Old/New Testament
Psalm 4[a]
Trust in God
1 For the leader;[b] with stringed instruments. A psalm of David.
I
2 Answer me when I call, my saving God.
When troubles hem me in, set me free;
take pity on me, hear my prayer.(A)
II
3 How long, O people, will you be hard of heart?
Why do you love what is worthless, chase after lies?[c](B)
Selah
4 Know that the Lord works wonders for his faithful one;
the Lord hears when I call out to him.
5 Tremble[d] and sin no more;
weep bitterly within your hearts,
wail upon your beds,(C)
6 Offer fitting sacrifices
and trust in the Lord.(D)
III
7 Many say, “May we see better times!
Lord, show us the light of your face!”(E)
Selah
8 But you have given my heart more joy
than they have when grain and wine abound.
9 (F)[e]In peace I will lie down and fall asleep,
for you alone, Lord, make me secure.
Psalm 5[f]
Prayer for Divine Help
1 For the leader; with wind instruments. A psalm of David.
I
2 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
understand my sighing.(G)
3 Attend to the sound of my cry,
my king and my God!
For to you I will pray, Lord;
4 in the morning you will hear my voice;
in the morning I will plead before you and wait.(H)
II
5 You are not a god who delights in evil;
no wicked person finds refuge with you;
6 the arrogant cannot stand before your eyes.
You hate all who do evil;
7 you destroy those who speak falsely.(I)
A bloody and fraudulent man
the Lord abhors.
III
8 But I, through the abundance of your mercy,[g]
will enter into your house.
I will bow down toward your holy sanctuary
out of fear of you.(J)
9 Lord, guide me in your justice because of my foes;
make straight your way before me.(K)
IV
10 For there is no sincerity in their mouth;
their heart is corrupt.
Their throat[h] is an open grave;(L)
on their tongue are subtle lies.
11 Declare them guilty, God;
make them fall by their own devices.(M)
Drive them out for their many sins;
for they have rebelled against you.
V
12 Then all who trust in you will be glad
and forever shout for joy.(N)
You will protect them and those will rejoice in you
who love your name.
13 For you, Lord, bless the just one;
you surround him with favor like a shield.
Psalm 6[i]
Prayer in Distress
1 For the leader; with stringed instruments, “upon the eighth.”[j]
A psalm of David.
I
2 Do not reprove me in your anger, Lord,
nor punish me in your wrath.(O)
3 Have pity on me, Lord, for I am weak;
heal me, Lord, for my bones are shuddering.(P)
4 My soul too is shuddering greatly—
and you, Lord, how long…?[k](Q)
5 Turn back, Lord, rescue my soul;
save me because of your mercy.
6 For in death there is no remembrance of you.
Who praises you in Sheol?[l](R)
II
7 I am wearied with sighing;
all night long I drench my bed with tears;
I soak my couch with weeping.
8 My eyes are dimmed with sorrow,
worn out because of all my foes.(S)
III
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he grew exasperated at the sight of the city full of idols. 17 So he debated in the synagogue with the Jews and with the worshipers, and daily in the public square with whoever happened to be there. 18 Even some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers[a] engaged him in discussion. Some asked, “What is this scavenger trying to say?” Others said, “He sounds like a promoter of foreign deities,” because he was preaching about ‘Jesus’ and ‘Resurrection.’ 19 They took him and led him to the Areopagus[b] and said, “May we learn what this new teaching is that you speak of?(A) 20 For you bring some strange notions to our ears; we should like to know what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians as well as the foreigners residing there used their time for nothing else but telling or hearing something new.
Paul’s Speech at the Areopagus. 22 Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:[c]
“You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’[d] What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands,(B) 25 nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. 26 He made from one[e] the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, 27 so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us.(C) 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’[f] as even some of your poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ 29 Since therefore we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.(D) 30 God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands that all people everywhere repent 31 because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world with justice’ through a man he has appointed, and he has provided confirmation for all by raising him from the dead.”(E)
32 When they heard about resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We should like to hear you on this some other time.” 33 And so Paul left them. 34 But some did join him, and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Court of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.