The Insecurity of the Wicked

371 Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, Neither be thou envious against them that work unrighteousness. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb. 3 Trust in Jehovah, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on [his] faithfulness. 4 Delight thyself also in Jehovah; And he will give thee the desires of thy heart. 5 Commit thy way unto Jehovah; Trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass. 6 And he will make thy righteousness to go forth as the light, And thy justice as the noon-day.

7 Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him: Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: Fret not thyself, [it tendeth] only to evil-doing. 9 For evil-doers shall be cut off; But those that wait for Jehovah, they shall inherit the land. 10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and he shall not be. 11 But the meek shall inherit the land, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 12 The wicked plotteth against the just, And gnasheth upon him with his teeth. 13 The Lord will laugh at him; For he seeth that his day is coming. 14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To slay such as are upright in the way. 15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, And their bows shall be broken. 16 Better is a little that the righteous hath Than the abundance of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken; But Jehovah upholdeth the righteous. 18 Jehovah knoweth the days of the perfect; And their inheritance shall be for ever. 19 They shall not be put to shame in the time of evil; And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. 20 But the wicked shall perish, And the enemies of Jehovah shall be as the fat of lambs: They shall consume; In smoke shall they consume away.

21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again; But the righteous dealeth graciously, and giveth. 22 For such as are blessed of him shall inherit the land; And they that are cursed of him shall be cut off. 23 A man's goings are established of Jehovah; And he delighteth in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For Jehovah upholdeth him with his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his seed begging bread. 26 All the day long he dealeth graciously, and lendeth; And his seed is blessed. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell for evermore. 28 For Jehovah loveth justice, And forsaketh not his saints; They are preserved for ever: But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land, And dwell therein for ever. 30 The mouth of the righteous talketh of wisdom, And his tongue speaketh justice. 31 The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide. 32 The wicked watcheth the righteous, And seeketh to slay him. 33 Jehovah will not leave him in his hand, Nor condemn him when he is judged.

34 Wait for Jehovah, and keep his way, And he will exalt thee to inherit the land: When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. 35 I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil. 36 But one passed by, and, lo, he was not: Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. 37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; For there is a [happy] end to the man of peace. 38 As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together; The end of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 But the salvation of the righteous is of Jehovah; He is their stronghold in the time of trouble. 40 And Jehovah helpeth them, and rescueth them; He rescueth them from the wicked, and saveth them, Because they have taken refuge in him.

The Prayer of a Suffering Penitent

381 O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thy wrath; Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, And thy hand presseth me sore. 3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine indignation; Neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin. 4 For mine iniquities are gone over my head: As a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. 5 My wounds are loathsome and corrupt, Because of my foolishness. 6 I am pained and bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. 7 For my loins are filled with burning; And there is no soundness in my flesh. 8 I am faint and sore bruised: I have groaned by reason of the disquietness of my heart. 9 Lord, all my desire is before thee; And my groaning is not hid from thee. 10 My heart throbbeth, my strength faileth me: As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. 11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague; And my kinsmen stand afar off.

12 They also that seek after my life lay snares [for me]; And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, And meditate deceits all the day long. 13 But I, as a deaf man, hear not; And I am as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. 14 Yea, I am as a man that heareth not, And in whose mouth are no reproofs. 15 For in thee, O Jehovah, do I hope: Thou wilt answer, O Lord my God. 16 For I said, Lest they rejoice over me: When my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me. 17 For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me. 18 For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. 19 But mine enemies are lively, [and] are strong; And they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. 20 They also that render evil for good Are adversaries unto me, because I follow the thing that is good. 21 Forsake me not, O Jehovah: O my God, be not far from me. 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.

Hope in the LORD

391 I said, I will take heed to my ways, That I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, While the wicked is before me. 2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; And my sorrow was stirred. 3 My heart was hot within me; While I was musing the fire burned: [Then] spake I with my tongue: 4 Jehovah, make me to know mine end, And the measure of my days, what it is; Let me know how frail I am. 5 Behold, thou hast made my days [as] handbreadths; And my life-time is as nothing before thee: Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. [Selah] 6 Surely every man walketh in a vain show; Surely they are disquieted in vain: He heapeth up [riches], and knoweth not who shall gather them.

7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions: Make me not the reproach of the foolish. 9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; Because thou didst it. 10 Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thy hand. 11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: Surely every man is vanity. [Selah] 12 Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and give ear unto my cry; Hold not thy peace at my tears: For I am a stranger with thee, A sojourner, as all my fathers were. 13 Oh spare me, that I may recover strength, Before I go hence, and be no more.

Paul's Defense before Agrippa

261 And Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth his hand, and made his defence: 2 I think myself happy, king Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before thee this day touching all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews: 3 especially because thou art expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. 4 My manner of life then from my youth up, which was from the beginning among mine own nation and at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; 5 having knowledge of me from the first, if they be willing to testify, that after the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand [here] to be judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; 7 unto which [promise] our twelve tribes, earnestly serving [God] night and day, hope to attain. And concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, O king! 8 Why is it judged incredible with you, if God doth raise the dead? 9 I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And this I also did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them. 11 And punishing them oftentimes in all the synagogues, I strove to make them blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

12 Whereupon as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13 at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me. 14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying unto me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the goad. 15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16 But arise, and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things wherein thou hast seen me, and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee; 17 delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee, 18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.

Paul's Witness to Jews and Gentiles

19 Wherefore, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: 20 but declared both to them of Damascus first and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. 21 For this cause the Jews seized me in the temple, and assayed to kill me. 22 Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand unto this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses did say should come; 23 how that the Christ must suffer, [and] how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.

Paul Appeals to Agrippa to Believe

24 And as he thus made his defense, Festus saith with a loud voice, Paul, thou art mad; thy much learning is turning thee mad. 25 But Paul saith, I am not mad, most excellent Festus; but speak forth words of truth and soberness. 26 For the king knoweth of these things, unto whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him; for this hath not been done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. 28 And Agrippa [said] unto Paul, With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian. 29 And Paul [said], I would to God, that whether with little or with much, not thou only, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except these bonds. 30 And the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them: 31 and when they had withdrawn, they spake one to another, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. 32 And Agrippa said unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.