Psalm 37; Psalm 38; Psalm 39; Acts 26 (Douay-Rheims)

1 (36-1) Be not emulous of evildoers; nor envy them that work iniquity. 2 (36-2) For they shall shortly wither away as grass, and as the green herbs shall quickly fall. 3 (36-3) Trust in the Lord, and do good, and dwell in the land, and thou shalt be fed with its riches. 4 (36-4) Delight in the Lord, and he will give thee the requests of thy heart. 5 (36-5) Commit thy way to the Lord, and trust in him, and he will do it. 6 (36-6) And he will bring forth thy justice as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. 7 (36-7) Be subject to the Lord and pray to him. Envy not the man who prospereth in his way; the man who doth unjust things. 8 (36-8) Cease from anger, and leave rage; have no emulation to do evil. 9 (36-9) For evildoers shall be cut off: but they that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the land. 10 (36-10) For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: and thou shalt seek his place, and shalt not find it. 11 (36-11) But the meek shall inherit the land, and shall delight in abundance of peace. 12 (36-12) The sinner shall watch the just man: and shall gnash upon him with his teeth. 13 (36-13) But the Lord shall laugh at him: for he foreseeth that his day shall come. 14 (36-14) The wicked have drawn out the sword: they have bent their bow. To cast down the poor and needy, to kill the upright of heart. 15 (36-15) Let their sword enter into their own hearts, and let their bow be broken. 16 (36-16) Better is a little to the just, than the great riches of the wicked. 17 (36-17) For the arms of the wicked shall be broken in pieces; but the Lord strengtheneth the just. 18 (36-18) The Lord knoweth the days of the undefiled; and their inheritance shall be for ever. 19 (36-19) They shall not be confounded in the evil time; and in the days of famine they shall be filled: 20 (36-20) Because the wicked shall perish. And the enemies of the Lord, presently after they shall be honoured and exalted, shall come to nothing and vanish like smoke. 21 (36-21) The sinner shall borrow, and not pay again; but the just sheweth mercy and shall give. 22 (36-22) For such as bless him shall inherit the land: but such as curse him shall perish. 23 (36-23) With the Lord shall the steps of a man be directed, and he shall like well his way. 24 (36-24) When he shall fall he shall not be bruised, for the Lord putteth his hand under him. 25 (36-25) I have been young and now am old; and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread. 26 (36-26) He sheweth mercy, and lendeth all the day long; and his seed shall be in blessing. 27 (36-27) Decline from evil and do good, and dwell for ever and ever. 28 (36-28) For the Lord loveth judgment, and will not forsake his saints: they shall be preserved for ever. The unjust shall be punished, and the seed of the wicked shall perish. 29 (36-29) But the just shall inherit the land, and shall dwell therein for evermore. 30 (36-30) The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom: and his tongue shall speak judgment. 31 (36-31) The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be supplanted. 32 (36-32) The wicked watcheth the just man, and seeketh to put him to death, 33 (36-33) But the Lord will not leave him in his hands; nor condemn him when he shall be judged. 34 (36-34) Expect the Lord and keep his way: and he will exalt thee to inherit the land: when the sinners shall perish thou shalt see. 35 (36-35) I have seen the wicked highly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Libanus. 36 (36-36) And I passed by, and lo, he was not: and I sought him and his place was not found. 37 (36-37) Keep innocence, and behold justice: for there are remnants for the peaceable man. 38 (36-38) But the unjust shall be destroyed to gether: the remnants of the wicked shall perish. 39 (36-39) But the salvation of the just is from the Lord, and he is their protector in the time of trouble. 40 (36-40) And the Lord will help them and deliver them: and he will rescue them from the wicked, and save them because they have hoped in him. 1 (37-1) <A psalm for David, for a remembrance of the sabbath.> (37-2) Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; nor chastise me in thy wrath. 2 (37-3) For thy arrows are fastened in me: and thy hand hath been strong upon me. 3 (37-4) There is no health in my flesh, because of thy wrath: there is no peace for my bones, because of my sins. 4 (37-5) For my iniquities are gone over my head: and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me. 5 (37-6) My sores are putrefied and corrupted, because of my foolishness. 6 (37-7) I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end: I walked sorrowful all the day long. 7 (37-8) For my loins are filled with illusions; and there is no health in my flesh. 8 (37-9) I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly: I roared with the groaning of my heart. 9 (37-10) Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hidden from thee. 10 (37-11) My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, and the light of my eyes itself is not with me. 11 (37-12) My friends and my neighbours have drawn near, and stood against me. And they that were near me stood afar off: 12 (37-13) And they that sought my soul used violence. And they that sought evils to me spoke vain things, and studied deceits all the day long. 13 (37-14) But I, as a deaf man, heard not: and as a dumb man not opening his mouth. 14 (37-15) And I became as a man that heareth not: and that hath no reproofs in his mouth. 15 (37-16) For in thee, O Lord, have I hoped: thou wilt hear me, O Lord my God. 16 (37-17) For I said: Lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me: and whilst my feet are moved, they speak great things against me. 17 (37-18) For I am ready for scourges: and my sorrow is continually before me. 18 (37-19) For I will declare my iniquity: and I will think of my sin. 19 (37-20) But my enemies live, and are stronger than I: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. 