Psalms 35; Psalms 36; Acts 25

1 LORD, argue with those who argue with me; fight with those who fight against me!

2 Grab a shield and armor; stand up and help me!

3 Use your spear and ax against those who are out to get me! Say to me:"I'm your salvation!"

4 Let those who want me dead be humiliated and put to shame. Let those who intend to hurt me be thoroughly frustrated and disgraced.

5 Let them be like dust on the wind— and let the LORD's messenger be the one who does the blowing!

6 Let their path be dark and slippery— and let the LORD's messenger be the one who does the chasing!

7 Because they hid their net for me for no reason, they dug a pit for me for no reason.

8 Let disaster come to them when they don't suspect it. Let the net they hid catch them instead! Let them fall into it—to their disaster!

9 But I will rejoice in the LORD; I will celebrate his salvation.

10 All my bones will say, "LORD, who could compare to you? You rescue the weak from those who overpower them; you rescue the weak and the needy from those who plunder them."

11 Violent witnesses stand up. They question me about things I know nothing about.

12 They pay me back evil for good, leaving me stricken with grief.

13 But when they were sick, I wore clothes for grieving, and I kept a strict fast. When my prayer came back unanswered,

14 I would wander around like I was grieving a friend or a brother. I was weighed down, sad, like I was a mother in mourning.

15 But when I stumbled, they celebrated and gathered together— they gathered together against me! Strangers I didn't know tore me to pieces and wouldn't quit.

16 They ridiculed me over and over again, like godless people would do, grinding their teeth at me.

17 How long, my Lord, will you watch this happen? Rescue me from their attacks; rescue my precious life from these predatory lions!

18 Then I will thank you in the great assembly; I will praise you in a huge crowd of people.

19 Don't let those who are my enemies without cause celebrate over me; don't let those who hate me for no reason wink at my demise.

20 They don't speak the truth; instead, they plot false accusations against innocent people in the land.

21 They speak out against me, saying, "Yes! Oh, yes! We've seen it with our own eyes!"

22 But you've seen it too, LORD. Don't keep quiet about it. Please don't be far from me, my Lord.

23 Wake up! Get up and do justice for me; argue my case, my Lord and my God!

24 Establish justice for me according to your righteousness, LORD, my God. Don't let them celebrate over me.

25 Don't let them say to themselves, Yes! Exactly what we wanted! Don't let them say, "We ate him up!"

26 Let all those who celebrate my misfortune be disgraced and put to shame! Let those who exalt themselves over me be dressed up in shame and dishonor!

27 But let those who want things to be set right for me shout for joy and celebrate! Let them constantly say, "The LORD is great— God wants his servant to be at peace."

28 Then my tongue will talk all about your righteousness; it will talk about your praise all day long.

1 I know the sinful utterance of the wicked: No fear of God confronts their own eyes,

2 because in their own eyes they are slick with talk about their guilt ever being found out and despised.

3 The words of their mouths are evil and dishonest. They have stopped being wise and stopped doing good.

4 They plot evil even while resting in bed! They commit themselves to a path that is no good. They don't reject what is evil.

5 But your loyal love, LORD, extends to the skies; your faithfulness reaches the clouds.

6 Your righteousness is like the strongest mountains; your justice is like the deepest sea. LORD, you save both humans and animals.

7 Your faithful love is priceless, God! Humanity finds refuge in the shadow of your wings.

8 They feast on the bounty of your house; you let them drink from your river of pure joy.

9 Within you is the spring of life. In your light, we see light.

10 Extend your faithful love to those who know you; extend your righteousness to those whose heart is right.

11 Don't let the feet of arrogant people walk all over me; don't let the hands of the wicked drive me off.

12 Look—right there is where the evildoers have fallen, pushed down, unable to get up!

1 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.

2 The chief priests and Jewish leaders presented their case against Paul. Appealing to him,

3 they asked as a favor from Festus that he summon Paul to Jerusalem. They were planning to ambush and kill him along the way.

4 But Festus responded by keeping Paul in Caesarea, since he was to return there very soon himself.

5 "Some of your leaders can come down with me," he said. "If he's done anything wrong, they can bring charges against him."

6 He stayed with them for no more than eight or ten days, then went down to Caesarea. The following day he took his seat in the court and ordered that Paul be brought in.

7 When he arrived, many Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him. They brought serious charges against him, but they couldn't prove them.

8 In his own defense, Paul said, "I've done nothing wrong against the Jewish Law, against the temple, or against Caesar."

9 Festus, wanting to put the Jews in his debt, asked Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to stand trial before me concerning these things?"

10 Paul replied, "I'm standing before Caesar's court. I ought to be tried here. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you well know.

11 If I'm guilty and have done something that deserves death, then I won't try to avoid death. But if there is nothing to their accusations against me, no one has the authority to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!"

12 After Festus conferred with his advisors, he responded, "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go."

13 After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea to welcome Festus.

14 Since they were staying there for many days, Festus discussed the case against Paul with the king. He said, "There is a man whom Felix left in prison.

15 When I was in Jerusalem, the Jewish chief priests and elders brought charges against him and requested a guilty verdict in his case.

16 I told them it is contrary to Roman practice to hand someone over before they have faced their accusers and had opportunity to offer a defense against the charges.

17 When they came here, I didn't put them off. The very next day I took my seat in the court and ordered that the man be brought before me.

18 When the accusers took the floor, they didn't charge him with any of the crimes I had expected.

19 Instead, they quibbled with him about their own religion and about some dead man named Jesus, who Paul claimed was alive.

20 Since I had no idea how to investigate these matters, I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem to stand trial there on these issues.

21 However, Paul appealed that he be held in custody pending a decision from His Majesty the emperor, so I ordered that he be held until I could send him to Caesar."

22 Agrippa said to Festus, "I want to hear the man myself." "Tomorrow," Festus replied, "you will hear him."

23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great fanfare. They entered the auditorium with the military commanders and the city's most prominent men. Festus then ordered that Paul be brought in.

24 Festus said, "King Agrippa and everyone present with us: You see this man! The entire Jewish community, both here and in Jerusalem, has appealed to me concerning him. They've been calling for his immediate death.

25 I've found that he has done nothing deserving death. When he appealed to His Majesty, I decided to send him to Rome.

26 I have nothing definite to write to our lord emperor. Therefore, I've brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this investigation, I might have something to write.

27 After all, it would be foolish to send a prisoner without specifying the charges against him."