Old/New Testament
Psalm 37[a]
By David.
37 Do not fret[b] when wicked men seem to succeed.[c]
Do not envy evildoers.
2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,
and wither away like plants.[d]
3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right.
Settle in the land and maintain your integrity.[e]
4 Then you will take delight in the Lord,[f]
and he will answer your prayers.[g]
5 Commit your future to the Lord.[h]
Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf.[i]
6 He will vindicate you in broad daylight,
and publicly defend your just cause.[j]
7 Wait patiently for the Lord![k]
Wait confidently[l] for him!
Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner,[m]
a man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Do not be angry and frustrated.[n]
Do not fret. That only leads to trouble.
9 Wicked men[o] will be wiped out,[p]
but those who rely on the Lord are the ones who will possess the land.[q]
10 Evil men will soon disappear;[r]
you will stare at the spot where they once were, but they will be gone.[s]
11 But the oppressed will possess the land
and enjoy great prosperity.[t]
12 Evil men plot against the godly[u]
and viciously attack them.[v]
13 The Lord laughs in disgust[w] at them,
for he knows that their day is coming.[x]
14 Evil men draw their swords
and prepare their bows,
to bring down[y] the oppressed and needy,
and to slaughter those who are godly.[z]
15 Their swords will pierce[aa] their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 The little bit that a godly man owns is better than
the wealth of many evil men,[ab]
17 for evil men will lose their power,[ac]
but the Lord sustains[ad] the godly.
18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day,[ae]
and they possess a permanent inheritance.[af]
19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come;[ag]
when famine comes they will have enough to eat.[ah]
20 But[ai] evil men will die;
the Lord’s enemies will be incinerated[aj]—
they will go up in smoke.[ak]
21 Evil men borrow, but do not repay their debt,
but the godly show compassion and are generous.[al]
22 Surely[am] those favored by the Lord[an] will possess the land,
but those rejected[ao] by him will be wiped out.[ap]
23 The Lord grants success to the one
whose behavior he finds commendable.[aq]
24 Even if[ar] he trips, he will not fall headlong,[as]
for the Lord holds[at] his hand.
25 I was once young, now I am old.
I have never seen the godly abandoned,
or their children[au] forced to search for food.[av]
26 All day long they show compassion and lend to others,[aw]
and their children[ax] are blessed.
27 Turn away from evil. Do what is right.[ay]
Then you will enjoy lasting security.[az]
28 For the Lord promotes[ba] justice,
and never abandons[bb] his faithful followers.
They are permanently secure,[bc]
but the children[bd] of the wicked are wiped out.[be]
29 The godly will possess the land
and will dwell in it permanently.
30 The godly speak wise words
and promote justice.[bf]
31 The law of their God controls their thinking;[bg]
their[bh] feet do not slip.
32 The wicked set an ambush for the godly
and try to kill them.[bi]
33 But the Lord does not surrender the godly,
or allow them to be condemned in a court of law.[bj]
34 Rely[bk] on the Lord. Obey his commands.[bl]
Then he will permit you[bm] to possess the land;
you will see the demise of the wicked.[bn]
35 I have seen ruthless, wicked people[bo]
growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil.[bp]
36 But then one passes by, and suddenly they have disappeared.[bq]
I looked for them, but they could not be found.
37 Take note of the one who has integrity. Observe the upright.
For the one who promotes peace has a future.[br]
38 Sinful rebels are totally destroyed;[bs]
the wicked have no future.[bt]
39 But the Lord delivers the godly;[bu]
he protects them in times of trouble.[bv]
40 The Lord helps them and rescues them;
he rescues them from the wicked and delivers them,[bw]
for they seek his protection.
Psalm 38[bx]
A psalm of David, written to get God’s attention.[by]
38 O Lord, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger.
Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury.[bz]
2 For your arrows pierce[ca] me,
and your hand presses me down.[cb]
3 My whole body is sick because of your judgment;[cc]
I am deprived of health because of my sin.[cd]
4 For my sins overwhelm me;[ce]
like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.
5 My wounds[cf] are infected and starting to smell,[cg]
because of my foolish sins.[ch]
6 I am dazed[ci] and completely humiliated;[cj]
all day long I walk around mourning.
7 For I am overcome with shame,[ck]
and my whole body is sick.[cl]
8 I am numb with pain and severely battered;[cm]
I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel.[cn]
9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire;[co]
my groaning is not hidden from you.
10 My heart beats quickly;
my strength leaves me.
I can hardly see.[cp]
11 Because of my condition,[cq] even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance;[cr]
my neighbors stand far away.[cs]
12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me;[ct]
those who want to harm me speak destructive words.
All day long they say deceitful things.
13 But I am like a deaf man—I hear nothing;
I am like a mute who cannot speak.[cu]
14 I am like a man who cannot hear
and is incapable of arguing his defense.[cv]
15 Yet[cw] I wait for you, O Lord!
You will respond, O Lord, my God!
16 I have prayed for deliverance, because otherwise they will gloat over me;[cx]
when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me.[cy]
17 For I am about to stumble,
and I am in constant pain.[cz]
18 Yes,[da] I confess my wrongdoing,
and I am concerned about my sins.
