Psalm 142

New International Version

Psalm 142^[a]

A maskil^[b] of David. When he was in the cave.^(A) A prayer.

¹I cry aloud^(B) to the Lord;
I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.^(C)
²I pour out before him my complaint;^(D)
before him I tell my trouble.^(E)

³When my spirit grows faint^(F) within me,
    it is you who watch over my way.
In the path where I walk
    people have hidden a snare for me.
⁴Look and see, there is no one at my right hand;
    no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;^(G)
    no one cares^(H) for my life.

⁵I cry to you, Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,^(I)
my portion^(J) in the land of the living.”^(K)

⁶Listen to my cry,^(L)
    for I am in desperate need;^(M)
rescue me^(N) from those who pursue me,
    for they are too strong^(O) for me.
⁷Set me free from my prison,^(P)
    that I may praise your name.^(Q)
Then the righteous will gather about me
    because of your goodness to me.^(R)

Footnotes

Psalm 142:1 In Hebrew texts 142:1-7 is numbered 142:2-8.
Psalm 142:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term

Amos 5:1-9

New International Version

A Lament and Call to Repentance

5 Hear this word, Israel, this lament^(A) I take up concerning you:

²“Fallen is Virgin^(B) Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.^(C)”

³This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.^(D)”

⁴This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek^(E) me and live;^(F)
⁵    do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,^(G)
    do not journey to Beersheba.^(H)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.^[a]^(I)”
⁶Seek^(J) the Lord and live,^(K)
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;^(L)
it will devour them,
    and Bethel^(M) will have no one to quench it.^(N)

⁷There are those who turn justice into bitterness^(O)
and cast righteousness^(P) to the ground.^(Q)

⁸He who made the Pleiades and Orion,^(R)
    who turns midnight into dawn^(S)
    and darkens day into night,^(T)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.^(U)
⁹With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.^(V)

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Footnotes

Amos 5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.

Acts 21:27-39

New International Version

Paul Arrested

²⁷When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,^(A) ²⁸shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.”^(B) ²⁹(They had previously seen Trophimus^(C) the Ephesian^(D) in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)

³⁰The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul,^(E) they dragged him^(F) from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. ³¹While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³²He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.^(G)

³³The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound^(H) with two^(I) chains.^(J) Then he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another,^(K) and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.^(L) ³⁵When Paul reached the steps,^(M) the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. ³⁶The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”^(N)

Paul Speaks to the Crowd^(O)

³⁷As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks,^(P) he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”

“Do you speak Greek?” he replied. ³⁸“Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness^(Q) some time ago?”^(R)

³⁹Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus^(S) in Cilicia,^(T) a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”

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