| 37:1 | Of David. Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong;
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| 37:2 | for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
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| 37:3 | Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
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| 37:4 | Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
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| 37:5 | Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this |
| 37:6 | He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
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| 37:7 | Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
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| 37:8 | Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret-- it leads only to evil.
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| 37:9 | For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
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| 37:10 | A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.
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| 37:11 | But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.
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| 37:12 | The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them;
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| 37:13 | but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.
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| 37:14 | The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.
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| 37:15 | But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.
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| 37:16 | Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked;
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| 37:17 | for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.
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| 37:18 | The days of the blameless are known to the LORD, and their inheritance will endure forever.
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| 37:19 | In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
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| 37:20 | But the wicked will perish |
| 37:21 | The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously;
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| 37:22 | those the LORD blesses will inherit the land, but those he curses will be cut off.
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| 37:23 | If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm;
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| 37:24 | though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
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| 37:25 | I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
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| 37:26 | They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.
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| 37:27 | Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.
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| 37:28 | For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off;
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| 37:29 | the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.
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| 37:30 | The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just.
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| 37:31 | The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip.
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| 37:32 | The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, seeking their very lives;
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| 37:33 | but the LORD will not leave them in their power or let them be condemned when brought to trial.
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| 37:34 | Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
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| 37:35 | I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,
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| 37:36 | but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found.
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| 37:37 | Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace.
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| 37:38 | But all sinners will be destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off.
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| 37:39 | The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
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| 37:40 | The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.
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| 38:1 | A psalm of David. A petition. O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
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| 38:2 | For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me.
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| 38:3 | Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin.
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| 38:4 | My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.
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| 38:5 | My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.
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| 38:6 | I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.
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| 38:7 | My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body.
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| 38:8 | I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.
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| 38:9 | All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.
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| 38:10 | My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.
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| 38:11 | My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away.
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| 38:12 | Those who seek my life set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they plot deception.
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| 38:13 | I am like a deaf man, who cannot hear, like a mute, who cannot open his mouth;
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| 38:14 | I have become like a man who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply.
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| 38:15 | I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God.
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| 38:16 | For I said, "Do not let them gloat or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips."
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| 38:17 | For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me.
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| 38:18 | I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.
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| 38:19 | Many are those who are my vigorous enemies; those who hate me without reason are numerous.
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| 38:20 | Those who repay my good with evil slander me when I pursue what is good.
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| 38:21 | O LORD, do not forsake me; be not far from me, O my God.
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| 38:22 | Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior.
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| 39:1 | For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David. I said, "I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence."
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| 39:2 | But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased.
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| 39:3 | My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue |
| 39:4 | "Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.
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| 39:5 | You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath. Selah
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| 39:6 | Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro |
| 39:7 | "But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.
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| 39:8 | Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools.
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| 39:9 | I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this.
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| 39:10 | Remove your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
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| 39:11 | You rebuke and discipline men for their sin; you consume their wealth like a moth-- each man is but a breath. Selah
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| 39:12 | "Hear my prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were.
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| 39:13 | Look away from me, that I may rejoice again before I depart and am no more."
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| 26:1 | Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense |
| 26:2 | "King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews,
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| 26:3 | and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
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| 26:4 | "The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem.
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| 26:5 | They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.
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| 26:6 | And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today.
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| 26:7 | This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me.
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| 26:8 | Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
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| 26:9 | "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
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| 26:10 | And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
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| 26:11 | Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
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| 26:12 | "On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.
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| 26:13 | About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.
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| 26:14 | We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
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| 26:15 | "Then I asked, "Who are you, Lord?" ""I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," the Lord replied.
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| 26:16 | "Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.
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| 26:17 | I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them
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| 26:18 | to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me."
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| 26:19 | "So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.
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| 26:20 | First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.
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| 26:21 | That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.
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| 26:22 | But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen--
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| 26:23 | that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles."
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| 26:24 | At this point Festus interrupted Paul's defense. "You are out of your mind, Paul!" he shouted. "Your great learning is driving you insane."
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| 26:25 | "I am not insane, most excellent Festus," Paul replied. "What I am saying is true and reasonable.
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| 26:26 | The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.
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| 26:27 | King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do."
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| 26:28 | Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?"
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| 26:29 | Paul replied, "Short time or long-- I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."
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| 26:30 | The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them.
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| 26:31 | They left the room, and while talking with one another, they said, "This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment."
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| 26:32 | Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."
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