Old/New Testament
David wrote this prayer.
God will help me
16 Please keep me safe, God,
because I come to you for help.
2 I have said to the Lord,
‘You are my Lord.
All the good things that I have in my life
are gifts from you.’
3 When I think about your own people who live in this land,
it makes me happy!
They are truly great people!
4 But many troubles will come
to people who choose to worship other gods.
I will not join with them
to offer gifts of blood to their gods.
I will never use the names of their gods
to make promises.
5 You, Lord, are all that I need.
What you give to me is enough,
for me and for my descendants.
6 Yes, you have given to me a good way of life.
Your gifts are better than good fields
or valuable land.
7 I will praise the Lord,
who is my guide through life.
In the dark nights,
you help me to learn what is right.
8 I will always trust the Lord to be with me.
He is very near to me,
so I will not be upset.
9 I am truly happy and I thank God.
I know that my life is safe with God.
10 You, Lord, will not leave me
in the deep hole of death.
As one who belongs to you,
you will not leave my body to spoil in the grave.
11 You will lead me along the path of life.
Because you are with me,
I am very happy.
I know that I will be with you for ever,
and that makes me very happy!
David wrote this prayer.
A prayer for help
17 Lord, please listen to me.
I am asking you to do something that is right.
I am speaking what is true,
so please do what I ask you to do.
2 Say clearly that I am not guilty.
You can see for yourself that I am right.
3 You look deep into my mind.
You check my thoughts at night.
When you test me,
you find nothing that is wrong.
I have decided that I will never tell any lies.
4 I have watched people do bad things.
But I have obeyed your commands.
I have not joined with cruel people
to do what they do.
5 No, I carefully follow your ways.
I do not turn away from them.
6 I pray to you, God,
because you will answer me.
Please listen to me when I pray to you.
7 Do great things that show your faithful love!
You have the power to keep people safe from their enemies.
You help them when they trust you for help.
8 Please keep me safe,
in the same way that people take care of their eyes.
Keep me near to you,
in the way that birds protect their babies under their wings.
9 Keep me safe from the wicked men who attack me.
My enemies are all around me,
and they want to kill me!
10 They refuse to be kind to anyone.
They speak proud words.
11 Now they have found me. They are ready to attack!
They look for their chance
to knock me down to the ground.
12 They are like hungry lions.
They want to tear me into pieces.
They are hiding like young lions.
They are ready to jump out and catch me!
13 Lord, please do something!
Fight against them! Knock them down!
Take your sword and save me from those wicked men.
14 Lord, use your power to save me from them.
They only think about this world,
and they enjoy the good things that it gives them.
So give them all that you have ready for them.
Give them more than they want!
May their children also have plenty,
and enough left to give to their children too.
15 As for me, Lord, I am not guilty of sin.
So I will see your face.
When I wake up, I will see you clearly,
and I will be really happy!
Paul visits Macedonia and Greece again
20 After that, the trouble in Ephesus finished. Then Paul asked the believers to meet together with him. He spoke to them to help them. He told them to be strong and to trust God. Then he said ‘goodbye’ to them. After that he left them and he travelled on to Macedonia. 2 He visited many places in that region. He spoke to the believers in each place. He helped them to be strong. After that, he arrived in Greece.[a]
3 Paul stayed in Greece for three months. One day, he was preparing to travel to Syria by ship. But then he heard news that some Jews wanted to kill him on the journey. So he decided to travel through Macedonia and return to Jerusalem.[b]
4 These are the men who went with Paul: Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus, from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia region. 5 These men had all left by ship before we did. When they arrived in Troas, they waited for us there.[c]
6 As for us, we sailed by ship from Philippi, after the festival when the Jews eat flat bread.[d]
After five days we arrived in Troas. We met the other men there and we all stayed there for seven days.
Paul visits the believers in Troas for the last time
7 On the Sunday evening, we met together with the believers. We broke bread into pieces and we shared it with each other. Paul spoke to the believers for a long time, until midnight. This was because he wanted to leave Troas the next day.
8 Many lamps were burning in the upstairs room where we met together. 9 A young man called Eutychus was at the meeting. He was sitting on the edge of a window. When Paul had talked for a long time, Eutychus started to sleep. When he was really sleeping, he fell out of the window. He dropped down a long way to the ground. Some of the believers lifted him up, but he was dead. 10 So Paul went down the stairs to them all. He lay on top of the young man and held him with his arms. Then Paul said to them all, ‘Do not be afraid. He is still alive.’ 11 Paul went back upstairs. He shared bread with the believers and he ate more food. Paul talked to them for a long time, until the sun rose in the morning. Then he left Troas.
12 The other believers took Eutychus to his home. They were very happy because he was alive.
Paul travels from Troas to Miletus
13 Paul decided to travel to Assos across the land. But we got on a ship and we sailed to Assos. We agreed with Paul that we would wait for him there. 14 When he met us at Assos, he came on the ship with us. Then we all sailed to Mitylene. 15 We sailed from there and we arrived the next day at the coast near Chios. The day after that, we came to Samos. The next day, we arrived at Miletus. 16 Paul had decided to leave quickly from there. He did not want to visit Ephesus, because he did not want to remain in Asia for a long time. Instead, he wanted to travel to Jerusalem quickly. He wanted to arrive there before the day of the Pentecost festival.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.