Psalm 13-15

New King James Version

Trust in the Salvation of the Lord

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
^(A)How long will You hide Your face from me?
²How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

³Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;
^(B)Enlighten my eyes,
^(C)Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
⁴Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

⁵But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
⁶I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Folly of the Godless, and God’s Final Triumph^(D)

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

14 The ^(E)fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.

²^(F)The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
³^(G)They have all turned aside,
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.

⁴Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And ^(H)do not call on the Lord?
⁵There they are in great fear,
For God is with the generation of the righteous.
⁶You shame the counsel of the poor,
But the Lord is his ^(I)refuge.

⁷^(J)Oh,^[a] that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
^(K)When the Lord brings back ^[b]the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

The Character of Those Who May Dwell with the Lord

A Psalm of David.

15 Lord, ^(L)who may ^[c]abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

²He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the ^(M)truth in his heart;
³He who ^(N)does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
^(O)Nor does he ^[d]take up a reproach against his friend;
⁴^(P)In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who ^(Q)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
⁵He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things ^(R)shall never be moved.

Footnotes

Psalm 14:7 Lit. Who will give out of Zion the salvation of Israel?
Psalm 14:7 Or His captive people
Psalm 15:1 sojourn
Psalm 15:3 receive

Acts 19:21-41

New King James Version

The Riot at Ephesus

²¹^(A)When these things were accomplished, Paul ^(B)purposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through ^(C)Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, ^(D)I must also see Rome.” ²²So he sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, ^(E)Timothy and ^(F)Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a time.

²³And ^(G)about that time there arose a great commotion about ^(H)the Way. ²⁴For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of ^[a]Diana, brought ^(I)no small profit to the craftsmen. ²⁵He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. ²⁶Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that ^(J)they are not gods which are made with hands. ²⁷So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and ^[b]her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” ²⁹So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized ^(K)Gaius and ^(L)Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions. ³⁰And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him. ³¹Then some of the ^[c]officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater. ³²Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And ^(M)Alexander ^(N)motioned with his hand, and wanted to make his defense to the people. ³⁴But when they found out that he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

³⁵And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the great goddess ^[d]Diana, and of the image which fell down from ^[e]Zeus? ³⁶Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. ³⁷For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of ^[f]your goddess. ³⁸Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a ^[g]case against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹But if you have any other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly. ⁴⁰For we are in danger of being ^[h]called in question for today’s uproar, there being no reason which we may give to account for this disorderly gathering.” ⁴¹And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.