19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous;[db]
those who hate me without cause outnumber me.[dc]
20 They repay me evil for the good I have done;
though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me.[dd]
21 Do not abandon me, O Lord.
My God, do not remain far away from me.
22 Hurry and help me,[de] O Lord, my deliverer.
Psalm 39[df]
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.
39 I decided,[dg] “I will watch what I say
and make sure I do not sin with my tongue.[dh]
I will put a muzzle over my mouth
while in the presence of an evil person.”[di]
2 I was stone silent;[dj]
I held back the urge to speak.[dk]
My frustration grew;[dl]
3 my anxiety intensified.[dm]
As I thought about it, I became impatient.[dn]
Finally I spoke these words:[do]
4 “O Lord, help me understand my mortality
and the brevity of life.[dp]
Let me realize how quickly my life will pass.[dq]
5 Look, you make my days short-lived,[dr]
and my life span is nothing from your perspective.[ds]
Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor.[dt] (Selah)
6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts.[du]
Surely they accumulate worthless wealth
without knowing who will eventually haul it away.”[dv]
7 But now, O Lord, upon what am I relying?
You are my only hope![dw]
8 Deliver me from all my sins of rebellion.
Do not make me the object of fools’ insults.
9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth
because of what you have done.[dx]
10 Please stop wounding me.[dy]
You have almost beaten me to death.[dz]
11 You severely discipline people for their sins;[ea]
like a moth you slowly devour their strength.[eb]
Surely all people are a mere vapor. (Selah)
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord.
Listen to my cry for help.
Do not ignore my sobbing.[ec]
For I am a resident foreigner with you,
a temporary settler,[ed] just as all my ancestors were.
13 Turn your angry gaze away from me, so I can be happy
before I pass away.[ee]
Paul Offers His Defense
26 So Agrippa[a] said to Paul, “You have permission[b] to speak for yourself.” Then Paul held out his hand[c] and began his defense:[d]
2 “Regarding all the things I have been accused of by the Jews, King Agrippa,[e] I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today, 3 because you are especially[f] familiar with all the customs and controversial issues[g] of the Jews. Therefore I ask[h] you to listen to me patiently. 4 Now all the Jews know the way I lived[i] from my youth, spending my life from the beginning among my own people[j] and in Jerusalem. 5 They know,[k] because they have known[l] me from time past,[m] if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party[n] of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.[o] 6 And now I stand here on trial[p] because of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors,[q] 7 a promise[r] that our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve God[s] night and day. Concerning this hope the Jews are accusing me,[t] Your Majesty![u] 8 Why do you people[v] think[w] it is unbelievable[x] that[y] God raises the dead? 9 Of course,[z] I myself was convinced[aa] that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene. 10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received[ab] from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote[ac] against them when they were sentenced to death.[ad] 11 I punished[ae] them often in all the synagogues[af] and tried to force[ag] them to blaspheme. Because I was so furiously enraged[ah] at them, I went to persecute[ai] them even in foreign cities.
12 “While doing this very thing,[aj] as I was going[ak] to Damascus with authority and complete power[al] from the chief priests, 13 about noon along the road, Your Majesty,[am] I saw a light from heaven,[an] brighter than the sun, shining everywhere around[ao] me and those traveling with me. 14 When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,[ap] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself[aq] by kicking against the goads.’[ar] 15 So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord replied,[as] ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance[at] as a servant and witness[au] to the things[av] you have seen[aw] and to the things in which I will appear to you. 17 I will rescue[ax] you from your own people[ay] and from the Gentiles, to whom[az] I am sending you 18 to open their eyes so that they turn[ba] from darkness to light and from the power[bb] of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share[bc] among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
19 “Therefore, King Agrippa,[bd] I was not disobedient[be] to the heavenly[bf] vision, 20 but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea,[bg] and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God,[bh] performing deeds consistent with[bi] repentance. 21 For this reason the Jews, after they seized me while I was in the temple courts,[bj] were trying to kill me. 22 I have experienced[bk] help from God to this day, and so I stand testifying to both small and great, saying nothing except[bl] what the prophets and Moses said[bm] was going to happen: 23 that[bn] the Christ[bo] was to suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, to proclaim light both to our people[bp] and to the Gentiles.”[bq]
24 As Paul[br] was saying these things in his defense, Festus[bs] exclaimed loudly, “You have lost your mind,[bt] Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane!” 25 But Paul replied,[bu] “I have not lost my mind, most excellent Festus,[bv] but am speaking[bw] true and rational[bx] words. 26 For the king knows about these things, and I am speaking freely[by] to him,[bz] because I cannot believe[ca] that any of these things has escaped his notice,[cb] for this was not done in a corner.[cc] 27 Do you believe the prophets,[cd] King Agrippa?[ce] I know that you believe.” 28 Agrippa[cf] said to Paul, “In such a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?”[cg] 29 Paul replied, “I pray to God that whether in a short or a long time[ch] not only you but also all those who are listening to me today could become such as I am, except for these chains.”[ci]
30 So the king got up, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them, 31 and as they were leaving they said to one another,[cj] “This man is not doing anything deserving[ck] death or imprisonment.” 32 Agrippa[cl] said to Festus,[cm] “This man could have been released[cn] if he had not appealed to Caesar.”[co]
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