Psalms 37; Psalms 38; Psalms 39; Acts 26

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Psalms 37

1 Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers.

2 For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb.

3 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

4 Delight yourself in the LORD ; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD , Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.

7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.

9 For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD , they will inherit the land.

10 Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.

11 But the humble will inherit the land And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

12 The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth.

13 The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming.

14 The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow To cast down the afflicted and the needy, To slay those who are upright in conduct.

15 Their sword will enter their own heart, And their bows will be broken.

16 Better is the little of the righteous Than the abundance of many wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken, But the LORD sustains the righteous.

18 The LORD knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will be forever.

19 They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, And in the days of famine they will have abundance.

20 But the wicked will perish; And the enemies of the LORD will be like the glory of the pastures, They vanish -like smoke they vanish away.

21 The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and gives.

22 For those blessed by Him will inherit the land, But those cursed by Him will be cut off.

23 The steps of a man are established by the LORD , And He delights in his way.

24 When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.

25 I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread.

26 All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing.

27 Depart from evil and do good, So you will abide forever.

28 For the LORD loves justice And does not forsake His godly ones; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.

29 The righteous will inherit the land And dwell in it forever.

30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice.

31 The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip.

32 The wicked spies upon the righteous And seeks to kill him.

33 The LORD will not leave him in his hand Or let him be condemned when he is judged.

34 Wait for the LORD and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

35 I have seen a wicked, violent man Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.

36 Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found.

37 Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity.

38 But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; The posterity of the wicked will be cut off.

39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD ; He is their strength in time of trouble.

40 The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.

Psalms 38

1 O LORD , rebuke me not in Your wrath, And chasten me not in Your burning anger.

2 For Your arrows have sunk deep into me, And Your hand has pressed down on me.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; There is no health in my bones because of my sin.

4 For my iniquities are gone over my head; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

5 My wounds grow foul and fester Because of my folly.

6 I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long.

7 For my loins are filled with burning, And there is no soundness in my flesh.

8 I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart.

9 Lord , all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.

10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me; And the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me.

11 My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; And my kinsmen stand afar off.

12 Those who seek my life lay snares for me; And those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction, And they devise treachery all day long.

13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; And I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth.

14 Yes, I am like a man who does not hear, And in whose mouth are no arguments.

15 For I hope in You, O LORD ; You will answer, O Lord my God.

16 For I said, "May they not rejoice over me, Who, when my foot slips, would magnify themselves against me."

17 For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me.

18 For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.

19 But my enemies are vigorous and strong, And many are those who hate me wrongfully.

20 And those who repay evil for good, They oppose me, because I follow what is good.

21 Do not forsake me, O LORD ; O my God, do not be far from me!

22 Make haste to help me, O Lord , my salvation!

Psalms 39

1 I said, "I will guard my ways That I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle While the wicked are in my presence."

2 I was mute and silent, I refrained even from good, And my sorrow grew worse.

3 My heart was hot within me, While I was musing the fire burned; Then I spoke with my tongue:

4 "LORD , make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am.

5 "Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.

6 "Surely every man walks about as a phantom; Surely they make an uproar for nothing; He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.

7 "And now, Lord , for what do I wait? My hope is in You.

8 "Deliver me from all my transgressions; Make me not the reproach of the foolish.

9 "I have become mute, I do not open my mouth, Because it is You who have done it.

10 "Remove Your plague from me; Because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing.

11 "With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity; You consume as a moth what is precious to him; Surely every man is a mere breath. Selah.

12 "Hear my prayer, O LORD , and give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner like all my fathers.

13 "Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again Before I depart and am no more."

Acts 26

1 Agrippa said to Paul, "You are permitted to speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand and proceeded to make his defense:

2 "In regard to all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that I am about to make my defense before you today;

3 especially because you are an expert in all customs and questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

4 "So then, all Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem;

5 since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion.

6 "And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers;

7 the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this hope, O King, I am being accused by Jews.

8 "Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead?

9 "So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

10 "And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them.

11 "And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.

12 "While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,

13 at midday , O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.

14 "And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'

15 "And I said, 'Who are You, Lord ?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

16 'But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;

17 rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,

18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'

19 "So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision,

20 but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.

21 "For this reason some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to put me to death.

22 "So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place;

23 that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."

24 While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, "Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad."

25 But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth.

26 "For the king knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner.

27 "King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do."

28 Agrippa replied to Paul, "In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian."

29 And Paul said, "I would wish to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains."

30 The king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them,

31 and when they had gone aside, they began talking to one another, saying, "This man is not doing anything worthy of death or imprisonment."

32 And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."