Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 rIn you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
sin your righteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be a trock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
and ufor your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4 vyou take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 wInto your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
6 xI hate1 those who pay regard to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.
7 I will rejoice and be yglad in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have known the distress of my soul,
8 and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in a zbroad place.
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for aI am in distress;
bmy eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with csighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and dmy bones waste away.
11 Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,
especially to my neighbors,
and an object of dread to my eacquaintances;
those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 fI have been forgotten like one who is dead;
I have become glike a broken vessel.
13 For hI hear the whispering of many—
terror on every side!—
as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, O Lord;
iI say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hand;
rescue me jfrom the hand of my enemies and kfrom my persecutors!
16 lMake your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
17 O Lord, let me not be put to shame,
for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go silently to Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be mute,
which speak insolently against the righteous
in pride and contempt.
19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of the children of mankind!
20 In the mcover of your presence you hide them
from the plots of men;
you store them in your nshelter
from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,
for he has owondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was in a besieged city.
q“I am cut off from your sight.”
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
when I cried to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you his saints!
The Lord preserves the faithful
but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who rwait for the Lord!
Blessed Are the Forgiven
A sMaskil3 of David.
1 tBlessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is ucovered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord vcounts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 For when I kept silent, wmy bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up4 as by the heat of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you xforgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly
offer prayer to you yat a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
7 You are a zhiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will acounsel you bwith my eye upon you.
9 cBe not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who dtrusts in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you eupright in heart!
16 Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” 18 So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the gprisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.” 19 The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” 20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. 21 But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” 22 So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”
Paul Sent to Felix the Governor
23 Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.1 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the hgovernor.” 25 And he wrote a letter to this effect:
26 “Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings. 27 iThis man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a jRoman citizen. 28 And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. 29 I found that he was being accused about kquestions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. 30 And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a lplot against the man, I sent him to you at once, mordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”
31 So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. 33 When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. 34 On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was nfrom Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod’s praetorium.
