Psalms 29; Psalms 30; Acts 23:1-15

1 Ascribe to the LORD , O sons of the mighty, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in holy array.

3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; The God of glory thunders, The LORD is over many waters.

4 The voice of the LORD is powerful, The voice of the LORD is majestic.

5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; Yes, the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, And Sirion like a young wild ox.

7 The voice of the LORD hews out flames of fire.

8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the LORD makes the deer to calve And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everything says, "Glory!"

10 The LORD sat as King at the flood; Yes, the LORD sits as King forever.

11 The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.

1 I will extol You, O LORD , for You have lifted me up, And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

2 O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.

3 O LORD , You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.

4 Sing praise to the LORD , you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name.

5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

6 Now as for me, I said in my prosperity, "I will never be moved."

7 O LORD , by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong; You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

8 To You, O LORD , I called, And to the Lord I made supplication:

9 "What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?

10 "Hear, O LORD , and be gracious to me; O LORD , be my helper."

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,

12 That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

1 Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, "Brethren , I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day."

2 The high priest Ananias commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth.

3 Then Paul said to him, "God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?"

4 But the bystanders said, "Do you revile God's high priest?

5 And Paul said, "I was not aware, brethren, that he was high priest; for it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK EVIL OF A RULER OF YOUR PEOPLE.' "

6 But perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, "Brethren , I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!"

7 As he said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

9 And there occurred a great uproar; and some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, "We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"

10 And as a great dissension was developing, the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.

11 But on the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, "Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also."

12 When it was day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.

13 There were more than forty who formed this plot.

14 They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, "We have bound ourselves under a solemn oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul

15 "Now therefore, you and the Council notify the commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case by a more thorough investigation; and we for our part are ready to slay him before he comes near the place."