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Psalm 8

1  O Lord our governor, ♦︎
   how glorious is your name in all the world!
2  Your majesty above the heavens is praised ♦︎
   out of the mouths of babes at the breast.
3  You have founded a stronghold against your foes, ♦︎
   that you might still the enemy and the avenger.
4  When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, ♦︎
   the moon and the stars that you have ordained,
5  What is man, that you should be mindful of him; ♦︎
   the son of man, that you should seek him out?
6  You have made him little lower than the angels ♦︎
   and crown him with glory and honour.
7  You have given him dominion over the works of your hands ♦︎
   and put all things under his feet,
8  All sheep and oxen, ♦︎
   even the wild beasts of the field,
9  The birds of the air, the fish of the sea ♦︎
   and whatsoever moves in the paths of the sea.
10  O Lord our governor, ♦︎
   how glorious is your name in all the world!

Psalm 10

1  Why stand so far off, O Lord? ♦︎
   Why hide yourself in time of trouble?
2  The wicked in their pride persecute the poor; ♦︎
   let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.
3  The wicked boast of their heart’s desire; ♦︎
   the covetous curse and revile the Lord.
4  The wicked in their arrogance say, ‘God will not avenge it’; ♦︎
   in all their scheming God counts for nothing.
5  They are stubborn in all their ways,
      for your judgements are far above out of their sight; ♦︎
   they scoff at all their adversaries.
6  They say in their heart, ‘I shall not be shaken; ♦︎
   no harm shall ever happen to me.’
7  Their mouth is full of cursing, deceit and fraud; ♦︎
   under their tongue lie mischief and wrong.
8  They lurk in the outskirts
      and in dark alleys they murder the innocent; ♦︎
   their eyes are ever watching for the helpless.
9  They lie in wait, like a lion in his den;
      they lie in wait to seize the poor; ♦︎
   they seize the poor when they get them into their net.
10  The innocent are broken and humbled before them; ♦︎
   the helpless fall before their power.
11  They say in their heart, ‘God has forgotten; ♦︎
   he hides his face away; he will never see it.’
12  Arise, O Lord God, and lift up your hand; ♦︎
   forget not the poor.
13  Why should the wicked be scornful of God? ♦︎
   Why should they say in their hearts, ‘You will not avenge it’?
14  Surely, you behold trouble and misery; ♦︎
   you see it and take it into your own hand.
15  The helpless commit themselves to you, ♦︎
   for you are the helper of the orphan.
16  Break the power of the wicked and malicious; ♦︎
   search out their wickedness until you find none.
17  The Lord shall reign for ever and ever; ♦︎
   the nations shall perish from his land.
18  Lord, you will hear the desire of the poor; ♦︎
   you will incline your ear to the fullness of their heart,
19  To give justice to the orphan and oppressed, ♦︎
   so that people are no longer driven in terror from the land.

Israel’s Apostasy

8Set the trumpet to your lips!
   One like a vulture^* is over the house of the Lord,
because they have broken my covenant,
   and transgressed my law.
² Israel cries to me,
   ‘My God, we—Israel—know you!’
³ Israel has spurned the good;
   the enemy shall pursue him.

⁴ They made kings, but not through me;
   they set up princes, but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold they made idols
   for their own destruction.
⁵ Your calf is rejected, O Samaria.
   My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
⁶   For it is from Israel,
an artisan made it;
   it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
   shall be broken to pieces.^*

⁷ For they sow the wind,
   and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads,
   it shall yield no meal;
if it were to yield,
   foreigners would devour it.
⁸ Israel is swallowed up;
   now they are among the nations
   as a useless vessel.
⁹ For they have gone up to Assyria,
   a wild ass wandering alone;
   Ephraim has bargained for lovers.
¹⁰ Though they bargain with the nations,
   I will now gather them up.
They shall soon writhe
   under the burden of kings and princes.

¹¹ When Ephraim multiplied altars to expiate sin,
   they became to him altars for sinning.
¹² Though I write for him the multitude of my instructions,
   they are regarded as a strange thing.
¹³ Though they offer choice sacrifices,^*
   though they eat flesh,
   the Lord does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity,
   and punish their sins;
   they shall return to Egypt.
¹⁴ Israel has forgotten his Maker,
   and built palaces;
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
   but I will send a fire upon his cities,
   and it shall devour his strongholds.

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.’