed to (G)Caesarea, [i]with seventy horsemen and two hundred [j]spearmen.” 24 They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to (H)Felix the governor. 25 And he wrote a letter having this form:
26 “Claudius Lysias, to the (I)most excellent governor Felix, (J)greetings.
27 “When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, (K)I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, (L)having learned that he was a Roman. 28 “And (M)wanting to ascertain the charge for which they were accusing him, I (N)brought him down to their [k](O)Council; 29 and I found him to be accused over (P)questions about their Law, but [l]under (Q)no accusation deserving death or [m]imprisonment.
30 “When I was (R)informed that there would be (S)a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing (T)his accusers to [n]bring charges against him before you.”
31 So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 But the next day, leaving (U)the horsemen to go on with him, they returned to (V)the barracks. 33 When these had come to (W)Caesarea and delivered the letter to (X)the governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34 When he had read it, he asked from what (Y)province he was, and when he learned that (Z)he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing after your (AA)accusers arrive also,” giving orders for him to be (AB)kept in Herod’s [o]Praetorium.
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