Old/New Testament
A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.
10 Why (A)do You stand far away, Lord?
Why (B)do You hide [a]Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In (C)arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the needy;
[b]Let them be (D)caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of his (F)soul’s desire,
And [c]the greedy person curses and (G)shows disrespect to the Lord.
4 The wicked, [d]in his haughtiness, (H)does not seek Him.
(I)There is no God in all his schemes.
5 His ways (J)succeed at all times;
Yet Your judgments are on high, (K)out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, “(L)I will not be moved;
[e]Throughout the generations (M)I will not be in adversity.”
7 His (N)mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and (O)oppression;
(P)Under his tongue is harm and injustice.
8 He sits in the (Q)lurking places of the villages;
He (R)kills the innocent in the secret places;
His eyes [f]surreptitiously watch for the [g](S)unfortunate.
9 He lurks in secret like (T)a lion in his [h]lair;
He (U)lurks to catch (V)the needy;
He catches the needy when he pulls him into his (W)net.
10 Then he crushes the needy one, who cowers;
And [i]unfortunate people fall by his mighty power.
11 He (X)says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
12 Arise, Lord; God, (Y)lift up Your hand.
(Z)Do not forget the humble.
13 Why has the wicked (AA)treated God disrespectfully?
He has said to himself, “[j]You will not require an account.”
14 You have seen it, for You have looked at (AB)harm and provocation to [k]take it into Your hand.
The [l](AC)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the (AD)helper of the orphan.
15 (AE)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
[m](AF)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
16 The Lord is (AG)King forever and ever;
(AH)Nations have perished from His land.
17 Lord, You have heard the (AI)desire of the humble;
You will (AJ)strengthen their heart, (AK)You will make Your ear attentive
18 To [n]vindicate the (AL)orphan and the (AM)oppressed,
So that mankind, which is of the earth, will no longer cause (AN)terror.
The Lord, a Refuge and Defense.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
11 In the Lord I (AO)take refuge;
How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your (AP)mountain?
2 For, behold, the wicked (AQ)bend the bow,
They have [o](AR)set their arrow on the string
To (AS)shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
3 If the (AT)foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in His (AU)holy temple; the [p]Lord’s (AV)throne is in heaven;
His (AW)eyes see, His eyelids test the sons of mankind.
5 The Lord (AX)tests the righteous and (AY)the wicked,
And His soul hates one who loves violence.
6 He will (AZ)rain [q]coals of fire upon the wicked,
(BA)And brimstone and (BB)burning wind will be the portion of (BC)their cup.
7 For the Lord is (BD)righteous, (BE)He loves [r]righteousness;
The upright will (BF)see His face.
God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
For the music director; [s]upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord, for (BG)the godly person has come to an end,
For the faithful have disappeared from the sons of mankind.
2 They (BH)speak [t]lies to one another;
They speak with [u](BI)flattering lips and a double heart.
3 May the Lord cut off all [v]flattering lips,
The tongue that (BJ)speaks great things;
4 Who (BK)have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are [w]our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the (BL)devastation of the poor, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now (BM)I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will (BN)put him in the safety for which he longs.”
Paul in Ephesus
19 Now it happened that while (A)Apollos was in (B)Corinth, Paul passed through the (C)upper country and came to (D)Ephesus, and found some disciples. 2 He said to them, “(E)Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, (F)we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “(G)Into John’s baptism.” 4 Paul said, “(H)John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people (I)to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 When they heard this, they were (J)baptized [a]in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had (K)laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began (L)speaking with tongues and (M)prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
8 And he entered (N)the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, having discussions and persuading them (O)about the kingdom of God. 9 But when (P)some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of [b](Q)the Way before the [c]people, he withdrew from them and took (R)the disciples away with him, and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 This took place for (S)two years, so that all who lived in [d](T)Asia heard (U)the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
Miracles at Ephesus
11 God was performing (V)extraordinary [e]miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 (W)so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and (X)the evil spirits went out. 13 But also some of the Jewish (Y)exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to [f]use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!” 14 Now there were seven sons of [g]Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this. 15 But the evil spirit responded and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit, pounced on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to all who lived in (Z)Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 18 Also many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. 19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of [h]the books and found it to be fifty thousand [i](AA)pieces of silver. 20 So [j](AB)the word of the Lord (AC)was growing and prevailing mightily.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.