Old/New Testament
Prayer for Help.
43 (A)Vindicate me, God, and (B)plead my case against an ungodly nation;
[a]Save me from (C)the deceitful and unjust person!
2 For You are the (D)God of my strength; why have You (E)rejected me?
Why do I go about (F)mourning [b]because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send out Your (G)light and Your truth, they shall lead me;
They shall bring me to Your (H)holy hill
And to Your (I)dwelling places.
4 Then I will go to (J)the altar of God,
To God [c]my exceeding (K)joy;
And I will praise You on the (L)lyre, God, my God.
5 (M)Why are you [d]in despair, my soul?
And why are you restless within me?
Wait for God, for I will [e]again praise [f]Him
For the [g]help of His presence, my God.
Former Times of Help and Present Troubles.
For the music director. A [h]Maskil of the sons of Korah.
44 God, we have heard with our ears,
Our (N)fathers have told us
The (O)work that You did in their days,
In the (P)days of old.
2 You with Your own hand (Q)drove out the nations;
Then You (R)planted them;
You (S)afflicted the peoples,
Then You (T)let them go free.
3 For by their own sword they (U)did not possess the land,
And their own arm did not save them,
But Your right hand and Your (V)arm and the (W)light of Your presence,
For You (X)favored them.
4 You are (Y)my King, God;
(Z)Command [i]victories for Jacob.
5 Through You we will (AA)push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will (AB)trample down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will (AC)not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
7 But You (AD)have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have (AE)put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have (AF)boasted all day long,
And we will (AG)give thanks to Your name forever. Selah
9 Yet You (AH)have rejected us and brought us to (AI)dishonor,
And (AJ)do not go out with our armies.
10 You cause us to (AK)turn back from the enemy;
And those who hate us (AL)have taken spoils for themselves.
11 You turn us over [j]to be eaten like (AM)sheep,
And have (AN)scattered us among the nations.
12 You (AO)sell Your people [k]cheaply,
And have not [l]profited by their sale.
13 You make us an object of (AP)reproach to our neighbors,
Of scoffing and (AQ)ridicule to those around us.
14 You make us (AR)a proverb among the nations,
A [m](AS)laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me
And [n]I am covered with my (AT)humiliation,
16 Because of the voice of one who (AU)taunts and reviles,
Because of the presence of the (AV)enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, but we have (AW)not forgotten You,
And we have not (AX)dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not (AY)turned back,
And our steps (AZ)have not deviated from Your way,
19 Yet You have (BA)crushed us in a place of (BB)jackals
And covered us with [o](BC)deep darkness.
20 If we had (BD)forgotten the name of our God
Or extended our [p]hands to (BE)a strange god,
21 Would God not (BF)find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 But (BG)for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are regarded as (BH)sheep to be slaughtered.
23 (BI)Wake Yourself up, why (BJ)do You sleep, Lord?
Awake, (BK)do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You (BL)hide Your face
And (BM)forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our (BN)souls have sunk down into the dust;
Our bodies cling to the earth.
26 (BO)Rise up, be our help,
And (BP)redeem us because of Your mercy.
A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.
For the music director; according to the [q]Shoshannim. A [r]Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
45 My heart is moved with a good theme;
I [s]address my [t]verses to the [u]King;
My tongue is the pen of (BQ)a ready writer.
2 You are the most handsome of the sons of mankind;
(BR)Grace is poured [v]upon Your lips;
Therefore God has (BS)blessed You forever.
3 Strap (BT)Your sword on Your thigh, [w](BU)Mighty One,
In Your splendor and majesty!
4 And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,
For the cause of truth, (BV)humility, and righteousness;
Let Your (BW)right hand teach You [x]awesome things.
5 Your (BX)arrows are sharp;
The (BY)peoples fall under You;
Your arrows are (BZ)in the heart of the King’s enemies.
6 (CA)Your throne, God, is forever and ever;
(CB)The scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
7 You have (CC)loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has (CD)anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your companions.
8 All Your garments are fragrant with (CE)myrrh, aloes, and cassia;
From ivory palaces (CF)stringed instruments have made You joyful.
9 Kings’ daughters are among (CG)Your noble women;
At Your (CH)right hand stands the queen in (CI)gold from Ophir.
10 Listen, daughter, look and incline your ear:
(CJ)Forget your people and your father’s house;
11 Then the King will crave your beauty.
Because He is your (CK)Lord, (CL)bow down to Him.
12 The daughter of (CM)Tyre will come with a gift;
The (CN)wealthy among the people will seek your favor.
13 The King’s daughter is all glorious within;
Her clothing is (CO)interwoven with gold.
14 She will be (CP)brought to the King (CQ)in colorful garments;
The (CR)virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.
15 They will be brought with joy and rejoicing;
They will enter into the King’s palace.
27 But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that [a]they were approaching some land. 28 And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms. 29 Fearing that we might (A)run aground somewhere on the [b]rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and [c]prayed for daybreak. 30 But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down (B)the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain on the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the (C)ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.
33 Until the day was about to dawn, Paul kept encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken in nothing. 34 Therefore, I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your survival, for (D)not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” 35 Having said this, he took bread and (E)gave thanks to God in the presence of them all, and he broke it and began to eat. 36 All (F)of them [d]were encouraged and they themselves also took food. 37 We were 276 [e](G)people on the ship in all. 38 When they had eaten enough, they began lightening the ship by (H)throwing the wheat out into the sea.
39 Now when day came, (I)they [f]could not recognize the land; but they did notice a bay with a beach, and they resolved to run the ship onto it if they could. 40 And casting off (J)the anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders; and they hoisted the foresail to the wind and were heading for the beach. 41 But they struck a [g]reef where two seas met and ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck firmly and remained immovable, while the stern started to break up due to the force of the waves. 42 The soldiers’ plan was to (K)kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape; 43 but the centurion, (L)wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from accomplishing their intention, and commanded that those who could swim were to [h]jump overboard first and get to land, 44 and the rest were to follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it happened that (M)they all were brought safely to land.
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