Psalms 40–42; Acts 18

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Psalms 40–42

My Help and My Deliverer

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

I uwaited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and vheard my cry.

He drew me up from wthe pit of destruction,

out of xthe miry bog,

and yset my feet upon a rock,

zmaking my steps secure.

He put aa new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will bsee and fear,

and put their trust in the Lord.

Blessed is the man who cmakes

the Lord his trust,

who does not turn to the proud,

to those who dgo astray after a lie!

You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

your ewondrous deeds and your fthoughts toward us;

none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

yet they are gmore than can be told.

hIn sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

but you have given me an open iear.1

Burnt offering and sin offering

you have not required.

Then I said, Behold, I have come;

in the scroll of the book it is written jof me:

kI delight to do your will, O my God;

your law is lwithin my heart.

I have told the glad news of deliverance2

in mthe great congregation;

behold, I have not nrestrained my lips,

oas you know, O Lord.

10  I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;

I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness

from the great congregation.

11  As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain

your mercy from me;

your psteadfast love and your faithfulness will

ever preserve me!

12  For evils have qencompassed me

beyond number;

my riniquities have overtaken me,

and I cannot ssee;

they are tmore than the hairs of my head;

my heart ufails me.

13  vBe pleased, O Lord, to wdeliver me!

O Lord, xmake haste to help me!

14  yLet those be put to shame and disappointed altogether

who seek to snatch away my life;

let those be zturned back and brought to dishonor

who delight in my hurt!

15  Let those be appalled because of their shame

who asay to me, Aha, Aha!

16  But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation

bsay continually, Great is the Lord!

17  As for me, I am cpoor and needy,

but dthe Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, O my God!

O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

eBlessed is the one who considers the poor!3

fIn the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;

the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;

he is called blessed in the land;

you gdo not give him up to the will of his enemies.

The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;

in his illness you restore him to full health.4

As for me, I said, O Lord, hbe gracious to me;

iheal me,5 for I have sinned against you!

My enemies say of me in malice,

When will he die, and his name perish?

And when one comes to see me, jhe utters empty words,

while his heart gathers iniquity;

when he goes out, he tells it abroad.

All who hate me whisper together about me;

they imagine the worst for me.6

They say, A deadly thing is poured out7 on him;

he will not rise again from where he lies.

Even my kclose friend in whom I trusted,

who late my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

10  But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,

and raise me up, that I may repay them!

11  By this I know that myou delight in me:

my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

12  But nyou have upheld me because of omy integrity,

and pset me in your presence qforever.

13  rBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil8 of sthe Sons of Korah.

tAs a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants my soul for you, O God.

uMy soul thirsts for God,

for vthe living God.

When shall I come and wappear before God?9

xMy tears have been my food

day and night,

ywhile they say to me all the day long,

Where is your God?

These things I remember,

as I zpour out my soul:

ahow I would go bwith the throng

and lead them in procession to the house of God

with glad shouts and songs of praise,

ca multitude keeping festival.

dWhy are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you ein turmoil within me?

fHope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation10 and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;

therefore I gremember you

hfrom the land of Jordan and of iHermon,

from Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep

at the roar of your waterfalls;

jall your breakers and your kwaves

have gone over me.

By day the Lord lcommands his steadfast love,

and at mnight his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

I say to God, nmy rock:

Why have you forgotten me?

oWhy do I go mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?

10  As with a deadly wound in my bones,

my adversaries taunt me,

pwhile they say to me all the day long,

Where is your God?

11  qWhy are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation and my God.


Acts 18

Paul in Corinth

After this Paul1 left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named vAquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife vPriscilla, because wClaudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and xbecause he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. And yhe reasoned in the synagogue yevery Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

zWhen Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul awas occupied with the word, btestifying to the Jews that the Christ was cJesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, dhe shook out his garments and said to them, eYour blood be on your own heads! fI am innocent. gFrom now on I will go to the Gentiles. And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius hJustus, ia worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. jCrispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together kwith his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul lone night in ma vision, nDo not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 nfor I am with you, and ono one will attack you to harm you, for pI have many in this city who are my people. 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

12 But when Gallio was qproconsul of Achaia, rthe Jews2 made a united attack on Paul and sbrought him before the tribunal, 13 saying, This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to tthe law. 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious ucrime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 But vsince it is a matter of questions about words and names and wyour own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things. 16 And he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

Paul Returns to Antioch

18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of xthe brothers3 and set sail for Syria, and with him yPriscilla and Aquila. At zCenchreae ahe had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. 19 And they came to bEphesus, and he left them there, but che himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. 21 But on taking leave of them he said, I will return to you dif God wills, and he set sail from Ephesus.

22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he ewent up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time there, he departed and fwent from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, gstrengthening all the disciples.

Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus

24 Now a Jew named hApollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, icompetent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in jthe way of the Lord. And kbeing fervent in spirit,4 he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only lthe baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when mPriscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him nthe way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross to oAchaia, pthe brothers encouraged him and qwrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, rhe greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures sthat the Christ was Jesus.