Psalms 68–69; Acts 24

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Psalms 68–69

God Shall Scatter His Enemies

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

eGod shall arise, his enemies shall be fscattered;

and those who hate him shall flee before him!

As gsmoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;

has wax melts before fire,

so the wicked shall perish before God!

But ithe righteous shall be glad;

they shall exult before God;

they shall be jubilant with joy!

Sing to God, jsing praises to his name;

klift up a song to him who lrides through mthe deserts;

his name is nthe Lord;

exult before him!

oFather of the fatherless and pprotector of widows

is God in his holy habitation.

God qsettles the solitary in a home;

he rleads out the prisoners to prosperity,

but sthe rebellious dwell in ta parched land.

O God, when you uwent out before your people,

vwhen you marched through wthe wilderness, Selah

xthe earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,

before God, the One of Sinai,

before God,1 the God of Israel.

yRain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;

you restored your inheritance as it languished;

10  your flock2 found a dwelling in it;

in your goodness, O God, you zprovided for the needy.

11  The Lord gives athe word;

bthe women who announce the news are a great host:

12  cThe kings of the armiesthey flee, they flee!

The women at home ddivide the spoil

13  though you men lie among ethe sheepfolds

the wings of a dove covered with silver,

its pinions with shimmering gold.

14  When the Almighty scatters kings there,

let snow fall on fZalmon.

15  O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;

O many-peaked3 mountain, mountain of Bashan!

16  Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,

at the mount that God gdesired for his abode,

yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?

17  hThe chariots of God are twice ten thousand,

thousands upon thousands;

the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.

18  iYou ascended on high,

jleading a host of captives in your train

and kreceiving gifts among men,

even among lthe rebellious, mthat the Lord God may dwell there.

19  Blessed be the Lord,

who daily nbears us up;

God is our salvation. Selah

20  Our God is a God of salvation,

oand to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.

21  pBut God will strike the heads of his enemies,

the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.

22  The Lord said,

I will bring them back qfrom Bashan,

rI will bring them back from the depths of the sea,

23  that you may sstrike your feet in their blood,

that tthe tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.

24  Your procession is4 seen, O God,

the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary

25  uthe singers in front, vthe musicians last,

between them wvirgins playing tambourines:

26  xBless God in the great congregation,

the Lord, O you5 who are of yIsrael’s fountain!

27  There is zBenjamin, the least of them, in the lead,

the princes of Judah in their throng,

the princes of aZebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

28  bSummon your power, O God,6

the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.

29  Because of your temple at Jerusalem

kings shall cbear gifts to you.

30  Rebuke dthe beasts that dwell among the reeds,

the herd of ebulls with the calves of the peoples.

fTrample underfoot those who lust after tribute;

scatter the peoples who delight in war.7

31  Nobles shall come from gEgypt;

hCush shall hasten to istretch out her hands to God.

32  jO kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;

sing praises to the Lord, Selah

33  to him kwho rides in lthe heavens, the ancient heavens;

behold, he msends out his voice, his mighty voice.

34  nAscribe power to God,

whose majesty is over Israel,

and whose opower is in pthe skies.

35  qAwesome is God from his8 rsanctuary;

the God of Israelhe is the one who gives spower and strength to his people.

Blessed be God!

Save Me, O God

To the choirmaster: according to tLilies. Of David.

Save me, O God!

For uthe waters have come up to my neck.9

I sink in deep vmire,

where there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters,

and the flood wsweeps over me.

xI am weary with my crying out;

ymy throat is parched.

zMy eyes grow dim

with awaiting for my God.

bMore in number than the hairs of my head

are cthose who hate me dwithout cause;

mighty are those who would destroy me,

ethose who attack me with lies.

What I did not steal

must I now restore?

O God, you know my folly;

the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

Let not those who hope in you fbe put to shame through me,

O Lord God of hosts;

let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,

O God of Israel.

For it is gfor your sake that I have borne reproach,

that dishonor has covered my face.

