Psalm 46-48

Complete Jewish Bible

46 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. By the descendants of Korach. On ‘alamot [high-pitched musical instruments?]. A song:

²⁽¹⁾God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
³⁽²⁾Therefore we are unafraid,
even if the earth gives way,
even if the mountains tumble
into the depths of the sea,
⁴⁽³⁾even if its waters rage and foam,
and mountains shake at its turbulence. (Selah)

⁵⁽⁴⁾There is a river whose streams
gladden the city of God,
the holy habitation of ‘Elyon —
⁶⁽⁵⁾God is in the city.
It will not be moved —
when daybreak comes, God will help it.
⁷⁽⁶⁾Nations were in turmoil,
kingdoms were moved;
his voice thundered forth,
and the earth melted away.

⁸⁽⁷⁾Adonai-Tzva’ot is with us,
our fortress, the God of Ya‘akov. (Selah)
⁹⁽⁸⁾Come and see the works of Adonai,
the astounding deeds he has done on the earth.
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾To the ends of the earth he makes wars cease —
he breaks the bow, snaps the spear,
burns the shields in the fire.
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾“Desist, and learn that I am God,
supreme over the nations,
supreme over the earth.”

¹²⁽¹¹⁾Adonai-Tzva’ot is with us,
our fortress, the God of Ya‘akov. (Selah)

47 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. A psalm of the descendants of Korach:

²⁽¹⁾Clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with cries of joy!
³⁽²⁾For Adonai ‘Elyon is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.
⁴⁽³⁾He makes peoples subject to us,
puts nations under our feet.
⁵⁽⁴⁾He chooses our heritage for us,
the pride of Ya‘akov, whom he loves. (Selah)
⁶⁽⁵⁾God goes up to shouts of acclaim,
Adonai to a blast on the shofar.
⁷⁽⁶⁾Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our king, sing praises!
⁸⁽⁷⁾For God is king of all the earth;
sing praises in a maskil.
⁹⁽⁸⁾God rules the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾The leaders of the people gather together,
the people of the God of Avraham;
for the rulers of the earth belong to God,
who is exalted on high.

48 ⁽⁰⁾A song. A psalm of the descendants of Korach:

²⁽¹⁾Great is Adonai
and greatly to be praised,
in the city of our God,
his holy mountain,
³⁽²⁾beautiful in its elevation,
the joy of all the earth,
Mount Tziyon, in the far north,
the city of the great king.
⁴⁽³⁾In its citadels God
has been revealed as a strong defense.
⁵⁽⁴⁾For the kings met by agreement;
together they advanced.
⁶⁽⁵⁾They saw and were filled with consternation;
terrified, they took to flight.
⁷⁽⁶⁾Trembling took hold of them,
pains like those of a woman in labor,
⁸⁽⁷⁾as when the wind out of the east
wrecks the “Tarshish” ships.
⁹⁽⁸⁾We heard it, and now we see for ourselves
in the city of Adonai-Tzva’ot,
in the city of our God.
May God establish it forever. (Selah)

¹⁰⁽⁹⁾God, within your temple
we meditate on your grace.
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾God, your praise, like your name,
extends to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
¹²⁽¹¹⁾Let Mount Tziyon rejoice,
let the daughters of Y’hudah be glad,
because of your judgment [on the enemy].

¹³⁽¹²⁾Walk through Tziyon, go all around it;
count how many towers it has.
¹⁴⁽¹³⁾Note its ramparts, pass through its citadels,
so that you can tell generations to come
¹⁵⁽¹⁴⁾that such is God, our God forever;
he will guide us eternally.

Acts 28

Complete Jewish Bible

28 After our escape, we learned that the island was called Malta. ²Its people showed extraordinary kindness — it was cold and it had started to rain, so they lit a bonfire and welcomed us all. ³Sha’ul had gathered a bundle of sticks and was adding them to the fire, when a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand. ⁴The islanders saw the creature hanging from Sha’ul’s hand and said to one another, “This man must be a murderer. Even though he escaped the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” ⁵But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶They waited, expecting him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing that nothing amiss was happening to him, they reversed their opinion and said he was a god.

⁷Nearby were lands belonging to the governor of the island, whose name was Publius. He received us in a friendly manner and put us up for three days. ⁸Now it so happened that Publius’ father was lying in bed, sick with fever attacks and dysentery. Sha’ul went in to him, prayed, placed his hands on him and healed him. ⁹After this happened, the rest of those on the island who had ailments came and were healed. ¹⁰They heaped honors on us; and when the time came for us to sail, they provided the supplies we needed.

¹¹After three months, we sailed away on a ship from Alexandria called “Twin Gods,” which had passed the winter at the island. ¹²We landed at Syracuse and stayed three days. ¹³From there, we arrived at Rhegium by tacking; but after one day, a south wind sprang up; so we made it to Puteoli the second day. ¹⁴There we found brothers who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we went on toward Rome.

¹⁵The brothers there had heard about us and came as far as Appian Market and Three Inns to meet us. When Sha’ul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. ¹⁶And when we arrived at Rome, the officer allowed Sha’ul to stay by himself, though guarded by a soldier.

¹⁷After three days Sha’ul called a meeting of the local Jewish leaders. When they had gathered, he said to them: “Brothers, although I have done nothing against either our people or the traditions of our fathers, I was made a prisoner in Yerushalayim and handed over to the Romans. ¹⁸They examined me and were ready to release me, because I had done nothing to justify a death sentence. ¹⁹But when the Judeans objected, I was forced to appeal to the Emperor — not that I had any charge to make against my own people. ²⁰This is why I have asked to see you and speak with you, for it is because of the hope of Isra’el that I have this chain around me.”

²¹They said to him, “We have not received any letters about you from Y’hudah, and none of the brothers who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. ²²But we do think it would be appropriate to hear your views from you, yourself; for all we know about this sect is that people everywhere speak against it.”

²³So they arranged a day with him and came to his quarters in large numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, giving a thorough witness about the Kingdom of God and making use of both the Torah of Moshe and the Prophets to persuade them about Yeshua. ²⁴Some were convinced by what he said, ²⁵while others refused to believe.

So they left, disagreeing among themselves, after Sha’ul had made one final statement: “The Ruach HaKodesh spoke well in saying to your fathers through Yesha‘yahu the prophet,

²⁶‘Go to this people and say,
“You will keep on hearing but never understand,
and you will keep on seeing but never perceive,
²⁷because the heart of this people has grown thick —
with their ears they barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
for fear that they should see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their heart,
and do t’shuvah,
so that I could heal them.”’^[a]

²⁸Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Goyim, and they will listen!” ²⁹^[b]

³⁰Sha’ul remained two whole years in a place he rented for himself; and he continued receiving all who came to see him, ³¹openly and without hindrance proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.