Old/New Testament
Psalm 26[a]
By David.
26 Vindicate me, O Lord,
for I have integrity,[b]
and I trust in the Lord without wavering.
2 Examine me, O Lord, and test me.
Evaluate my inner thoughts and motives.[c]
3 For I am ever aware of your faithfulness,[d]
and your loyalty continually motivates me.[e]
4 I do not associate[f] with deceitful men,
or consort[g] with those who are dishonest.[h]
5 I hate the mob[i] of evil men,
and do not associate[j] with the wicked.
6 I maintain a pure lifestyle,[k]
so I can appear before your altar,[l] O Lord,
7 to give you thanks,[m]
and to tell about all your amazing deeds.[n]
8 O Lord, I love the temple where you live,[o]
the place where your splendor is revealed.[p]
9 Do not sweep me away[q] with sinners,
or execute me along with violent people,[r]
10 who are always ready to do wrong[s]
or offer a bribe.[t]
11 But I have integrity.[u]
Rescue me[v] and have mercy on me!
12 I am safe,[w]
and among the worshipers I will praise the Lord.
Psalm 27[x]
By David.
27 The Lord is my light[y] and my salvation.
I fear no one.[z]
The Lord protects my life.
I am afraid of no one.[aa]
2 When evil men attack me[ab]
to devour my flesh,[ac]
when my adversaries and enemies attack me,[ad]
they stumble and fall.[ae]
3 Even when an army is deployed against me,
I do not fear.[af]
Even when war is imminent,[ag]
I remain confident.[ah]
4 I have asked the Lord for one thing—
this is what I desire!
I want to live[ai] in the Lord’s house[aj] all the days of my life,
so I can gaze at the splendor[ak] of the Lord
and contemplate in his temple.
5 He will surely[al] give me shelter[am] in the day of danger;[an]
he will hide me in his home.[ao]
He will place me[ap] on an inaccessible rocky summit.[aq]
6 Now I will triumph
over my enemies who surround me.[ar]
I will offer sacrifices in his dwelling place and shout for joy.[as]
I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 Hear me,[at] O Lord, when I cry out.
Have mercy on me and answer me.
8 My heart tells me to pray to you,[au]
and I do pray to you, O Lord.[av]
9 Do not reject me.[aw]
Do not push your servant away in anger.
You are my deliverer.[ax]
Do not forsake or abandon me,
O God who vindicates me.
10 Even if my father and mother abandoned me,[ay]
the Lord would take me in.[az]
11 Teach me how you want me to live,[ba] Lord;
lead me along a level path[bb] because of those who wait to ambush me.[bc]
12 Do not turn me over to my enemies,[bd]
for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me.[be]
13 Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience
the Lord’s favor in the land of the living?[bf]
14 Rely[bg] on the Lord!
Be strong and confident![bh]
Rely on the Lord!
Psalm 28[bi]
By David.
28 To you, O Lord, I cry out!
My Protector,[bj] do not ignore me.[bk]
If you do not respond to me,[bl]
I will join[bm] those who are descending into the grave.[bn]
2 Hear my plea for mercy when I cry out to you for help,
when I lift my hands[bo] toward your holy temple.[bp]
3 Do not drag me away with evil men,
with those who behave wickedly,[bq]
who talk so friendly to their neighbors,[br]
while they plan to harm them.[bs]
4 Pay them back for their evil deeds.
Pay them back for what they do.
Punish them.[bt]
5 For they do not understand the Lord’s actions,
or the way he carries out justice.[bu]
The Lord[bv] will permanently demolish them.[bw]
6 The Lord deserves praise,[bx]
for he has heard my plea for mercy.[by]
7 The Lord strengthens and protects me;[bz]
I trust in him with all my heart.[ca]
I am rescued[cb] and my heart is full of joy;[cc]
I will sing to him in gratitude.[cd]
8 The Lord strengthens his people;[ce]
he protects and delivers his chosen king.[cf]
9 Deliver your people.
Empower[cg] the nation that belongs to you.[ch]
Care for them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms[ci] at all times![cj]
Paul’s Defense
22 “Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense[a] that I now[b] make to you.” 2 (When they heard[c] that he was addressing[d] them in Aramaic,[e] they became even[f] quieter.)[g] Then[h] Paul said, 3 “I am a Jew,[i] born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up[j] in this city, educated with strictness[k] under[l] Gamaliel[m] according to the law of our ancestors,[n] and was[o] zealous[p] for God just as all of you are today. 4 I[q] persecuted this Way[r] even to the point of death,[s] tying up[t] both men and women and putting[u] them in prison, 5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders[v] can testify about me. From them[w] I also received[x] letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way[y] to make arrests there and bring[z] the prisoners[aa] to Jerusalem[ab] to be punished. 6 As[ac] I was en route and near Damascus,[ad] about noon a very bright[ae] light from heaven[af] suddenly flashed[ag] around me. 7 Then I[ah] fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand[ai] the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 So I asked,[aj] ‘What should I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up[ak] and go to Damascus; there you will be told about everything[al] that you have been designated[am] to do.’ 11 Since I could not see because of[an] the brilliance[ao] of that light, I came to Damascus led by the hand of[ap] those who were with me. 12 A man named Ananias,[aq] a devout man according to the law,[ar] well spoken of by all the Jews who live there,[as] 13 came[at] to me and stood beside me[au] and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’[av] And at that very moment[aw] I looked up and saw him.[ax] 14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors[ay] has already chosen[az] you to know his will, to see[ba] the Righteous One,[bb] and to hear a command[bc] from his mouth, 15 because you will be his witness[bd] to all people[be] of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for?[bf] Get up,[bg] be baptized, and have your sins washed away,[bh] calling on his name.’[bi] 17 When[bj] I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance[bk] 18 and saw the Lord[bl] saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 I replied,[bm] ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues[bn] who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of your witness[bo] Stephen was shed,[bp] I myself was standing nearby, approving,[bq] and guarding the cloaks[br] of those who were killing him.’[bs] 21 Then[bt] he said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
The Roman Commander Questions Paul
22 The crowd[bu] was listening to him until he said this.[bv] Then[bw] they raised their voices and shouted,[bx] “Away with this man[by] from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live!”[bz] 23 While they were screaming[ca] and throwing off their cloaks[cb] and tossing dust[cc] in the air, 24 the commanding officer[cd] ordered Paul[ce] to be brought back into the barracks.[cf] He told them[cg] to interrogate Paul[ch] by beating him with a lash[ci] so that he could find out the reason the crowd[cj] was shouting at Paul[ck] in this way. 25 When they had stretched him out for the lash,[cl] Paul said to the centurion[cm] standing nearby, “Is it legal for you to lash a man who is a Roman citizen[cn] without a proper trial?”[co] 26 When the centurion[cp] heard this,[cq] he went to the commanding officer[cr] and reported it,[cs] saying, “What are you about to do?[ct] For this man is a Roman citizen.”[cu] 27 So the commanding officer[cv] came and asked[cw] Paul,[cx] “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”[cy] He replied,[cz] “Yes.” 28 The commanding officer[da] answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.”[db] “But I was even[dc] born a citizen,”[dd] Paul replied.[de] 29 Then those who were about to interrogate him stayed away[df] from him, and the commanding officer[dg] was frightened when he realized that Paul[dh] was[di] a Roman citizen[dj] and that he had had him tied up.[dk]
Paul Before the Sanhedrin
30 The next day, because the commanding officer[dl] wanted to know the true reason[dm] Paul[dn] was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole council[do] to assemble. He then brought[dp] Paul down and had him stand before them.
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