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Psalm 96

1  Sing to the Lord a new song; ♦︎
   sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2  Sing to the Lord and bless his name; ♦︎
   tell out his salvation from day to day.
3  Declare his glory among the nations ♦︎
   and his wonders among all peoples.
4  For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; ♦︎
   he is more to be feared than all gods.
5  For all the gods of the nations are but idols; ♦︎
   it is the Lord who made the heavens.
6  Honour and majesty are before him; ♦︎
   power and splendour are in his sanctuary.
7  Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples; ♦︎
   ascribe to the Lord honour and strength.
8  Ascribe to the Lord the honour due to his name; ♦︎
   bring offerings and come into his courts.
9  O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; ♦︎
   let the whole earth tremble before him.
10  Tell it out among the nations that the Lord is king. ♦︎
   He has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved;
      he will judge the peoples with equity.
11  Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad; ♦︎
   let the sea thunder and all that is in it;
12  Let the fields be joyful and all that is in them; ♦︎
   let all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the Lord.
13  For he comes, he comes to judge the earth; ♦︎
   with righteousness he will judge the world
      and the peoples with his truth.

Psalm 97

1  The Lord is king: let the earth rejoice; ♦︎
   let the multitude of the isles be glad.
2  Clouds and darkness are round about him; ♦︎
   righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3  Fire goes before him ♦︎
   and burns up his enemies on every side.
4  His lightnings lit up the world; ♦︎
   the earth saw it and trembled.
5  The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, ♦︎
   at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6  The heavens declared his righteousness, ♦︎
   and all the peoples have seen his glory.
7  Confounded be all who worship carved images
      and delight in mere idols. ♦︎
   Bow down before him, all you gods.
8  Zion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced, ♦︎
   because of your judgements, O Lord.
9  For you, Lord, are most high over all the earth; ♦︎
   you are exalted far above all gods.
10  The Lord loves those who hate evil; ♦︎
   he preserves the lives of his faithful
      and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11  Light has sprung up for the righteous ♦︎
   and joy for the true of heart.
12  Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, ♦︎
   and give thanks to his holy name.

The Plot to Kill Paul

12 In the morning the Jews joined in a conspiracy and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³There were more than forty who joined in this conspiracy. ¹⁴They went to the chief priests and elders and said, ‘We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵Now then, you and the council must notify the tribune to bring him down to you, on the pretext that you want to make a more thorough examination of his case. And we are ready to do away with him before he arrives.’

16 Now the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush; so he went and gained entrance to the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷Paul called one of the centurions and said, ‘Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to report to him.’ ¹⁸So he took him, brought him to the tribune, and said, ‘The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you; he has something to tell you.’ ¹⁹The tribune took him by the hand, drew him aside privately, and asked, ‘What is it that you have to report to me?’ ²⁰He answered, ‘The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more thoroughly into his case. ²¹But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him. They have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they kill him. They are ready now and are waiting for your consent.’ ²²So the tribune dismissed the young man, ordering him, ‘Tell no one that you have informed me of this.’

Paul Sent to Felix the Governor

23 Then he summoned two of the centurions and said, ‘Get ready to leave by nine o’clock tonight for Caesarea with two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen. ²⁴Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and take him safely to Felix the governor.’ ²⁵He wrote a letter to this effect:

26 ‘Claudius Lysias to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings. ²⁷This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, but when I had learned that he was a Roman citizen, I came with the guard and rescued him. ²⁸Since I wanted to know the charge for which they accused him, I had him brought to their council. ²⁹I found that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but was charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. ³⁰When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.’^*

31 So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him during the night to Antipatris. ³²The next day they let the horsemen go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. ³³When they came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. ³⁴On reading the letter, he asked what province he belonged to, and when he learned that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵he said, ‘I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.’ Then he ordered that he be kept under guard in Herod’s headquarters.^*