371 A Psalm of David. Fret not yourself because of the wicked, be not envious of wrongdoers! 2 For they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb. 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security. 4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. 6 He will bring forth your vindication as the light, and your right as the noonday.
7 Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! 8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 9 For the wicked shall be cut off; but those who wait for the Lord shall possess the land. 10 Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look well at his place, he will not be there. 11 But the meek shall possess the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity. 12 The wicked plots against the righteous, and gnashes his teeth at him; 13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. 14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows, to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those who walk uprightly; 15 their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. 16 Better is a little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken; but the Lord upholds the righteous. 18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will abide for ever; 19 they are not put to shame in evil times, in the days of famine they have abundance. 20 But the wicked perish; the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures, they vanish--like smoke they vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows, and cannot pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives; 22 for those blessed by the Lord shall possess the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off. 23 The steps of a man are from the Lord, and he establishes him in whose way he delights; 24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord is the stay of his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread. 26 He is ever giving liberally and lending, and his children become a blessing. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; so shall you abide for ever. 28 For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. The righteous shall be preserved for ever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall possess the land, and dwell upon it for ever. 30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. 31 The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip. 32 The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him. 33 The Lord will not abandon him to his power, or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.
34 Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to possess the land; you will look on the destruction of the wicked. 35 I have seen a wicked man overbearing, and towering like a cedar of Lebanon. 36 Again I passed by, and, lo, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found. 37 Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright, for there is posterity for the man of peace. 38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their refuge in the time of trouble. 40 The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in him.
381 A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy anger, nor chasten me in thy wrath! 2 For thy arrows have sunk into me, and thy hand has come down on me. 3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thy indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. 4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; they weigh like a burden too heavy for me. 5 My wounds grow foul and fester because of my foolishness, 6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning. 7 For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. 8 I am utterly spent and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart. 9 Lord, all my longing is known to thee, my sighing is not hidden from thee. 10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me; and the light of my eyes--it also has gone from me. 11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my kinsmen stand afar off.
12 Those who seek my life lay their snares, those who seek my hurt speak of ruin, and meditate treachery all the day long. 13 But I am like a deaf man, I do not hear, like a dumb man who does not open his mouth. 14 Yea, I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes. 15 But for thee, O Lord, do I wait; it is thou, O Lord my God, who wilt answer. 16 For I pray, "Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!" 17 For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me. 18 I confess my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin. 19 Those who are my foes without cause are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. 20 Those who render me evil for good are my adversaries because I follow after good. 21 Do not forsake me, O Lord! O my God, be not far from me! 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!
391 To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, "I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will bridle my mouth, so long as the wicked are in my presence." 2 I was dumb and silent, I held my peace to no avail; my distress grew worse, 3 my heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: 4 "Lord, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is! 5 Behold, thou hast made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in thy sight. Surely every man stands as a mere breath! [Selah] 6 Surely man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nought are they in turmoil; man heaps up, and knows not who will gather!
7 "And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in thee. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions. Make me not the scorn of the fool! 9 I am dumb, I do not open my mouth; for it is thou who hast done it. 10 Remove thy stroke from me; I am spent by the blows of thy hand. 11 When thou dost chasten man with rebukes for sin, thou dost consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely every man is a mere breath! [Selah] 12 "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears! For I am thy passing guest, a sojourner, like all my fathers. 13 Look away from me, that I may know gladness, before I depart and be no more!"
261 Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: 2 "I think myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 because you are especially familiar with all customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. 4 "My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here on trial for hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, 7 to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! 8 Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? 9 "I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem; I not only shut up many of the saints in prison, by authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme; and in raging fury against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
12 "Thus 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, brighter than the sun, shining round me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.' 15 And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles--to whom I send you 18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
19 "Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and perform deeds worthy of their repentance. 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles."
24 And as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are mad; your great learning is turning you mad." 25 But Paul said, "I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth. 26 For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak freely; for I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe." 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time you think to make me a Christian!" 29 And Paul said, "Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am--except for these chains." 30 Then the king rose, and the governor and Berni'ce and those who were sitting with them; 31 and when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, "This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment." 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."
