Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - One Year Bible - July 3 Part B

AM - Devotion /Prayer

Workout: Insanity (as a warm up) / P90x Bicep and Backs

Proverbs 18:11-12; Acts 21:37-22:15; Psalm 1:1-6

Acts 21:37-22:15

New Living Translation (NLT)

Paul Speaks to the Crowd

³⁷ As Paul was about to be taken inside, he said to the commander, “May I have a word with you?”

“Do you know Greek?” the commander asked, surprised. ³⁸ “Aren’t you the Egyptian who led a rebellion some time ago and took 4,000 members of the Assassins out into the desert?”
³⁹ “No,” Paul replied, “I am a Jew and a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, which is an important city. Please, let me talk to these people.” ⁴⁰ The commander agreed, so Paul stood on the stairs and motioned to the people to be quiet. Soon a deep silence enveloped the crowd, and he addressed them in their own language, Aramaic.^[a]

22 “Brothers and esteemed fathers,” Paul said, “listen to me as I offer my defense.” ² When they heard him speaking in their own language,^[b] the silence was even greater.

³ Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today. ⁴ And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison. ⁵ The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the Christians from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.
⁶ “As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
⁸ “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.
“And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene,^[c] the one you are persecuting.’ ⁹ The people with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice speaking to me.
¹⁰ “I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’
“And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do.’
¹¹ “I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions. ¹² A man named Ananias lived there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus. ¹³ He came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very moment I could see him!
¹⁴ “Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak. ¹⁵ For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard.

Footnotes:

Psalm 1:1-6

New Living Translation (NLT)

Book One (Psalms 1–41)

Psalm 1

¹ Oh, the joys of those who do not
    follow the advice of the wicked,
    or stand around with sinners,
    or join in with mockers.
² But they delight in the law of the Lord,
    meditating on it day and night.
³ They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
    bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
    and they prosper in all they do.

⁴ But not the wicked!
    They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
⁵ They will be condemned at the time of judgment.
    Sinners will have no place among the godly.
⁶ For the Lord watches over the path of the godly,
    but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

Proverbs 18:11-12

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹¹ The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense;
    they imagine it to be a high wall of safety.

¹² Haughtiness goes before destruction;
    humility precedes honor.