Psalm 7-9

New American Standard Bible

The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.

A ^[a]Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord ^[b]concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.

7 O Lord my God, ^(A)in You I have taken refuge;
Save me from all those who pursue me, and ^(B)rescue me,
²Or he will tear ^[c]my soul ^(C)like a lion,
Dragging me away, while there is no one to rescue me.

³O Lord my God, if I have done this,
If there is ^(D)injustice in my hands,
⁴If I have ^(E)done evil to ^[d]my friend,
Or have ^(F)plundered ^[e]my enemy for no reason,
⁵Let the enemy pursue ^[f]my soul and overtake ^[g]it;
And let him trample my life to the ground
And lay my glory in the dust. Selah

⁶^(G)Arise, Lord, in Your anger;
^(H)Raise Yourself against ^(I)the rage of my enemies,
And ^(J)stir Yourself ^[h]for me; You have ordered judgment.
⁷Let the assembly of the ^(K)peoples encompass You,
And return on high over it.
⁸The Lord ^(L)judges the peoples;
^[i]^(M)Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
⁹Please let ^(N)the evil of the wicked come to an end, but ^(O)establish the righteous;
For the righteous God ^(P)puts hearts and ^[j]minds to the test.
¹⁰My ^(Q)shield is ^[k]with God,
Who ^(R)saves the upright in heart.
¹¹God is a ^(S)righteous judge,
And a God who ^(T)shows indignation every day.

¹²If one ^(U)does not repent, He will ^(V)sharpen His sword;
He has ^(W)bent His bow and taken aim.
¹³He has also prepared deadly weapons for Himself;
He makes His ^(X)arrows fiery shafts.
¹⁴Behold, an evil person is pregnant with injustice,
And he ^(Y)conceives harm and gives birth to lies.
¹⁵He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has ^(Z)fallen into the hole which he made.
¹⁶His ^(AA)harm will return on his own head,
And his ^(AB)violence will descend on the top of his own head.

¹⁷I will give thanks to the Lord ^(AC)according to His righteousness
And will ^(AD)sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

The Lord’s Glory and Mankind’s Dignity.

For the music director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

8 Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
You who have ^[l]^(AE)displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
²^(AF)From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established ^[m]^(AG)strength
Because of Your enemies,
To do away with ^(AH)the enemy and the revengeful.

³When I ^[n]^(AI)consider ^(AJ)Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The ^(AK)moon and the stars, which You have set in place;
⁴^(AL)What is man that You think of him,
And a son of man that You are concerned about him?
⁵Yet You have made him a ^(AM)little lower than ^[o]God,
And ^(AN)You crown him with ^(AO)glory and majesty!
⁶You have him ^(AP)rule over the works of Your hands;
You have ^(AQ)put everything under his feet,
⁷All sheep and oxen,
And also the animals of the field,
⁸The birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

⁹^(AR)Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.

For the music director; on ^[p]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

9 I will give thanks to the Lord with all ^(AS)my heart;
I will ^(AT)tell of all Your ^[q]wonders.
²I will rejoice and be ^(AU)jubilant in You;
I will ^(AV)sing praise to Your name, O ^(AW)Most High.

³When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and ^(AX)perish before You.
⁴For You have ^(AY)maintained ^[r]my just cause;
You have sat on the throne ^[s]^(AZ)judging righteously.
⁵You have ^(BA)rebuked the nations, You have eliminated the wicked;
You have ^(BB)wiped out their name forever and ever.
⁶^[t]The enemy has come to an end in everlasting ruins,
And You have uprooted the cities;
The very ^(BC)memory of them has perished.

⁷But the ^(BD)Lord ^[u]sits as King forever;
He has established His ^(BE)throne for judgment,
⁸And He will ^(BF)judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples fairly.
⁹^[v]The Lord will also be a ^(BG)stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;
¹⁰And ^[w]those who ^(BH)know Your name will put their trust in You,
For You, Lord, have not ^(BI)abandoned those who seek You.

¹¹Sing praises to the Lord, who ^(BJ)dwells in Zion;
^(BK)Declare His deeds among the peoples.
¹²For ^(BL)He who ^[x]requires blood remembers them;
He does not forget ^(BM)the cry of the needy.
¹³Be gracious to me, Lord;
See my oppression from those ^(BN)who hate me,
You who ^(BO)lift me up from the gates of death,
¹⁴So that I may tell of ^(BP)all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may ^(BQ)rejoice in Your ^[y]salvation.
¹⁵The nations have sunk down ^(BR)into the pit which they have made;
In the ^(BS)net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
¹⁶The Lord has ^(BT)made Himself known;
He has ^(BU)executed judgment.
A wicked one is ensnared in the work of his own hands. ^[z]Higgaion Selah

¹⁷The wicked will ^[aa]^(BV)return to ^[ab]Sheol,
All the nations who ^(BW)forget God.
¹⁸For the ^(BX)needy will not always be forgotten,
Nor the ^(BY)hope of the afflicted perish forever.
¹⁹^(BZ)Arise, Lord, do not let mankind prevail;
Let the nations be ^(CA)judged before You.
²⁰Put them ^(CB)in fear, Lord;
Let the nations know that they are ^(CC)merely human. Selah

