Psalms 33; Psalms 34; Acts 24

1 Sing for joy in the LORD , O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright.

2 Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.

3 Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

4 For the word of the LORD is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness.

5 He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD .

6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the LORD ; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

10 The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.

11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD , The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.

13 The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men;

14 From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth,

15 He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works.

16 The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength.

17 A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness,

19 To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the LORD ; He is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name.

22 Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD , be upon us, According as we have hoped in You.

1 I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul will make its boast in the LORD ; The humble will hear it and rejoice.

3 O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.

4 I sought the LORD , and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces will never be ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him And saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them.

8 O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

9 O fear the LORD , you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want.

10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.

11 Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD .

12 Who is the man who desires life And loves length of days that he may see good?

13 Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit.

14 Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry.

16 The face of the LORD is against evildoers, To cut off the memory of them from the earth.

17 The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.

20 He keeps all his bones, Not one of them is broken.

21 Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

22 The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

1 After five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders, with an attorney named Tertullus, and they brought charges to the governor against Paul.

2 After Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying to the governor, "S ince we have through you attained much peace, and since by your providence reforms are being carried out for this nation,

3 we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness.

4 "But, that I may not weary you any further , I beg you to grant us, by your kindness, a brief hearing.

5 "For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

6 "And he even tried to desecrate the temple; and then we arrested him. [We wanted to judge him according to our own Law.

7 "But Lysias the commander came along, and with much violence took him out of our hands,

8 ordering his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to ascertain the things of which we accuse him."

9 The Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.

10 When the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded: "K nowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense,

11 since you can take note of the fact that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

12 "Neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot.

13 "Nor can they prove to you the charges of which they now accuse me.

14 "But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets;

15 having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

16 "In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.

17 "Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings;

18 in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been purified, without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from Asia -

19 who ought to have been present before you and to make accusation, if they should have anything against me.

20 "Or else let these men themselves tell what misdeed they found when I stood before the Council,

21 other than for this one statement which I shouted out while standing among them, 'For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.' "

22 But Felix, having a more exact knowledge about the Way, put them off, saying, "When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case ."

23 Then he gave orders to the centurion for him to be kept in custody and yet have some freedom, and not to prevent any of his friends from ministering to him.

24 But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

25 But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, "Go away for the present, and when I find time I will summon you."

26 At the same time too, he was hoping that money would be given him by Paul; therefore he also used to send for him quite often and converse with him.

27 But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul imprisoned.