17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;(A)
    you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,(B)

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19 He fulfills the desires(A) of those who fear him;(B)
    he hears their cry(C) and saves them.(D)

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18 Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you.

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12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Peter 3:12 Psalm 34:12-16

16 Don’t be deceived,(A) my dear brothers and sisters.(B) 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above,(C) coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,(D) who does not change(E) like shifting shadows.

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13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast(A) and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’(B)

14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”(C)

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24 Before they call(A) I will answer;(B)
    while they are still speaking(C) I will hear.

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Take delight(A) in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.(B)

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15 The eyes of the Lord(A) are on the righteous,(B)
    and his ears are attentive(C) to their cry;

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18 But God will never forget the needy;
    the hope(A) of the afflicted(B) will never perish.

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12 For he who avenges blood(A) remembers;
    he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.(B)

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27 Because your heart was responsive(A) and you humbled(B) yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord.

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12 In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled(A) himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. 13 And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.

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In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves(A) to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility(B) toward one another, because,

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”[a](C)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Peter 5:5 Prov. 3:34

16 To humans belong the plans of the heart,
    but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.(A)

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17 He will respond to the prayer(A) of the destitute;
    he will not despise their plea.

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12 Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity(A) of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord.

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10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.(A)

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But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. James 4:6 Prov. 3:34

12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God(A) with freedom and confidence.(B)

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18 For through him we both have access(A) to the Father(B) by one Spirit.(C)

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26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit(A) himself intercedes for us(B) through wordless groans.

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So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.(A)

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains,(B) and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel(C) of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.(D)

Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.(E) 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself,(F) and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

11 Then Peter came to himself(G) and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me(H) from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark,(I) where many people had gathered and were praying.(J) 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door.(K) 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed(L) she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”(M)

16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand(N) for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James(O) and the other brothers and sisters(P) about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.(Q)

Herod’s Death

Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea(R) and stayed there.

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24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.(A) “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.(B) 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:(C)

“‘Why do the nations rage
    and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
against the Lord
    and against his anointed one.[a][b](D)

27 Indeed Herod(E) and Pontius Pilate(F) met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus,(G) whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.(H) 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.(I) 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders(J) through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”(K)

31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.(L) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit(M) and spoke the word of God(N) boldly.(O)

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 4:26 That is, Messiah or Christ
  2. Acts 4:26 Psalm 2:1,2

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(A)

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