I have become ha stranger to my brothers,

an alien to my mother’s sons.

For izeal for your house has consumed me,

and jthe reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

10  When I wept and humbled10 my soul with fasting,

it became my reproach.

11  When I made ksackcloth my clothing,

I became la byword to them.

12  I am the talk of those who msit in the gate,

and the drunkards make nsongs about me.

13  But as for me, my oprayer is to you, O Lord.

At pan acceptable time, O God,

in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

14  Deliver me

from sinking in qthe mire;

rlet me be delivered from my enemies

and from sthe deep waters.

15  Let not the flood sweep over me,

or the deep swallow me up,

or tthe pit close uits mouth over me.

16  Answer me, O Lord, for your vsteadfast love is good;

according to your abundant wmercy, xturn to me.

17  yHide not your face from your servant,

zfor I am in distress; amake haste to answer me.

18  Draw near to my soul, redeem me;

ransom me because of my enemies!

19  You know my breproach,

and my shame and my dishonor;

my foes are all known to you.

20  bReproaches have broken my heart,

so that I am in cdespair.

I dlooked for epity, but there was none,

and for fcomforters, but I found none.

21  They gave me gpoison for food,

and for my thirst they gave me hsour wine to drink.

22  iLet their own jtable before them become a snare;

kand when they are at peace, let it become a trap.11

23  lLet their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,

mand make their loins tremble continually.

24  Pour out your indignation upon them,

and let your burning anger overtake them.

25  nMay their camp be a desolation;

let no one dwell in their tents.

26  For they opersecute him whom pyou have struck down,

and they recount the pain of qthose you have wounded.

27  rAdd to them punishment upon punishment;

may they have no acquittal from you.12

28  Let them be sblotted out of the book of the living;

let them not be tenrolled among the righteous.

29  But I am afflicted and in pain;

let your salvation, O God, uset me on high!

30  I will vpraise the name of God with a song;

I will wmagnify him with xthanksgiving.

31  This will yplease the Lord more than an ox

or a bull zwith horns and hoofs.

32  When athe humble see it they will be glad;

you who seek God, alet your hearts revive.

33  For the Lord hears the needy

and bdoes not despise his own people who are prisoners.

34  Let cheaven and earth praise him,

the seas and everything that moves in them.

35  For dGod will save Zion

and build up the cities of Judah,

and people shall dwell there and possess it;

36  ethe offspring of his servants shall inherit it,

and those who love his name shall dwell in it.


Acts 24

Paul Before Felix at Caesarea

And safter five days the high priest tAnanias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before uthe governor their case against Paul. And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying:

Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, vmost excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. But, to detain1 you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. For we have found this man a plague, wone who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of xthe sect of the Nazarenes. yHe even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.2 By examining him yourself you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.

The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.

10 And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied:

Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. 11 You can verify that zit is not more than twelve days since I awent up bto worship in Jerusalem, 12 and cthey did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city. 13 dNeither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me. 14 But this I confess to you, that according to ethe Way, which they call fa sect, gI worship hthe God of our fathers, believing everything ilaid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, 15 jhaving ka hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be la resurrection mof both the just and the unjust. 16 So I always ntake pains to have a oclear conscience toward both God and man. 17 Now pafter several years qI came to bring alms to rmy nation and to present sofferings. 18 While I was doing this, they found me tpurified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But usome Jews from Asia 19 vthey ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, should they have anything against me. 20 Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council, 21 other than this one thing wthat I cried out while standing among them: It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.

Paul Kept in Custody

22 But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of xthe Way, put them off, saying, When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case. 23 Then he gave orders to the centurion that he yshould be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that znone of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.

24 After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about afaith bin Christ Jesus. 25 And as he reasoned cabout righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, Go away for the present. dWhen I get an opportunity I will summon you. 26 At the same time he hoped ethat money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. 27 When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius fFestus. And gdesiring to do the Jews a favor, hFelix left Paul in prison.