Psalm 13-15

New International Version

Psalm 13^[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹How long,^(A) Lord? Will you forget me^(B) forever?
    How long will you hide your face^(C) from me?
²How long must I wrestle with my thoughts^(D)
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
    How long will my enemy triumph over me?^(E)

³Look on me^(F) and answer,^(G) Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes,^(H) or I will sleep in death,^(I)
⁴and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,^(J)”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.^(K)

⁵But I trust in your unfailing love;^(L)
my heart rejoices in your salvation.^(M)
⁶I will sing^(N) the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.

Psalm 14^(O)

For the director of music. Of David.

¹The fool^[b] says in his heart,
“There is no God.”^(P)
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.

²The Lord looks down from heaven^(Q)
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,^(R)
    any who seek God.^(S)
³All have turned away,^(T) all have become corrupt;^(U)
    there is no one who does good,^(V)
    not even one.^(W)

⁴Do all these evildoers know nothing?^(X)

They devour my people^(Y) as though eating bread;
    they never call on the Lord.^(Z)
⁵But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    for God is present in the company of the righteous.
⁶You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is their refuge.^(AA)

⁷Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!^(AB)
When the Lord restores^(AC) his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

Psalm 15

A psalm of David.

¹Lord, who may dwell^(AD) in your sacred tent?^(AE)
Who may live on your holy mountain?^(AF)

²The one whose walk is blameless,^(AG)
    who does what is righteous,
    who speaks the truth^(AH) from their heart;
³whose tongue utters no slander,^(AI)
    who does no wrong to a neighbor,
    and casts no slur on others;
⁴who despises a vile person
    but honors^(AJ) those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath^(AK) even when it hurts,
    and does not change their mind;
⁵who lends money to the poor without interest;^(AL)
    who does not accept a bribe^(AM) against the innocent.

Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.^(AN)

Footnotes

Psalm 13:1 In Hebrew texts 13:1-6 is numbered 13:2-6.
Psalm 14:1 The Hebrew words rendered fool in Psalms denote one who is morally deficient.

Acts 11

New International Version

Peter Explains His Actions

11 The apostles and the believers^(A) throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.^(B) ²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers^(C) criticized him ³and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”^(D)

⁴Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: ⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision.^(E) I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. ⁶I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. ⁷Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

⁸“I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹“The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’^(F) ¹⁰This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

¹¹“Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea^(G) stopped at the house where I was staying. ¹²The Spirit told^(H) me to have no hesitation about going with them.^(I) These six brothers^(J) also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³He told us how he had seen an angel^(K) appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. ¹⁴He will bring you a message^(L) through which you and all your household^(M) will be saved.’

¹⁵“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on^(N) them as he had come on us at the beginning.^(O) ¹⁶Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with^[a] water,^(P) but you will be baptized with^[b] the Holy Spirit.’^(Q) ¹⁷So if God gave them the same gift^(R) he gave us^(S) who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”^(T)

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed^(U) traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch,^(V) spreading the word only among Jews. ²⁰Some of them, however, men from Cyprus^(W) and Cyrene,^(X) went to Antioch^(Y) and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news^(Z) about the Lord Jesus. ²¹The Lord’s hand was with them,^(AA) and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.^(AB)

²²News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas^(AC) to Antioch. ²³When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done,^(AD) he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.^(AE) ²⁴He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit^(AF) and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.^(AG)

²⁵Then Barnabas went to Tarsus^(AH) to look for Saul, ²⁶and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples^(AI) were called Christians first^(AJ) at Antioch.

²⁷During this time some prophets^(AK) came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸One of them, named Agabus,^(AL) stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world.^(AM) (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)^(AN) ²⁹The disciples,^(AO) as each one was able, decided to provide help^(AP) for the brothers and sisters^(AQ) living in Judea. ³⁰This they did, sending their gift to the elders^(AR) by Barnabas^(AS) and Saul.^(AT)