Psalm 56

To the Chief Musician; [set to the tune of] “Silent Dove Among Those Far Away.” Of David. A record of memorable thoughts when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

¹ Be merciful and gracious to me, O God, for man would trample me or devour me; all the day long the adversary oppresses me.

² They that lie in wait for me would swallow me up or trample me all day long, for they are many who fight against me, O Most High!

³ What time I am afraid, I will have confidence in and put my trust and reliance in You.

⁴ By [the help of] God I will praise His word; on God I lean, rely, and confidently put my trust; I will not fear. What can man, who is flesh, do to me?

⁵ All day long they twist my words and trouble my affairs; all their thoughts are against me for evil and my hurt.

⁶ They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they watch my steps, even as they have [expectantly] waited for my life.

⁷ They think to escape with iniquity, and shall they? In Your indignation bring down the peoples, O God.

⁸ You number and record my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle—are they not in Your book?

⁹ Then shall my enemies turn back in the day that I cry out; this I know, for God is for me.^(A)

¹⁰ In God, Whose word I praise, in the Lord, Whose word I praise,

¹¹ In God have I put my trust and confident reliance; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

¹² Your vows are upon me, O God; I will render praise to You and give You thank offerings.

¹³ For You have delivered my life from death, yes, and my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life and of the living.

Psalm 57

To the Chief Musician; [set to the tune of] “Do Not Destroy.” A record of memorable thoughts of David when he fled from Saul in the cave.

¹ Be merciful and gracious to me, O God, be merciful and gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge and finds shelter and confidence in You; yes, in the shadow of Your wings will I take refuge and be confident until calamities and destructive storms are passed.

² I will cry to God Most High, Who performs on my behalf and rewards me [Who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them]!

³ He will send from heaven and save me from the slanders and reproaches of him who would trample me down or swallow me up, and He will put him to shame. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! God will send forth His mercy and loving-kindness and His truth and faithfulness.

⁴ My life is among lions; I must lie among those who are aflame—the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords.

⁵ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let Your glory be over all the earth!

⁶ They set a net for my steps; my very life was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way; into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁷ My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is steadfast and confident! I will sing and make melody.

⁸ Awake, my glory (my inner self); awake, harp and lyre! I will awake right early [I will awaken the dawn]!

⁹ I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations.

¹⁰ For Your mercy and loving-kindness are great, reaching to the heavens, and Your truth and faithfulness to the clouds.

¹¹ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be over all the earth.

Psalm 58

To the Chief Musician; [set to the tune of] “Do Not Destroy.” A record of memorable thoughts of David.

¹ Do you indeed in silence speak righteousness, O you mighty ones? [Or is the righteousness, rightness, and justice you should speak quite dumb?] Do you judge fairly and uprightly, O you sons of men?

² No, in your heart you devise wickedness; you deal out in the land the violence of your hands.

³ The ungodly are perverse and estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

⁴ Their poison is like the venom of a serpent; they are like the deaf adder or asp that stops its ear,

⁵ Which listens not to the voice of charmers or of the enchanter never casting spells so cunningly.

⁶ Break their teeth, O God, in their mouths; break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.

⁷ Let them melt away as water which runs on apace; when he aims his arrows, let them be as if they were headless or split apart.

⁸ Let them be as a snail dissolving slime as it passes on or as a festering sore which wastes away, like [the child to which] a woman gives untimely birth that has not seen the sun.

⁹ Before your pots can feel the thorns [that are placed under them for fuel], He will take them away as with a whirlwind, the green and the burning ones alike.

¹⁰ The [unyieldingly] righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹¹ Men will say, Surely there is a reward for the [uncompromisingly] righteous; surely there is a God Who judges on the earth.

28 After we were safe on the island, we knew and recognized that it was called Malta.

² And the natives showed us unusual and remarkable kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed and received us all, since it had begun to rain and was cold.

³ Now Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and he was laying them on the fire when a viper crawled out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

⁴ When the natives saw the little animal hanging from his hand, they said to one another, Doubtless this man is a murderer, for though he has been saved from the sea, Justice [^[a]the goddess of avenging] has not permitted that he should live.

⁵ Then [Paul simply] shook off the small creature into the fire and suffered no evil effects.

⁶ However, they were waiting, expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead; but when they had watched him a long time and saw nothing fatal or harmful come to him, they changed their minds and kept saying over and over that he was a god.

⁷ In the vicinity of that place there were estates belonging to the head man of the island, named Publius, who accepted and welcomed and entertained us with hearty hospitality for three days.

⁸ And it happened that the father of Publius was sick in bed with recurring attacks of fever and dysentery; and Paul went to see him, and after praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.

⁹ After this had occurred, the other people on the island who had diseases also kept coming and were cured.

¹⁰ They showed us every respect and presented many gifts to us, honoring us with many honors; and when we sailed, they provided and put on [board our ship] everything we needed.

¹¹ It was after three months’ stay there that we set sail in a ship which had wintered in the island, an Alexandrian ship with the Twin Brothers [Castor and Pollux] as its figurehead.

¹² We landed at Syracuse and remained there three days,

¹³ And from there we made a circuit [following the coast] and reached Rhegium; and one day later a south wind sprang up, and the next day we arrived at Puteoli.

¹⁴ There we found some [Christian] brethren and were entreated to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵ And the [Christian] brethren there, having had news of us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and received new courage.