Old/New Testament
Psalm 10
Need for God’s Justice
1 Lord,[a][b] why do you stand so far away?(A)
Why do you hide in times of trouble?(B)
2 In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue their victims;
let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.(C)
3 For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;(D)
the one who is greedy curses[c] and despises the Lord.(E)
4 In all his scheming,
the wicked person arrogantly thinks,[d]
“There’s no accountability,
since there’s no God.”(F)
5 His ways are always secure;[e]
your lofty judgments have no effect on him;[f]
he scoffs at all his adversaries.(G)
6 He says to himself, “I will never be moved—
from generation to generation I will be without calamity.”(H)
7 Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth;
trouble and malice are under his tongue.(I)
8 He waits in ambush near settlements;(J)
he kills the innocent in secret places.
His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;(K)
9 he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket.
He lurks in order to seize a victim;
he seizes a victim and drags him in his net.
10 So he is oppressed and beaten down;
helpless people fall because of the wicked one’s strength.(L)
11 He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
he hides his face and will never see.”(M)
12 Rise up, Lord God! Lift up your hand.(N)
Do not forget the oppressed.(O)
13 Why has the wicked person despised God?
He says to himself, “You will not demand an account.”(P)
14 But you yourself have seen trouble and grief,
observing it in order to take the matter into your hands.(Q)
The helpless one entrusts himself to you;
you are a helper of the fatherless.(R)
15 Break the arm of the wicked, evil person,(S)
until you look for his wickedness,
but it can’t be found.(T)
16 The Lord is King forever and ever;(U)
the nations will perish from his land.(V)
17 Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble;
you will strengthen their hearts.
You will listen carefully,(W)
18 doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that mere humans from the earth may terrify them no more.(X)
Psalm 11
Refuge in the Lord
For the choir director. Of David.
1 I have taken refuge in the Lord.(Y)
How can you say to me,
“Escape to the mountains[g] like a bird!(Z)
2 For look, the wicked string bows;
they put their arrows on bowstrings
to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.(AA)
3 When the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?” (AB)
4 The Lord is in his holy temple;(AC)
the Lord—his throne is in heaven.(AD)
His eyes watch;
his gaze[h] examines everyone.[i]
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
but he hates the wicked
and[j] those who love violence.(AE)
6 Let him rain burning coals[k] and sulfur on the wicked;
let a scorching wind be the portion in their cup.(AF)
7 For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds.
The upright will see his face.(AG)
Psalm 12
Oppression by the Wicked
For the choir director: according to Sheminith.(AH) A psalm of David.
1 Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains;
the loyal have disappeared from the human race.[l](AI)
2 They lie to one another;
they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.(AJ)
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips
and the tongue that speaks boastfully.(AK)
4 They say, “Through our tongues we have power;
our lips are our own—who can be our master?” (AL)
5 “Because of the devastation of the needy
and the groaning of the poor,
I will now rise up,” says the Lord.
“I will provide safety for the one who longs for it.”(AM)
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in an earthen furnace,
purified seven times.(AN)
Twelve Disciples of John the Baptist
19 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples(A) 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (B)
“No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”(C)
3 “Into what then were you baptized?” he asked them.
“Into John’s baptism,” they replied.(D)
4 Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance,(E) telling the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”(F)
5 When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on(G) them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in tongues[a] and to prophesy.(H) 7 Now there were about twelve men in all.
In the Lecture Hall of Tyrannus
8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God.(I) 9 But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples, and conducted discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.(J) 10 This went on for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks,(K) heard the word of the Lord.(L)
Demonism Defeated at Ephesus
11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, 12 so that even facecloths or aprons[b] that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.(M)
13 Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!” (N) 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this. 15 The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. 17 When this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus(O) was held in high esteem.(P)
18 And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices, 19 while many of those who had practiced magic(Q) collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread and prevailed.(R)
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