Psalms 33–34; Acts 24

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Psalms 33–34

The Steadfast Love of the Lord

hShout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!

iPraise befits the upright.

Give thanks to the Lord with the jlyre;

make melody to him with jthe harp of kten strings!

Sing to him la new song;

play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

For the word of the Lord is upright,

and all his work is done in mfaithfulness.

He nloves righteousness and justice;

othe earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

By pthe word of the Lord the heavens were made,

and by qthe breath of his mouth all rtheir host.

He gathers the waters of the sea as sa heap;

he tputs the deeps in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord;

let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!

For uhe spoke, and it came to be;

he commanded, and it stood firm.

10  The Lord vbrings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

11  wThe counsel of the Lord stands forever,

the plans of his heart to all generations.

12  xBlessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people whom he has ychosen as his heritage!

13  The Lord zlooks down from heaven;

he sees all the children of man;

14  from awhere he sits enthroned he blooks out

on all the inhabitants of the earth,

15  he who fashions the hearts of them all

and observes all their deeds.

16  cThe king is not saved by his great army;

a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

17  dThe war horse is a false hope for salvation,

and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18  Behold, ethe eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,

fon those who hope in his steadfast love,

19  that he may gdeliver their soul from death

and keep them alive in hfamine.

20  Our soul iwaits for the Lord;

he is our jhelp and kour shield.

21  For our heart is lglad in him,

because we mtrust in his holy name.

22  Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,

even as we hope in you.

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

1 Of David, when he nchanged his behavior before oAbimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

I will bless the Lord pat all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul qmakes its boast in the Lord;

let the humble hear and rbe glad.

Oh, smagnify the Lord with me,

and let us exalt his name together!

I tsought the Lord, and he answered me

and delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are uradiant,

and their faces shall never be ashamed.

vThis poor man cried, and the Lord heard him

and wsaved him out of all his troubles.

xThe angel of the Lord yencamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Oh, ztaste and see that athe Lord is good!

bBlessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,

for those who fear him have no lack!

10  cThe young lions suffer want and hunger;

but those who dseek the Lord lack no good thing.

11  eCome, O children, listen to me;

fI will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12  gWhat man is there who desires life

and loves many days, that he may hsee good?

13  iKeep your tongue from evil

and your lips from jspeaking deceit.

14  kTurn away from evil and do good;

seek peace and lpursue it.

15  mThe eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous

nand his ears toward their cry.

16  oThe face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

to pcut off the memory of them from the earth.

17  nWhen the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

18  The Lord is near to qthe brokenhearted

and saves rthe crushed in spirit.

19  sMany are the afflictions of the righteous,

tbut the Lord delivers him out of them all.

20  He keeps all his bones;

unot one of them is broken.

21  vAffliction will slay the wicked,

and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

22  The Lord wredeems the life of his servants;

none of those who take refuge in him will be xcondemned.


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.