Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 142
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of David; when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
1 I cry to the Lord with my voice; with my voice to the Lord do I make supplication.
2 I pour out my complaint before Him; I tell before Him my trouble.
3 When my spirit was overwhelmed and fainted [throwing all its weight] upon me, then You knew my path. In the way where I walk they have hidden a snare for me.
4 Look on the right hand [the point of attack] and see; for there is no man who knows me [to appear for me]. Refuge has failed me and I have no way to flee; no man cares for my life or my welfare.
5 I cried to You, O Lord; I said, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
6 Attend to my loud cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I.
7 Bring my life out of prison, that I may confess, praise, and give thanks to Your name; the righteous will surround me and crown themselves because of me, for You will deal bountifully with me.
9 I saw the Lord standing at the altar, and He said, Smite the tops of the pillars until the thresholds tremble, and shatter them on the heads of all of the people; and the remainder of them I will slay with the sword. He who flees of them shall not get away, and he who escapes of them shall not be delivered.
2 Though they dig into Sheol (Hades, the dark abode of the gathered dead), from there shall My hand take them; though they climb up to heaven [the abode of light], from there will I bring them down;
3 And though they hide themselves on the top of [Mount] Carmel, from there I will search out and take them; and though they [try to] hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent and it shall bite them.
4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword and it shall slay them, and I will set My eyes upon them for evil and not for good.
12 Now when daylight came, the Jews formed a plot and bound themselves by an oath and under a curse neither to eat nor drink till they had done away with Paul.
13 There were more than forty [men of them], who formed this conspiracy [swearing together this oath and curse].
14 And they went to the chief priests and elders, saying, We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath and under a curse not to taste any food until we have slain Paul.
15 So now you, along with the council (Sanhedrin), give notice to the commandant to bring [Paul] down to you, as if you were going to investigate his case more accurately. But we [ourselves] are ready to slay him before he comes near.
16 But the son of Paul’s sister heard of their intended attack, and he went and got into the barracks and told Paul.
17 Then Paul, calling in one of the centurions, said, Take this young man to the commandant, for he has something to report to him.
18 So he took him and conducted him to the commandant and said, Paul the prisoner called me to him and requested me to conduct this young man to you, for he has something to report to you.
19 The commandant took him by the hand, and going aside with him, asked privately, What is it that you have to report to me?
20 And he replied, The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council (Sanhedrin) tomorrow, as if [they were] intending to examine him more exactly.
21 But do not yield to their persuasion, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush waiting for him, having bound themselves by an oath and under a curse neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him; and even now they are all ready, [just] waiting for your promise.
22 So the commandant sent the youth away, charging him, Do not disclose to anyone that you have given me this information.
23 Then summoning two of the centurions, he said, Have two hundred footmen ready by the third hour of the night (about 9:00 p.m.) to go as far as Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen.
24 Also provide beasts for mounts for Paul to ride, and bring him in safety to Felix the governor.
25 And he wrote a letter having this message:
26 Claudius Lysias sends greetings to His Excellency Felix the governor.
27 This man was seized [as prisoner] by the Jews, and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the troops and rescued him, because I learned that he is a Roman citizen.
28 And wishing to know the exact accusation which they were making against him, I brought him down before their council (Sanhedrin),
29 [Where] I found that he was charged in regard to questions of their own law, but he was accused of nothing that would call for death or [even] for imprisonment.
30 [However] when it was pointed out to me that there would be a conspiracy against the man, I sent him to you immediately, directing his accusers also to present before you their charge against him.
31 So the soldiers, in compliance with their instructions, took Paul and conducted him during the night to Antipatris.
32 And the next day they returned to the barracks, leaving the mounted men to proceed with him.
33 When these came to Caesarea and gave the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul before him.
34 Having read the letter, he asked to what province [Paul] belonged. When he discovered that he was from Cilicia [an imperial province],
35 He said, I will hear your case [a]fully when your accusers also have come. And he ordered that an eye be kept on him in Herod’s palace (the Praetorium).
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation