Psalms 35; Psalms 36; Acts 25

Psalms 35

1 Lord, stand up against those who stand up against me. Fight against those who fight against me.

2 Pick up your large shields and your small shields. Rise up and help me.

3 Get your spear and javelin ready to fight against those who are chasing me. Say to me, "I will save you."

4 Let those who are trying to kill me be brought down in dishonor. Let those who plan to destroy me be turned back in terror.

5 Let them be like straw blowing in the wind, while the angel of the LORD drives them away.

6 Let their path be dark and slippery, while the angel of the LORD chases them.

7 They set a trap for me without any reason. Without any reason they dug a pit to catch me.

8 So let them be destroyed without warning. Let the trap they set for me catch them. Let them fall into the pit and be destroyed.

9 Then I will be full of joy because of what the LORD has done. I will be glad because he has saved me.

10 My whole being will cry out, "Who is like you, Lord? You save poor people from those who are too strong for them. You save poor and needy people from those who rob them."

11 Mean people come forward to give witness against me. They ask me things I don't know anything about.

12 They pay me back with evil, even though I was good to them. They leave me without hope.

13 But when they were sick, I put on black clothes. I made myself low by going without food. My prayers for them weren't always answered.

14 So I went around crying as if I were crying over my friend or relative. I bowed my head in sadness as if I were sobbing over my mother.

15 But when I tripped and fell, they were all very happy. Attackers gathered against me when I didn't even know it. They kept on telling lies about me.

16 They were like ungodly people. They made fun of me. They ground their teeth at me in hate.

17 Lord, how much longer will you just look on? Save me from their deadly attacks. Save the only life I have. Save me from those lions.

18 I will give you thanks in the whole community. Among all of your people I will praise you.

19 Don't let those who are my enemies without any reason laugh at me and make fun of me. Don't let those who hate me without any reason wink at me with an evil purpose.

20 They don't speak words of peace. They make up false charges against those who live quietly in the land.

21 They open their mouths wide at me. They make fun of me. They say, "With our own eyes we have seen what you did."

22 Lord, you have seen this. Don't be silent. Lord, don't be far away from me.

23 Wake up! Rise up to help me! My God and Lord, stand up for me.

24 LORD my God, when you hand down your sentence, let it be in my favor. You always do what is right. Don't let my enemies have the joy of seeing me fall.

25 Don't let them think, "That's exactly what we wanted!" Don't let them say, "We have swallowed him up."

26 Let all those who laugh at me because I'm in trouble be ashamed and bewildered. Let all who think they are better than I am put on shame and dishonor as if they were clothes.

27 Let those who are happy when my name is cleared shout with joy and gladness. Let them always say, "May the LORD be honored. He is pleased when everything goes well with the one who serves him."

28 You always do what is right. My tongue will speak about it and praise you all day long.

Psalms 36

1 Here are the words God has given me to say about the evil ways of anyone who sins. He doesn't have any respect for God.

2 He praises himself so much that he can't see his sin or hate it.

3 His mouth speaks words that are evil and false. He has stopped being wise. He has stopped doing good.

4 Even as he lies in bed he makes evil plans. He commits himself to a sinful way of life. He never says no to what is wrong.

5 Lord, your love is as high as the heavens. Your faithful love reaches up to the skies.

6 You are as holy as the mountains are high. You are as honest as the oceans are deep. Lord, you keep people and animals safe.

7 How priceless your faithful love is! Important and ordinary people alike find safety in the shadow of your wings.

8 They eat well because there is more than enough in your house. You let them drink from your river that flows with good things.

9 You have the fountain of life. We are filled with light because you give us light.

10 Keep on loving those who know you. Keep on doing right to those whose hearts are honest.

11 Don't let the feet of those who are proud step on me. Don't let the hands of those who are evil drive me away.

12 See how those who do evil have fallen! They are thrown down. They aren't able to get up.

Acts 25

1 Three days after Festus arrived, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem.

2 There the chief priests and Jewish leaders came to him and brought their charges against Paul.

3 They tried to get Festus to have Paul taken to Jerusalem. They asked for this as a favor. They were planning to hide and attack Paul along the way. They wanted to kill him.

4 Festus answered, "Paul is being held at Caesarea. Soon I'll be going there myself.

5 Let some of your leaders come with me. If the man has done anything wrong, they can bring charges against him there."

6 Festus spent eight or ten days in Jerusalem with them. Then he went down to Caesarea. The next day he called the court together. He ordered Paul to be brought to him.

7 When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many strong charges against him. But they couldn't prove them.

8 Then Paul spoke up for himself. He said, "I've done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple. I've done nothing wrong against Caesar."

9 But Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor. So he said to Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem? Are you willing to go on trial there? Are you willing to face these charges in my court?"

10 Paul answered, "I'm already standing in Caesar's court. This is where I should go on trial. I haven't done anything wrong to the Jews. You yourself know that very well.

11 If I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I'm willing to die. But the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true. No one has the right to hand me over to them. I make my appeal to Caesar!"

12 Festus talked it over with the members of his court. Then he said, "You have made an appeal to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!"

13 A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea. They came to pay a visit to Festus.

14 They were spending many days there. So Festus talked with the king about Paul's case. He said, "There's a man here that Felix left as a prisoner.

15 When I went to Jerusalem, the Jewish chief priests and the elders brought charges against the man. They wanted him to be found guilty.

16 "I told them that this is not the way Romans do things. We don't judge people before they have faced those bringing charges against them. They must have a chance to speak up for themselves.

17 When the Jews came back with me, I didn't waste any time. I called the court together the next day. I ordered the man to be brought in.

18 Those bringing charges against him got up to speak. But they didn't charge him with any of the crimes I had expected.

19 Instead, they argued with him about their own beliefs. They didn't agree about a dead man named Jesus. Paul claimed Jesus was alive.

20 "I had no idea how to look into such matters. So I asked Paul if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem. There he could be tried on these charges.

21 But Paul made an appeal to have the Emperor decide his case. So I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar."

22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, "I would like to hear this man myself." Festus replied, "Tomorrow you will hear him."

23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice arrived. They acted like very important people. They entered the courtroom. The most important officers and the leading men of the city came with them. When Festus gave the command, Paul was brought in.

24 Festus said, "King Agrippa, and all who are here with us, take a good look at this man! Both in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea a large number of Jews have come to me about him. They keep shouting that he shouldn't live any longer.

25 I have found that he hasn't done anything worthy of death. But he made his appeal to the Emperor. So I decided to send him to Rome.

26 "I don't have anything certain to write about him to His Majesty. So I have brought him here today. Now all of you will be able to hear him. King Agrippa, it will also be very good for you to hear him. As a result of this hearing, I will have something to write.

27 It doesn't make sense to send a prisoner to Rome without listing the charges against him."