Psalms 29–30
A Psalm of David.
1 Give to the Lord, you heavenly beings,give to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Give to the Lordthe glory of His name;worship the Lord in holy splendor.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders;the Lord is over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord sounds with strength;the voice of the Lord—with majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes them skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord flashes like flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer to give birth, and strips the forests bare;and in His temple everyone says, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned above the flood,the Lord sits as King forever.
11 The Lord will give strength to His people;
Lord will bless His people with peace.
Psalm 30
A Psalm of David. A Song at the dedication of the temple.
1 I will extol You, O Lord, for You have drawn me up,and have not caused my foes to rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to You,and You healed me.
3 O Lord, You have brought up my soul from the grave;You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
4 Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His,and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
5 For His anger endures but a moment,in His favor is life;weeping may endure for a night,but joy comes in the morning.
6 In my prosperity I said,“I will never be moved.”
7 Lord, by Your favor You had set me strong as a mountain; You hid Your face, and I was terrified.
8 I cried to You, O Lord,and to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust give You thanks? Will it declare Your truth?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; Lord, be my helper.”
11 For You have turned my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
12 so that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
Acts 23:1–15
1 Paul looked at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” 2 The high priest Ananias ordered those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit judging me according to the law, yet order me to be struck contrary to the law?”
4 Those who stood by said, “Do you criticize God’s high priest?”
5 Paul said, “Brothers, I did not know that he was the high priest. For it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people.’”
6 Then Paul, knowing that one sect were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, cried out among the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of a Pharisee. I am being judged for my hope in the resurrection of the dead.” 7 When he had said this, dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit. But the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
9 There was a great outcry. The scribes that were from the sect of Pharisees stood up and argued, “We find no evil in this man. But if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.” 10 When much dissension arose, fearing that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, the commander ordered the soldiers to go down and take him from them by force and bring him into the barracks.
11 The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, Paul. For as you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify at Rome.”
12 At daybreak some of the Jews conspired under oath, saying they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who had conspired. 14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under oath not to eat until we have killed Paul. 15 So now, with the Sanhedrin, tell the commander to bring him down to you tomorrow, pretending to inquire further concerning him. We are ready to kill him before he arrives.”