Psalm 116-117

English Standard Version

I Love the Lord

116 I ^(A)love the Lord, because he has ^(B)heard
    my voice and my pleas for mercy.
²Because he ^(C)inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
³^(D)The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
⁴Then ^(E)I called on the name of the Lord:
    “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”

⁵^(F)Gracious is the Lord, and ^(G)righteous;
    our God is ^(H)merciful.
⁶The Lord preserves ^(I)the simple;
    when ^(J)I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷Return, O my soul, to your ^(K)rest;
    for the Lord has ^(L)dealt bountifully with you.

⁸For ^(M)you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling;
⁹I will walk before the Lord
    ^(N)in the land of the living.

¹⁰^(O)I believed, ^(P)even when^[a] I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
¹¹^(Q)I said in my alarm,
^(R)“All mankind are liars.”

¹²What shall I ^(S)render to the Lord
    for all his benefits to me?
¹³I will lift up ^(T)the cup of salvation
    and ^(U)call on the name of the Lord,
¹⁴I will ^(V)pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people.

¹⁵^(W)Precious in the sight of the Lord
    is the death of his ^(X)saints.
¹⁶O Lord, I am your ^(Y)servant;
    I am your servant, ^(Z)the son of your maidservant.
    You have ^(AA)loosed my bonds.
¹⁷I will ^(AB)offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and ^(AC)call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸I will ^(AD)pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹in ^(AE)the courts of the house of the Lord,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
^(AF)Praise the Lord!

The Lord's Faithfulness Endures Forever

117 ^(AG)Praise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
²For ^(AH)great is his steadfast love toward us,
and ^(AI)the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
^(AJ)Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

Psalm 116:10 Or believed, indeed; Septuagint believed, therefore

Isaiah 51

English Standard Version

The Lord's Comfort for Zion

51 ^(A)“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
    you who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
    and to the quarry from which you were dug.
²Look to Abraham your father
    and to Sarah who bore you;
for ^(B)he was but one when I called him,
    that I might bless him and multiply him.
³For the Lord ^(C)comforts Zion;
    he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like ^(D)Eden,
    her desert like ^(E)the garden of the Lord;
^(F)joy and gladness will be found in her,
    thanksgiving and the voice of song.

⁴^(G)“Give attention to me, my people,
    and give ear to me, my nation;
^(H)for a law^[a] will go out from me,
    and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
⁵^(I)My righteousness draws near,
    my salvation has gone out,
    and my arms will judge the peoples;
^(J)the coastlands hope for me,
    and for my arm they wait.
⁶^(K)Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
    and look at the earth beneath;
^(L)for the heavens vanish like smoke,
    the earth will wear out like a garment,
    and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;^[b]
^(M)but my salvation will be forever,
    and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

⁷^(N)“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
    the people ^(O)in whose heart is my law;
^(P)fear not the reproach of man,
    nor be dismayed at their revilings.
⁸^(Q)For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
    and the worm will eat them like wool,
^(R)but my righteousness will be forever,
    and my salvation to all generations.”

⁹^(S)Awake, awake, ^(T)put on strength,
    O ^(U)arm of the Lord;
awake, ^(V)as in days of old,
    the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut ^(W)Rahab in pieces,
    who pierced ^(X)the dragon?
¹⁰^(Y)Was it not you who dried up the sea,
    the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
    for the redeemed to pass over?
¹¹^(Z)And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
    and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
    they shall obtain gladness and joy,
    and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

¹²“I, I am he ^(AA)who comforts you;
    who are you that you are afraid of ^(AB)man who dies,
    of the son of man who is made ^(AC)like grass,
¹³and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
    ^(AD)who stretched out the heavens
    and ^(AE)laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
    because of the wrath of ^(AF)the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
    And where is the wrath of ^(AG)the oppressor?
¹⁴^(AH)He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
    he shall not die and go down ^(AI)to the pit,
    neither shall his bread be lacking.
¹⁵I am the Lord your God,
    ^(AJ)who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    the Lord of hosts is his name.
¹⁶^(AK)And I have put my words in your mouth
    ^(AL)and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
^(AM)establishing^[c] the heavens
    and ^(AN)laying the foundations of the earth,
    and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

¹⁷^(AO)Wake yourself, wake yourself,
    stand up, O Jerusalem,
^(AP)you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
    the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
    the bowl, ^(AQ)the cup of staggering.
¹⁸^(AR)There is none to guide her
    among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
    among all the sons she has brought up.
¹⁹^(AS)These two things have happened to you—
    who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
    who will comfort you?^[d]
²⁰^(AT)Your sons have fainted;
    they lie at the head of every street
    like an ^(AU)antelope ^(AV)in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
    the rebuke of your God.

²¹^(AW)Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
    who are drunk, but not with wine:
²²Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
    your God ^(AX)who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand ^(AY)the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
²³^(AZ)and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
    ^(BA)who have said to you,
    ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and ^(BB)you have made your back like the ground
    and like the street for them to pass over.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 51:4 Or for teaching; also verse 7
Isaiah 51:6 Or will die like gnats
Isaiah 51:16 Or planting
Isaiah 51:19 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you

Acts 28:1-16

English Standard Version

Paul on Malta

28 After we were brought safely through, ^(A)we then learned that ^(B)the island was called Malta. ²^(C)The native people^[a] showed us unusual ^(D)kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. ³When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. ⁴When ^(E)the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, ^(F)“No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, ^(G)Justice^[b] has not allowed him to live.” ⁵He, however, ^(H)shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, ^(I)they changed their minds and ^(J)said that he was a god.

⁷Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. ⁸It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and ^(K)prayed, and ^(L)putting his hands on him, healed him. ⁹And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. ¹⁰They also honored us greatly,^[c] and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.

Paul Arrives at Rome

¹¹After three months we set sail in ^(M)a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods^[d] as a figurehead. ¹²Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. ¹³And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. ¹⁴There we found ^(N)brothers^[e] and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. ¹⁵And ^(O)the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, ^(P)Paul thanked God and took courage. ¹⁶And when we came into Rome, ^(Q)Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.