Psalms 26; Psalms 27; Psalms 28; Acts 22

Psalms 26

1 (25-1) <Unto the end, a psalm for David.> Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence: and I have put my trust in the Lord, and shall not be weakened.

2 (25-2) Prove me, O Lord, and try me; burn my reins and my heart.

3 (25-3) For thy mercy is before my eyes; and I am well pleased with thy truth.

4 (25-4) I have not sat with the council of vanity: neither will I go in with the doers of unjust things.

5 (25-5) I have hated the assembly of the malignant; and with the wicked I will not sit.

6 (25-6) I will wash my hands among the innocent; and will compass thy altar, O Lord:

7 (25-7) That I may hear the voice of thy praise: and tell of all thy wondrous works.

8 (25-8) I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house; and the place where thy glory dwelleth.

9 (25-9) Take not away my soul, O God, with the wicked: nor my life with bloody men:

10 (25-10) In whose hands are iniquities: their right hand is filled with gifts.

11 (25-11) But as for me, I have walked in my innocence: redeem me, and have mercy on me.

12 (25-12) My foot hath stood in the direct way: in the churches I will bless thee, O Lord.

Psalms 27

1 (26-1) <The psalm of David before he was anointed.> The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid?

2 (26-2) Whilst the wicked draw near against me, to eat my flesh. My enemies that trouble me, have themselves been weakened, and have fallen.

3 (26-3) If armies in camp should stand to gether against me, my heart shall not fear. If a battle should rise up against me, in this will I be confident.

4 (26-4) One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That I may see the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple.

5 (26-5) For he hath hidden me in his tabernacle; in the day of evils, he hath protected me in the secret place of his tabernacle.

6 (26-6) He hath exalted me upon a rock: and now he hath lifted up my head above my enemies. I have gone round, and have offered up in his tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation: I will sing, and recite a psalm to the Lord.

7 (26-7) Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to thee: have mercy on me and hear me.

8 (26-8) My heart hath said to thee: My face hath sought thee: thy face, O Lord, will I still seek.

9 (26-9) Turn not away thy face from me; decline not in thy wrath from thy servant. Be thou my helper, forsake me not; do not thou despise me, O God my Saviour.

10 (26-10) For my father and my mother have left me: but the Lord hath taken me up.

11 (26-11) Set me, O Lord, a law in thy way, and guide me in the right path, because of my enemies.

12 (26-12) Deliver me not over to the will of them that trouble me; for unjust witnesses have risen up against me; and iniquity hath lied to itself.

13 (26-13) I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

14 (26-14) Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord.

Psalms 28

1 (27-1) <A psalm for David himself.> Unto thee will I cry, O Lord: O my God, be not thou silent to me: lest if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.

2 (27-2) Hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication, when I pray to thee; when I lift up my hands to thy holy temple.

3 (27-3) Draw me not away together with the wicked; and with the workers of iniquity destroy me not: Who speak peace with their neighbour, but evils are in their hearts.

4 (27-4) Give them according to their works, and according to the wickedness of their inventions. According to the works of their hands give thou to them: render to them their reward.

5 (27-5) Because they have not understood the works of the Lord, and the operations of his hands: thou shalt destroy them, and shalt not build them up.

6 (27-6) Blessed be the Lord, for he hath heard the voice of my supplication.

7 (27-7) The Lord is my helper and my protector: in him hath my heart confided, and I have been helped. And my flesh hath flourished again, and with my will I will give praise to him.

8 (27-8) The Lord is the strength of his people, and the protector of the salvation of his anointed.

9 (27-9) Save, O Lord, thy people, and bless thy inheritance: and rule them and exalt them for ever.

Acts 22

1 Men, brethren and fathers, hear ye the account which I now give unto you.

2 (And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew tongue, they kept the more silence.)

3 And he saith: I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the truth of the law of the fathers, zealous for the law, as also all you are this day:

4 Who persecuted this way unto death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,

5 As the high priest doth bear me witness and all the ancients. From whom also receiving letters to the brethren, I went to Damascus, that I might bring them bound from thence to Jerusalem to be punished.

6 And it came to pass, as I was going and drawing nigh to Damascus, at mid-day, that suddenly from heaven there shone round about me a great light:

7 And falling on the ground, I heard a voice saying to me: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

8 And I answered: Who art thou, Lord? And he said to me: I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light: but they heard not the voice of him that spoke with me.

10 And I said: What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me: Arise and go to Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things that thou must do.

11 And whereas I did not see for the brightness of that light, being led by the hand by my companions, I came to Damascus,

12 And one Ananias, a man according to the law, having testimony of all the Jews who dwelt there,

13 Coming to me and standing by me, said to me: Brother Saul, look up. And I, the same hour, looked upon him.

14 But he said: The God of our fathers hath preordained thee that thou shouldst know his will and see the Just One and shouldst hear the voice from his mouth.

15 For thou shalt be his witness to all men of those things which thou hast seen and heard.

16 And now why tarriest thou? Rise up and be baptized and wash away thy sins, invoking his name.

17 And it came to pass, when I was come again to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance,

18 And saw him saying unto me: Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: because they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

19 And I said: Lord, they know that I cast into prison and beat in every synagogue them that believed in thee.

20 And when the blood of Stephen thy witness was shed, I stood by and consented: and kept the garments of them that killed him.

21 And he said to me: Go, for unto the Gentiles afar off will I send thee.

22 And they heard him until this word and then lifted up their voice, saying: Away with such an one from the earth. For it is not fit that he should live.

23 And as they cried out and threw off their garments and cast dust into the air,

24 The tribune commanded him to be brought into the castle, and that he should be scourged and tortured: to know for what cause they did so cry out against him.

25 And when they had bound him with thongs, Paul saith to the centurion that stood by him: Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned?

26 Which the centurion hearing, went to the tribune and told him, saying: What art thou about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.

27 And the tribune coming, said to him: Tell me. Art thou a Roman? But he said: Yea.

28 And the tribune answered: I obtained the being free of this city with a great sum. And Paul said: But I was born so.

29 Immediately therefore they departed from him that were about to torture him. The tribune also was afraid after he understood that he was a Roman citizen and because he had bound him.

30 But on the next day, meaning to know more diligently for what cause he was accused by the Jews, he loosed him and commanded the priests to come together and all the council: and, bringing forth Paul, he set him before them.