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

Psalms 29

1 Praise the Lord, you heavenly beings; praise his glory and power.

2 Praise the Lord's glorious name; bow down before the Holy One when he appears.

3 The voice of the Lord is heard on the seas; the glorious God thunders, and his voice echoes over the ocean.

4 The voice of the Lord is heard in all its might and majesty.

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, even the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He makes the mountains of Lebanon jump like calves and makes Mount Hermon leap like a young bull.

7 The voice of the Lord makes the lightning flash.

8 His voice makes the desert shake; he shakes the desert of Kadesh.

9 The Lord's voice shakes the oaks and strips the leaves from the trees while everyone in his Temple shouts, "Glory to God!"

10 The Lord rules over the deep waters; he rules as king forever.

11 The Lord gives strength to his people and blesses them with peace.

Psalms 30

1 I praise you, Lord, because you have saved me and kept my enemies from gloating over me.

2 I cried to you for help, O Lord my God, and you healed me;

3 you kept me from the grave. I was on my way to the depths below, but you restored my life.

4 Sing praise to the Lord, all his faithful people! Remember what the Holy One has done, and give him thanks!

5 His anger lasts only a moment, his goodness for a lifetime. Tears may flow in the night, but joy comes in the morning.

6 I felt secure and said to myself, "I will never be defeated."

7 You were good to me, Lord; you protected me like a mountain fortress. But then you hid yourself from me, and I was afraid.

8 I called to you, Lord; I begged for your help:

9 "What will you gain from my death? What profit from my going to the grave? Are dead people able to praise you? Can they proclaim your unfailing goodness?

10 Hear me, Lord, and be merciful! Help me, Lord!"

11 You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance; you have taken away my sorrow and surrounded me with joy.

12 So I will not be silent; I will sing praise to you. Lord, you are my God; I will give you thanks forever.

Acts 23:1-15

1 Paul looked straight at the Council and said, "My fellow Israelites! My conscience is perfectly clear about the way in which I have lived before God to this very day."

2 The High Priest Ananias ordered those who were standing close to Paul to strike him on the mouth.

3 Paul said to him, "God will certainly strike you - you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the Law, yet you break the Law by ordering them to strike me!"

4 The men close to Paul said to him, "You are insulting God's High Priest!

5 Paul answered, "My fellow Israelites, I did not know that he was the High Priest. The scripture says, "You must not speak evil of the ruler of your people.' "

6 When Paul saw that some of the group were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees, he called out in the Council, "Fellow Israelites! I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. I am on trial here because of the hope I have that the dead will rise to life!"

7 As soon as he said this, the Pharisees and Sadducees started to quarrel, and the group was divided

8 (For the Sadducees say that people will not rise from death and that there are no angels or spirits; but the Pharisees believe in all three.)

9 The shouting became louder, and some of the teachers of the Law who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and protested strongly: "We cannot find a thing wrong with this man! Perhaps a spirit or an angel really did speak to him!"

10 The argument became so violent that the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces. So he ordered his soldiers to go down into the group, get Paul away from them, and take him into the fort.

11 That night the Lord stood by Paul and said, "Don't be afraid! You have given your witness for me here in Jerusalem, and you must also do the same in Rome."

12 The next morning some Jews met together and made a plan. They took a vow that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul.

13 There were more than forty who planned this together.

14 Then they went to the chief priests and elders and said, "We have taken a solemn vow together not to eat a thing until we have killed Paul

15 Now then, you and the Council send word to the Roman commander to bring Paul down to you, pretending that you want to get more accurate information about him. But we will be ready to kill him before he ever gets here."