20 (37-21) They that render evil for good, have detracted me, because I followed goodness. 21 (37-22) For sake me not, O Lord my God: do not thou depart from me. 22 (37-23) Attend unto my help, O Lord, the God of my salvation. 1 (38-1) <Unto the end, for Idithun himself, a canticle of David.> (38-2) I said: I will take heed to my ways: that I sin not with my tongue. I have set a guard to my mouth, when the sinner stood against me. 2 (38-3) I was dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence from good things: and my sorrow was renewed. 3 (38-4) My heart grew hot within me: and in my meditation a fire shall flame out. 4 (38-5) I spoke with my tongue: O Lord, make me know my end. And what is the number of my days: that I may know what is wanting to me. 5 (38-6) Behold thou hast made my days measurable. and my substance is as nothing before thee. And indeed all things are vanity: every man living. 6 (38-7) Surely man passeth as an image: yea, and he is disquieted in vain. He storeth up: and he knoweth not for whom he shall gather these things. 7 (38-8) And now what is my hope? is it not the Lord? and my substance is with thee. 8 (38-9) Deliver thou me from all my iniquities: thou hast made me a reproach to the fool. 9 (38-10) I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, because thou hast done it. 10 (38-11) Remove thy scourges from me. The strength of thy hand hath made me faint in rebukes: 11 (38-12) Thou hast corrected man for iniquity. And thou hast made his soul to waste away like a spider: surely in vain is any man disquieted. 12 (38-13) Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my supplication: give ear to my tears. Be no silent: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner as all my fathers were. 13 (38-14) O forgive me, that I may be refreshed, before I go hence, and be no more. 1 Then Agrippa said to Paul: Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul, stretching forth his hand, began to make his answer. 2 I think myself happy, O king Agrippa, that I am to answer for myself this day before thee, touching all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews. 3 Especially as thou knowest all, both customs and questions, that are among the Jews. Wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. 4 And my life indeed from my youth, which was from the beginning among my own nation in Jerusalem, all the Jews do know: 5 Having known me from the beginning (if they will give testimony) that according to the most sure sect of our religion I lived, a Pharisee. 6 And now for the hope of the promise that was made by God to the fathers, do I stand subject to judgment: 7 Unto which, our twelve tribes, serving night and day, hope to come. For which hope, O king, I am accused by the Jews. 8 Why should it be thought a thing incredible that God should raise the dead? 9 And I indeed did formerly think that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 Which also I did at Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority of the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I brought the sentence. 11 And oftentimes punishing them, in every synagogue, I compelled them to blaspheme: and being yet more mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities. 12 Whereupon, when I was going to Damascus with authority and permission of the chief priest, 13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that were in company with me. 14 And when we were all fallen down on the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew tongue: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the good. 15 And I said: Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord answered: I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16 But rise up and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared to thee, that I may make thee a minister and a witness of those things which thou hast seen and of those things wherein I will appear to thee, 17 Delivering thee from the people and from the nations unto which now I send thee: 18 To open their eyes, that they may be converted from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a lot among the saints, by the faith that is in me. 19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not incredulous to the heavenly vision. 20 But to them first that are at Damascus and at Jerusalem, and unto all the country of Judea, and to the Gentiles did I preach, that they should do penance and turn to God, doing works worthy of penance. 21 For this cause, the Jews, when I was in the temple, having apprehended me, went about to kill me. 22 But being aided by the help of God, I stand unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other thing than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come to pass: 23 That Christ should suffer and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead and should shew light to the people and to the Gentiles. 24 As he spoke these things and made his answer, Festus said with a loud voice: Paul, thou art beside thyself: much learning doth make thee mad. 25 And Paul said: I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but I speak words of truth and soberness. 26 For the king knoweth of these things, to whom also I speak with confidence. For I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him. For neither was any of these things done in a corner. 27 Believest thou the prophets, O king Agrippa? I know that thou believest. 28 And Agrippa said to Paul: In a little thou persuadest me to become a Christian. 29 And Paul said: I would to God that both in a little and in much, not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, should become such as I also am, except these bands. 30 And the king rose up, and the governor and Bernice and they that sat with them. 31 And when they were gone aside, they spoke among themselves, saying: This man hath done nothing worthy of death or of bands. 32 And Agrippa said to Festus: This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed to Caesar.