261 Clear my name, God; I've kept an honest shop. I've thrown in my lot with you, God, and I'm not budging. 2 Examine me, God, from head to foot, order your battery of tests. Make sure I'm fit inside and out 3 So I never lose sight of your love, But keep in step with you, never missing a beat. 4 I don't hang out with tricksters, I don't pal around with thugs; 5 I hate that pack of gangsters, I don't deal with double-dealers.
6 I scrub my hands with purest soap, then join hands with the others in the great circle, dancing around your altar, God, 7 Singing God-songs at the top of my lungs, telling God-stories. 8 God, I love living with you; your house glows with your glory. 9 When it's time for spring cleaning, don't sweep me out with the quacks and crooks, 10 Men with bags of dirty tricks, women with purses stuffed with bribe-money. 11 You know I've been aboveboard with you; now be aboveboard with me. 12 I'm on the level with you, God; I bless you every chance I get.
271 Light, space, zest - that's God! So, with him on my side I'm fearless, afraid of no one and nothing. 2 When vandal hordes ride down ready to eat me alive, Those bullies and toughs fall flat on their faces. 3 When besieged, I'm calm as a baby. When all hell breaks loose, I'm collected and cool. 4 I'm asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I'll contemplate his beauty; I'll study at his feet. 5 That's the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world, The perfect getaway, far from the buzz of traffic. 6 God holds me head and shoulders above all who try to pull me down. I'm headed for his place to offer anthems that will raise the roof! Already I'm singing God-songs; I'm making music to God.
7 Listen, God, I'm calling at the top of my lungs: "Be good to me! Answer me!" 8 When my heart whispered, "Seek God," my whole being replied, "I'm seeking him!" 9 Don't hide from me now! You've always been right there for me; don't turn your back on me now. Don't throw me out, don't abandon me; you've always kept the door open. 10 My father and mother walked out and left me, but God took me in. 11 Point me down your highway, God; direct me along a well-lighted street; show my enemies whose side you're on. 12 Don't throw me to the dogs, those liars who are out to get me, filling the air with their threats. 13 I'm sure now I'll see God's goodness in the exuberant earth. 14 Stay with God! Take heart. Don't quit. I'll say it again: Stay with God.
281 Don't turn a deaf ear when I call you, God. If all I get from you is deafening silence, I'd be better off in the Black Hole. 2 I'm letting you know what I need, calling out for help And lifting my arms toward your inner sanctum. 3 Don't shove me into the same jail cell with those crooks, With those who are full-time employees of evil. 4 They talk a good line of "peace," then moonlight for the Devil. Pay them back for what they've done, for how bad they've been. Pay them back for their long hours in the Devil's workshop; Then cap it with a huge bonus. 5 Because they have no idea how God works or what he is up to, God will smash them to smithereens and walk away from the ruins.
6 Blessed be God - he heard me praying. 7 He proved he's on my side; I've thrown my lot in with him. Now I'm jumping for joy, and shouting and singing my thanks to him. 8 God is all strength for his people, ample refuge for his chosen leader; 9 Save your people and bless your heritage. Care for them; carry them like a good shepherd.
221 "My dear brothers and fathers, listen carefully to what I have to say before you jump to conclusions about me." 2 When they heard him speaking Hebrew, they grew even quieter. No one wanted to miss a word of this.
3 "I am a good Jew, born in Tarsus in the province of Cilicia, but educated here in Jerusalem under the exacting eye of Rabbi Gamaliel, thoroughly instructed in our religious traditions. And I've always been passionately on God's side, just as you are right now. 4 "I went after anyone connected with this 'Way,' went at them hammer and tongs, ready to kill for God. I rounded up men and women right and left and had them thrown in prison. 5 You can ask the Chief Priest or anyone in the High Council to verify this; they all knew me well. Then I went off to our brothers in Damascus, armed with official documents authorizing me to hunt down the Christians there, arrest them, and bring them back to Jerusalem for sentencing.
6 "As I arrived on the outskirts of Damascus about noon, a blinding light blazed out of the skies 7 and I fell to the ground, dazed. I heard a voice: 'Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?' 8 "'Who are you, Master?' I asked. 9 My companions saw the light, but they didn't hear the conversation. 10 "Then I said, 'What do I do now, Master?' 11 And so we entered Damascus, but nothing like the entrance I had planned - I was blind as a bat and my companions had to lead me in by the hand. 12 "And that's when I met Ananias, a man with a sterling reputation in observing our laws - the Jewish community in Damascus is unanimous on that score. 13 He came and put his arm on my shoulder. 'Look up,' he said. I looked, and found myself looking right into his eyes - I could see again! 14 "Then he said, 'The God of our ancestors has handpicked you to be briefed on his plan of action. You've actually seen the Righteous Innocent and heard him speak. 15 You are to be a key witness to everyone you meet of what you've seen and heard. 16 So what are you waiting for? Get up and get yourself baptized, scrubbed clean of those sins and personally acquainted with God.'
17 "Well, it happened just as Ananias said. After I was back in Jerusalem and praying one day in the Temple, lost in the presence of God, 18 I saw him, saw God's Righteous Innocent, and heard him say to me, 'Hurry up! Get out of here as quickly as you can. None of the Jews here in Jerusalem are going to accept what you say about me.' 19 "At first I objected: 'Who has better credentials? They all know how obsessed I was with hunting out those who believed in you, beating them up in the meeting places and throwing them in jail. 20 And when your witness Stephen was murdered, I was right there, holding the coats of the murderers and cheering them on. And now they see me totally converted. What better qualification could I have?' 21 "But he said, 'Don't argue. Go. I'm sending you on a long journey to outsider Gentiles.'"
22 The people in the crowd had listened attentively up to this point, but now they broke loose, shouting out, "Kill him! He's an insect! Stomp on him!" 23 They shook their fists. They filled the air with curses. 24 That's when the captain intervened and ordered Paul taken into the barracks. By now the captain was thoroughly exasperated. He decided to interrogate Paul under torture in order to get to the bottom of this, to find out what he had done that provoked this outraged violence. 25 As they spread-eagled him with thongs, getting him ready for the whip, Paul said to the centurion standing there, "Is this legal: torturing a Roman citizen without a fair trial?" 26 When the centurion heard that, he went directly to the captain. "Do you realize what you've done? This man is a Roman citizen!" 27 The captain came back and took charge. "Is what I hear right? You're a Roman citizen?" Paul said, "I certainly am." 28 The captain was impressed. "I paid a huge sum for my citizenship. How much did it cost you?" "Nothing," said Paul. "It cost me nothing. I was free from the day of my birth." 29 That put a stop to the interrogation. And it put the fear of God into the captain. He had put a Roman citizen in chains and come within a whisker of putting him under torture!
30 The next day, determined to get to the root of the trouble and know for sure what was behind the Jewish accusation, the captain released Paul and ordered a meeting of the high priests and the High Council to see what they could make of it. Paul was led in and took his place before them.
