Praise to the Creator and Preserver

33¹ Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. ² Praise the Lord with the lyre, make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! ³ Sing to him a new song, play skilfully on the strings, with loud shouts. ⁴ For the word of the Lord is upright; and all his work is done in faithfulness. ⁵ He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. ⁶ By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth. ⁷ He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses. ⁸ Let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! ⁹ For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood forth. ¹⁰ The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nought; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. ¹¹ The counsel of the Lord stands for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! ¹³ The Lord looks down from heaven, he sees all the sons of men; ¹⁴ from where he sits enthroned he looks forth on all the inhabitants of the earth, ¹⁵ he who fashions the hearts of them all, and observes all their deeds. ¹⁶ A king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. ¹⁷ The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save. ¹⁸ Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, ¹⁹ that he may deliver their soul from death, and keep them alive in famine. ²⁰ Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield. ²¹ Yea, our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. ²² Let thy steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in thee.

Praise for Deliverance from Troubles

34¹ A Psalm of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. ² My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and be glad. ³ O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! ⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. ⁵ Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed. ⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. ⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. ⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him! ⁹ O fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want! ¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, O sons, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. ¹² What man is there who desires life, and covets many days, that he may enjoy good? ¹³ Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. ¹⁴ Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. ¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry. ¹⁶ The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. ¹⁷ When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. ¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all. ²⁰ He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. ²¹ Evil shall slay the wicked; and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. ²² The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Paul's Defense before Felix

24¹ And after five days the high priest Anani'as came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertul'lus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul; ² and when he was called, Tertul'lus began to accuse him, saying: "Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your provision, most excellent Felix, reforms are introduced on behalf of this nation, ³ in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. ⁴ But, to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. ⁵ For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. ⁶ He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him. ⁷ * [No text] ⁸ By examining him yourself you will be able to learn from him about everything of which we accuse him." ⁹ The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all this was so.

¹⁰ And when the governor had motioned to him to speak, Paul replied: "Realizing that for many years you have been judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. ¹¹ As you may ascertain, it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship at Jerusalem; ¹² and they did not find me disputing with any one or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues, or in the city. ¹³ Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me. ¹⁴ But this I admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law or written in the prophets, ¹⁵ having a hope in God which these themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. ¹⁶ So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward God and toward men. ¹⁷ Now after some years I came to bring to my nation alms and offerings. ¹⁸ As I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia-- ¹⁹ they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, if they have anything against me. ²⁰ Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council, ²¹ except this one thing which I cried out while standing among them, 'With respect to the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you this day.'"

²² But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, "When Lys'ias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case." ²³ Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but should have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs. ²⁴ After some days Felix came with his wife Drusil'la, who was a Jewess; and he sent for Paul and heard him speak upon faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ And as he argued about justice and self-control and future judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, "Go away for the present; when I have an opportunity I will summon you." ²⁶ At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. ²⁷ But when two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.