Psalms 23; Psalms 24; Psalms 25; Acts 21:18-40

1 God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.

2 You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.

3 True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.

4 Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure

5 You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.

6 Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I'm back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.

1 God claims Earth and everything in it, God claims World and all who live on it.

2 He built it on Ocean foundations, laid it out on River girders.

3 Who can climb Mount God? Who can scale the holy north-face?

4 Only the clean-handed, only the pure-hearted; Men who won't cheat, women who won't seduce.

5 God is at their side; with God's help they make it.

6 This, Jacob, is what happens to God-seekers, God-questers.

7 Wake up, you sleepyhead city! Wake up, you sleepyhead people! King-Glory is ready to enter.

8 Who is this King-Glory? God, armed and battle-ready.

9 Wake up, you sleepyhead city! Wake up, you sleepyhead people! King-Glory is ready to enter.

10 Who is this King-Glory? God of the angel armies: he is King-Glory.

1 My head is high, God, held high;

2 I'm looking to you, God; No hangdog skulking for me.

3 I've thrown in my lot with you; You won't embarrass me, will you? Or let my enemies get the best of me? Don't embarrass any of us Who went out on a limb for you. It's the traitors who should be humiliated.

4 Show me how you work, God; School me in your ways.

5 Take me by the hand; Lead me down the path of truth. You are my Savior, aren't you?

6 Mark the milestones of your mercy and love, God; Rebuild the ancient landmarks!

7 Forget that I sowed wild oats; Mark me with your sign of love. Plan only the best for me, God!

8 God is fair and just; He corrects the misdirected, Sends them in the right direction.

9 He gives the rejects his hand, And leads them step-by-step.

10 From now on every road you travel Will take you to God. Follow the Covenant signs; Read the charted directions.

11 Keep up your reputation, God; Forgive my bad life; It's been a very bad life.

12 My question: What are God-worshipers like? Your answer: Arrows aimed at God's bull's-eye.

13 They settle down in a promising place; Their kids inherit a prosperous farm.

14 God-friendship is for God-worshipers; They are the ones he confides in.

15 If I keep my eyes on God, I won't trip over my own feet.

16 Look at me and help me! I'm all alone and in big trouble.

17 My heart and kidneys are fighting each other; Call a truce to this civil war.

18 Take a hard look at my life of hard labor, Then lift this ton of sin.

19 Do you see how many people Have it in for me? How viciously they hate me?

20 Keep watch over me and keep me out of trouble; Don't let me down when I run to you.

21 Use all your skill to put me together; I wait to see your finished product.

22 God, give your people a break From this run of bad luck.

18 The first thing next morning, we took Paul to see James. All the church leaders were there.

19 After a time of greeting and small talk, Paul told the story, detail by detail, of what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

20 They listened with delight and gave God the glory.

21 They've been told that you advise believing Jews who live surrounded by Gentiles to go light on Moses, telling them that they don't need to circumcise their children or keep up the old traditions. This isn't sitting at all well with them.

22 "We're worried about what will happen when they discover you're in town. There's bound to be trouble. So here is what we want you to do:

23 There are four men from our company who have taken a vow involving ritual purification, but have no money to pay the expenses.

24 Join these men in their vows and pay their expenses. Then it will become obvious to everyone that there is nothing to the rumors going around about you and that you are in fact scrupulous in your reverence for the laws of Moses.

25 "In asking you to do this, we're not going back on our agreement regarding Gentiles who have become believers. We continue to hold fast to what we wrote in that letter, namely, to be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; to avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians; to guard the morality of sex and marriage."

26 So Paul did it - took the men, joined them in their vows, and paid their way. The next day he went to the Temple to make it official and stay there until the proper sacrifices had been offered and completed for each of them.

27 When the seven days of their purification were nearly up, some Jews from around Ephesus spotted him in the Temple. At once they turned the place upside-down. They grabbed Paul

28 and started yelling at the top of their lungs, "Help! You Israelites, help! This is the man who is going all over the world telling lies against us and our religion and this place. He's even brought Greeks in here and defiled this holy place."

29 (What had happened was that they had seen Paul and Trophimus, the Ephesian Greek, walking together in the city and had just assumed that he had also taken him to the Temple and shown him around.)

30 Soon the whole city was in an uproar, people running from everywhere to the Temple to get in on the action. They grabbed Paul, dragged him outside, and locked the Temple gates so he couldn't get back in and gain sanctuary.

31 As they were trying to kill him, word came to the captain of the guard, "A riot! The whole city's boiling over!"

32 He acted swiftly. His soldiers and centurions ran to the scene at once. As soon as the mob saw the captain and his soldiers, they quit beating Paul.

33 The captain came up and put Paul under arrest. He first ordered him handcuffed, and then asked who he was and what he had done.

34 All he got from the crowd were shouts, one yelling this, another that. It was impossible to tell one word from another in the mob hysteria, so the captain ordered Paul taken to the military barracks.

35 But when they got to the Temple steps, the mob became so violent that the soldiers had to carry Paul.

36 As they carried him away, the crowd followed, shouting, "Kill him! Kill him!"

37 When they got to the barracks and were about to go in, Paul said to the captain, "Can I say something to you?"

38 I thought you were the Egyptian who not long ago started a riot here, and then hid out in the desert with his four thousand thugs."

39 Paul said, "No, I'm a Jew, born in Tarsus. And I'm a citizen still of that influential city. I have a simple request: Let me speak to the crowd."

40 Standing on the barracks steps, Paul turned and held his arms up. A hush fell over the crowd as Paul began to speak. He spoke in Hebrew.