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

1 Praise the Lord, you mighty angels. Praise the LORD for his glory and strength.

2 Praise the LORD for the glory that belongs to him. Worship the LORD because of his beauty and holiness.

3 The voice of the LORD is heard over the waters. The God of glory thunders. The LORD thunders over the mighty waters.

4 The voice of the LORD is powerful. The voice of the LORD is majestic.

5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedar trees. The LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon into pieces.

6 He makes the mountains of Lebanon skip like a calf. He makes Mount Hermon jump like a young wild ox.

7 The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning.

8 The voice of the LORD shakes the desert. The LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the LORD twists the oak trees. It strips the forests bare. And in his temple everyone cries out, "Glory!"

10 The LORD on his throne rules over the flood. The LORD rules from his throne as King forever.

11 The LORD gives strength to his people. The LORD blesses his people with peace.

1 Lord, I will give you honor. You brought me out of deep trouble. You didn't give my enemies the joy of seeing me die.

2 LORD my God, I called out to you for help. And you healed me.

3 Lord, you brought me up from the edge of the grave. You kept me from going down into the pit.

4 Sing to the Lord, you who are faithful to him. Praise him, because his name is holy.

5 His anger lasts for only a moment. But his favor lasts for a person's whole life. Sobbing can remain through the night. But joy comes in the morning.

6 When I felt safe, I said, "I will always be secure."

7 Lord, when you showed me your favor, you made my mountain stand firm. But when you turned your face away from me, I was terrified.

8 Lord, I called out to you. I cried to you for your favor.

9 I said, "What good will come if I die? What good will come if I go down into the grave? Can the dust of my dead body praise you? Can it tell how faithful you are?

10 Lord, hear me. Show me your favor. Lord, help me."

11 You turned my loud crying into dancing. You removed my black clothes and dressed me with joy.

12 So my heart will sing to you. I can't keep silent. Lord, my God, I will give you thanks forever.

1 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin. "My brothers," he said, "I have always done my duty to God. To this very day I feel that I have done nothing wrong."

2 Ananias the high priest heard this. So he ordered the men standing near Paul to hit him on the mouth.

3 Then Paul said to him, "You pretender! God will hit you! You sit there and judge me by the law. But you yourself broke the law when you commanded them to hit me!"

4 Those who were standing near Paul said, "How dare you talk like that to God's high priest!

5 Paul replied, "Brothers, I didn't realize he was the high priest. It is written, 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.' "(Exodus 22:28)

6 Paul knew that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees. So he called out in the Sanhedrin. "My brothers," he said, "I am a Pharisee. I am the son of a Pharisee. I believe that people will rise from the dead. That's why I am on trial."

7 When he said this, the Pharisees and the Sadducees started to argue. They began to take sides.

8 The Sadducees say that people will not rise from the dead. They don't believe there are angels or spirits either. But the Pharisees believe all these things.

9 People were causing trouble and making a lot of noise. Some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up. They argued strongly. "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"

10 The arguing got out of hand. The commanding officer was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by those who were arguing. So he ordered the soldiers to go down and take him away from them by force. They were supposed to bring him into the fort.

11 The next night the Lord stood near Paul. He said, "Be brave! You have given witness about me in Jerusalem. You must do the same in Rome."

12 The next morning the Jews gathered secretly to make plans against Paul. They took an oath that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed him.

13 More than 40 men took part in this plan.

14 They went to the chief priests and the elders. They said, "We have taken a strong oath. We have made a special promise to God. We will not eat anything until we have killed Paul

15 Now then, you and the Sanhedrin must make an appeal to the commanding officer. Ask him to bring Paul to you. Pretend you want more facts about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here."