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The Apostles Are Persecuted

17 Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, ¹⁸arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. ¹⁹But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said, ²⁰‘Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.’ ²¹When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching.

When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ²²But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported, ²³‘We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.’ ²⁴Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on. ²⁵Then someone arrived and announced, ‘Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!’ ²⁶Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

Psalm 34

Praise for Deliverance from Trouble

Of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
¹ I will bless the Lord at all times;
   his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
² My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
   let the humble hear and be glad.
³ O magnify the Lord with me,
   and let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me,
   and delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ Look to him, and be radiant;
   so your^* faces shall never be ashamed.
⁶ This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord,
   and was saved from every trouble.
⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps
   around those who fear him, and delivers them.
⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good;
   happy are those who take refuge in him.
⁹ O fear the Lord, you his holy ones,
   for those who fear him have no want.
¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger,
   but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, O children, listen to me;
   I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹² Which of you desires life,
   and covets many days to enjoy good?
¹³ Keep your tongue from evil,
   and your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴ Depart from evil, and do good;
   seek peace, and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
   and his ears are open to their cry.
¹⁶ The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
   to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
¹⁷ When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears,
   and rescues them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is near to the broken-hearted,
   and saves the crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
   but the Lord rescues them from them all.
²⁰ He keeps all their bones;
   not one of them will be broken.
²¹ Evil brings death to the wicked,
   and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
²² The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
   none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

16 ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

17 ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’^*