Psalms 54–56; Acts 21:1–17

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Psalms 54–56

The Lord Upholds My Life

To the choirmaster: with tstringed instruments. A Maskil1 of David, uwhen the Ziphites went and told Saul, Is not David hiding among us?

O God, save me by your vname,

and vindicate me by your might.

O God, whear my prayer;

give ear to the words of my mouth.

xFor ystrangers2 have risen against me;

ruthless men zseek my life;

they do not set God before themselves. Selah

Behold, aGod is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder of my life.

He will return the evil to my enemies;

in your bfaithfulness cput an end to them.

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;

I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, dfor it is good.

For he has delivered me from every trouble,

and my eye has elooked in triumph on my enemies.

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

To the choirmaster: with fstringed instruments. A Maskil3 of David.

gGive ear to my prayer, O God,

and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!

Attend to me, and answer me;

I am restless hin my complaint and I imoan,

because of the noise of the enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they jdrop trouble upon me,

and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

My heart is in anguish within me;

kthe terrors of death have fallen upon me.

Fear and trembling come upon me,

and lhorror moverwhelms me.

And I say, Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest;

nyes, I would wander far away;

I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah

I would hurry to find a shelter

from othe raging wind and tempest.

Destroy, O Lord, pdivide their tongues;

for I see qviolence and strife in the city.

10  Day and night they go around it

on its walls,

and riniquity and trouble are within it;

11  ruin is in its midst;

soppression and fraud

do not depart from its marketplace.

12  For it is not an enemy who taunts me

then I could bear it;

it is not an adversary who tdeals insolently with me

then I could hide from him.

13  uBut it is you, a man, my equal,

my companion, my familiar friend.

14  We used to take sweet counsel together;

within God’s house we walked in vthe throng.

15  Let death steal over them;

let them go down to Sheol walive;

for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

16  But I call to God,

and the Lord will save me.

17  xEvening and ymorning and at znoon

I autter my complaint and moan,

and he hears my voice.

18  He redeems my soul in safety

from the battle that I wage,

for bmany are arrayed against me.

19  God will give ear and humble them,

he who is centhroned from of old, Selah

because they do not dchange

and do not fear God.

20  My companion4 estretched out his hand against his friends;

he violated his covenant.

21  His fspeech was gsmooth as butter,

yet war was in his heart;

his words were softer than oil,

yet they were hdrawn swords.

22  iCast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

jhe will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

23  But you, O God, kwill cast them down

into lthe pit of destruction;

men of mblood and treachery

shall not nlive out half their days.

But I will otrust in you.

In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A pMiktam5 of David, when the qPhilistines seized him in Gath.

rBe gracious to me, O God, for man stramples on me;

all day long an attacker oppresses me;

my enemies trample on me all day long,

for many attack me proudly.

When I am afraid,

I tput my trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.

What can flesh do to me?

All day long they injure my cause;6

all their thoughts are against me for evil.

They vstir up strife, they wlurk;

they xwatch my steps,

as they have waited for my life.

For their crime will they escape?

yIn wrath zcast down the peoples, O God!

You have kept count of my tossings;7

aput my tears in your bottle.

bAre they not in your book?

Then my enemies will turn back

cin the day when I call.

This I know, that8 dGod is for me.

10  In God, whose word I praise,

in the Lord, whose word I praise,

11  in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

12  I must perform my evows to you, O God;

I will erender thank offerings to you.

13  fFor you have delivered my soul from death,

yes, my feet from falling,

gthat I may walk before God

hin the light of life.


Acts 21:1–17

Paul Goes to Jerusalem

And when swe had parted from them and set sail, we tcame by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.1 And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And uthrough the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, vaccompanied us until we were outside the city. And wkneeling down on the beach, we prayed and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted xthe brothers2 and stayed with them for one day. On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of yPhilip zthe evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters, awho prophesied. 10 While we were staying for many days, a prophet named bAgabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, he ctook Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, dThus says the Holy Spirit, eThis is how the Jews3 at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and fdeliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. 12 When we heard this, we and the people there gurged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, gWhat are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For hI am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem ifor the name of the Lord Jesus. 14 And since he would not be persuaded, jwe ceased and said, kLet the will of the Lord be done.

15 After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16 And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.

Paul Visits James

17 When we had come to Jerusalem, lthe brothers received us gladly.