“Listen, my people, and I will speak;
    I will testify(A) against you, Israel:
    I am God, your God.(B)
I bring no charges(C) against you concerning your sacrifices
    or concerning your burnt offerings,(D) which are ever before me.
I have no need of a bull(E) from your stall
    or of goats(F) from your pens,(G)
10 for every animal of the forest(H) is mine,
    and the cattle on a thousand hills.(I)
11 I know every bird(J) in the mountains,
    and the insects in the fields(K) are mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
    for the world(L) is mine, and all that is in it.(M)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?

14 “Sacrifice thank offerings(N) to God,
    fulfill your vows(O) to the Most High,(P)
15 and call(Q) on me in the day of trouble;(R)
    I will deliver(S) you, and you will honor(T) me.”

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Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.

I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.

I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.

10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.

12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

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40 Let us examine our ways and test them,(A)
    and let us return to the Lord.(B)
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
    to God in heaven,(C) and say:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled(D)
    and you have not forgiven.(E)

43 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued(F) us;
    you have slain without pity.(G)
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud(H)
    so that no prayer(I) can get through.(J)
45 You have made us scum(K) and refuse
    among the nations.

46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
    wide(L) against us.(M)
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,(N)
    ruin and destruction.(O)
48 Streams of tears(P) flow from my eyes(Q)
    because my people are destroyed.(R)

49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
    without relief,(S)
50 until the Lord looks down
    from heaven and sees.(T)
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
    because of all the women of my city.

52 Those who were my enemies without cause
    hunted me like a bird.(U)
53 They tried to end my life in a pit(V)
    and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head,(W)
    and I thought I was about to perish.(X)

55 I called on your name, Lord,
    from the depths(Y) of the pit.(Z)
56 You heard my plea:(AA) “Do not close your ears
    to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near(AB) when I called you,
    and you said, “Do not fear.”(AC)

58 You, Lord, took up my case;(AD)
    you redeemed my life.(AE)

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40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.

41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.

42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.

43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.

44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.

45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.

46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.

48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission.

50 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven.

51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.

52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.

53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.

54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.

55 I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.

56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.

57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.

58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.

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Paul Ashore on Malta

28 Once safely on shore, we(A) found out that the island(B) was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand,(C) they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.”(D) But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.(E) The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.(F)

There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer,(G) placed his hands on him(H) and healed him.(I) When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. 10 They honored us(J) in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.

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28 And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.

And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.

And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.

And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.

Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.

And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.

So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed:

10 Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary.

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