Psalm 53

New King James Version

Folly of the Godless, and the Restoration of Israel^(A)

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath.” A ^[a]Contemplation of David.

53 The ^(B)fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
^(C)There is none who does good.

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

⁴Have the workers of iniquity ^(E)no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon God?
⁵^(F)There they are in great fear
Where no fear was,
For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you;
You have put them to shame,
Because God has despised them.

⁶^(G)Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God brings back ^[b]the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

Footnotes

Psalm 53:1 Heb. Maschil
Psalm 53:6 Or His captive people

Psalm 54

New King James Version

Answered Prayer for Deliverance from Adversaries

To the Chief Musician. With ^[a]stringed instruments. A ^[b]Contemplation of David ^(A)when the Ziphites went and said to Saul, “Is David not hiding with us?”

54 Save me, O God, by Your name,
And vindicate me by Your strength.
²Hear my prayer, O God;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
³For strangers have risen up against me,
And oppressors have sought after my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah

⁴Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is with those who ^[c]uphold my life.
⁵He will repay my enemies for their evil.
^[d]Cut them off in Your ^[e]truth.

⁶I will freely sacrifice to You;
I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good.
⁷For He has delivered me out of all trouble;
^(B)And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.

Footnotes

Psalm 54:1 Heb. neginoth
Psalm 54:1 Heb. Maschil
Psalm 54:4 sustain my soul
Psalm 54:5 Destroy them
Psalm 54:5 Or faithfulness

Psalm 55

New King James Version

Trust in God Concerning the Treachery of Friends

To the Chief Musician. With ^[a]stringed instruments. A ^[b]Contemplation of David.

55 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
²Attend to me, and hear me;
I ^(A)am^[c] restless in my complaint, and moan noisily,
³Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the oppression of the wicked;
^(B)For they bring down trouble upon me,
And in wrath they hate me.

⁴^(C)My heart is severely pained within me,
And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
⁵Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me,
And horror has overwhelmed me.
⁶So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
⁷Indeed, I would wander far off,
And remain in the wilderness. Selah
⁸I would hasten my escape
From the windy storm and tempest.”

⁹Destroy, O Lord, and divide their ^[d]tongues,
For I have seen ^(D)violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰Day and night they go around it on its walls;
^(E)Iniquity and trouble are also in the midst of it.
¹¹Destruction is in its midst;
^(F)Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets.

¹²^(G)For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;
Then I could bear it.
Nor is it one who hates me who has ^(H)exalted himself against me;
Then I could hide from him.
¹³But it was you, a man my equal,
^(I)My companion and my acquaintance.
¹⁴We took sweet counsel together,
And ^(J)walked to the house of God in the throng.

¹⁵Let death seize them;
Let them ^(K)go down alive into ^[e]hell,
For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.

¹⁶As for me, I will call upon God,
And the Lord shall save me.
¹⁷^(L)Evening and morning and at noon
I will pray, and cry aloud,
And He shall hear my voice.
¹⁸He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me,
For ^(M)there were many against me.
¹⁹God will hear, and afflict them,
^(N)Even He who abides from of old. Selah
Because they do not change,
Therefore they do not fear God.

²⁰He has ^(O)put forth his hands against those who ^(P)were at peace with him;
He has broken his ^[f]covenant.
²¹^(Q)The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
But war was in his heart;
His words were softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn swords.

²²^(R)Cast your burden on the Lord,
And ^(S)He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be ^[g]moved.

²³But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction;
^(T)Bloodthirsty and deceitful men ^(U)shall not live out half their days;
But I will trust in You.

Footnotes

Psalm 55:1 Heb. neginoth
Psalm 55:1 Heb. Maschil
Psalm 55:2 wander
Psalm 55:9 speech, their counsel
Psalm 55:15 Or Sheol
Psalm 55:20 treaty
Psalm 55:22 shaken

Acts 27:26-44

New King James Version

²⁶However, ^(A)we must run aground on a certain island.”

²⁷Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land. ²⁸And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms. ²⁹Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and ^[a]prayed for day to come. ³⁰And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, ³¹Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” ³²Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.

³³And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. ³⁴Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, ^(B)since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.” ³⁵And when he had said these things, he took bread and ^(C)gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat. ³⁶Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves. ³⁷And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six ^(D)persons on the ship. ³⁸So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea.

Shipwrecked on Malta

³⁹When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible. ⁴⁰And they ^[b]let go the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore. ⁴¹But striking ^[c]a place where two seas met, ^(E)they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.

⁴²And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape. ⁴³But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, ⁴⁴and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was ^(F)that they all escaped safely to land.

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