Footnotes

Psalm 7 Title I.e., Dithyrambic rhythm; or wild, passionate song
Psalm 7 Title Or concerning the words of
Psalm 7:2 Or me
Psalm 7:4 Lit him who was at peace with me
Psalm 7:4 Or him who for no reason was my enemy,
Psalm 7:5 Or me
Psalm 7:5 Or me
Psalm 7:6 One ancient version reads O my God
Psalm 7:8 Lit Judge
Psalm 7:9 Lit kidneys, figurative for inner man
Psalm 7:10 Lit upon
Psalm 8:1 Lit put
Psalm 8:2 Or a strength
Psalm 8:3 Or see
Psalm 8:5 LXX angels
Psalm 9 Title Meaning of the Heb uncertain
Psalm 9:1 Or miracles
Psalm 9:4 Lit my right and my cause
Psalm 9:4 Or a righteous Judge
Psalm 9:6 Or O enemy, desolations are finished forever; And their cities You have uprooted
Psalm 9:7 Or remains forever
Psalm 9:9 Or Let the Lord also be
Psalm 9:10 Or let those...name put
Psalm 9:12 I.e., avenges bloodshed
Psalm 9:14 Or deliverance
Psalm 9:16 Perhaps, resounding music or meditation
Psalm 9:17 Or turn
Psalm 9:17 I.e., the netherworld

Acts 18

New American Standard Bible

Paul in Corinth

18 After these events Paul left ^(A)Athens and went to ^(B)Corinth. ²And he found a Jew named ^(C)Aquila, a native of ^(D)Pontus having recently come from ^(E)Italy with his wife ^(F)Priscilla, because ^(G)Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, ³and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and ^(H)they worked together, for they were tent-makers by trade. ⁴And Paul was reasoning ^(I)in the synagogue every ^(J)Sabbath and trying to persuade ^(K)Jews and Greeks.

⁵But when ^(L)Silas and Timothy ^(M)came down from ^(N)Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, ^(O)testifying to the Jews that ^(P)Jesus was the ^[a]Christ. ⁶But when they resisted and blasphemed, he ^(Q)shook out his garments and said to them, “Your ^(R)blood is ^[b]on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go ^(S)to the Gentiles.” ⁷Then he left ^[c]the synagogue and went to the house of a man named ^[d]Titius Justus, ^(T)a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. ⁸^(U)Crispus, ^(V)the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord ^(W)together with his entire household; and many of the ^(X)Corinthians, as they listened to Paul, were believing and being baptized. ⁹And the Lord said to Paul by ^(Y)a vision at night, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; ¹⁰for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” ¹¹And he settled there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²But while Gallio was ^(Z)proconsul of ^(AA)Achaia, ^(AB)the Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before ^(AC)the ^[e]judgment seat, ¹³saying, “This man is inciting the people to worship God contrary to ^(AD)the ^[f]law.” ¹⁴But when Paul was about to ^(AE)open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or vicious, unscrupulous act, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; ¹⁵but if there are ^[g]^(AF)questions about ^[h]teaching and ^[i]persons and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.” ¹⁶And he drove them away from ^(AG)the ^[j]judgment seat. ¹⁷But they all took hold of ^(AH)Sosthenes, ^(AI)the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of ^(AJ)the judgment seat. And yet Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

¹⁸Now Paul, when he had remained many days longer, ^(AK)took leave of ^(AL)the brothers and sisters and sailed away to ^(AM)Syria, and ^(AN)Priscilla and ^(AO)Aquila were with him. ^[k]Paul first ^(AP)had his hair cut at ^(AQ)Cenchrea, for he was keeping a vow. ¹⁹They came to ^(AR)Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered ^(AS)the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent, ²¹but ^(AT)took leave of them and said, “I will return to you again ^(AU)if God wills,” and he set sail from ^(AV)Ephesus.

²²When he had landed in ^(AW)Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and went down to ^(AX)Antioch.

Third Missionary Journey

²³And after spending some time there, he left and passed successively through the ^(AY)Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴Now a Jew named ^(AZ)Apollos, an ^(BA)Alexandrian by birth, ^[l]an eloquent man, came to ^(BB)Ephesus; and he was proficient in the Scriptures. ²⁵This man had been instructed in ^(BC)the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was accurately speaking and teaching things about Jesus, being acquainted only with ^(BD)the baptism of John; ²⁶and ^[m]he began speaking boldly in the synagogue. But when ^(BE)Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained ^(BF)the way of God more accurately to him. ²⁷And when he wanted to go across to ^(BG)Achaia, ^(BH)the brothers encouraged him and wrote to ^(BI)the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly ^[n]helped those who had believed through grace, ²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating ^(BJ)by the Scriptures that ^(BK)Jesus was the ^[o]Christ.