Old/New Testament
Psalm 7
An Ode of David, [probably] in a wild, irregular, enthusiastic strain, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite.
1 O Lord my God, in You I take refuge and put my trust; save me from all those who pursue and persecute me, and deliver me,
2 Lest my foe tear my life [from my body] like a lion, dragging me away while there is none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,
4 If I have paid back with evil him who was at peace with me or without cause have robbed him who was my enemy,
5 Let the enemy pursue my life and take it; yes, let him trample my life to the ground and lay my honor in the dust. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
6 Arise, O Lord, in Your anger; lift up Yourself against the rage of my enemies; and awake [and stir up] for me the justice and vindication [that] You have commanded.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about You, and return on high over them.
8 The Lord judges the people; judge me, O Lord, and do me justice according to my righteousness [my rightness, justice, and right standing with You] and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the [uncompromisingly] righteous [those upright and in harmony with You]; for You, Who try the hearts and emotions and thinking powers, are a righteous God.(A)
10 My defense and shield depend on God, Who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous Judge, yes, a God Who is indignant every day.
12 If a man does not turn and repent, [God] will whet His sword; He has strung and bent His [huge] bow and made it ready [by treading it with His foot].
13 He has also prepared for him deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, [the wicked man] conceives iniquity and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.
15 He made a pit and hollowed it out and has fallen into the hole which he made [before the trap was completed].
16 His mischief shall fall back in return upon his own head, and his violence come down [with the loose dirt] upon his own scalp.
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His rightness and justice, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
Psalm 8
To the Chief Musician; set to a Philistine lute, or [possibly] to a particular Hittite tune. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory on [or above] the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and unweaned infants You have established strength because of Your foes, that You might silence the enemy and the avenger.(B)
3 When I view and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained and established,
4 What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him but a little lower than God [or heavenly beings], and You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet:(C)
7 All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth!
Psalm 9
To the Chief Musician; set for [possibly] soprano voices. A Psalm of David.
1 I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth (recount and tell aloud) all Your marvelous works and wonderful deeds!
2 I will rejoice in You and be in high spirits; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High!
3 When my enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished before You.
4 For You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging righteously.
5 You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy have been cut off and have vanished in everlasting ruins, You have plucked up and overthrown their cities; the very memory of them has perished and vanished.
7 But the Lord shall remain and continue forever; He has prepared and established His throne for judgment.(D)
8 And He will judge the world in righteousness (rightness and equity); He will minister justice to the peoples in uprightness.(E)
9 The Lord also will be a refuge and a high tower for the oppressed, a refuge and a stronghold in times of trouble (high cost, destitution, and desperation).
10 And they who know Your name [who have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy] will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of God’s Word and the right of their necessity].(F)
11 Sing praises to the Lord, Who dwells in Zion! Declare among the peoples His doings!
12 For He Who avenges the blood [of His people shed unjustly] remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted (the poor and the humble).
13 Have mercy upon me and be gracious to me, O Lord; consider how I am afflicted by those who hate me, You Who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 That I may show forth (recount and tell aloud) all Your praises! In the gates of the Daughter of Zion I will rejoice in Your salvation and Your saving help.
15 The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made; in the net which they hid is their own foot caught.
16 The Lord has made Himself known; He executes judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion [meditation]. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
17 The wicked shall be turned back [headlong into premature death] into Sheol (the place of the departed spirits of the wicked), even all the nations that forget or are forgetful of God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the expectation and hope of the meek and the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before You.
20 Put them in fear [make them realize their frail nature], O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
18 After this [Paul] departed from Athens and went to Corinth.
2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently arrived from Italy with Priscilla his wife, due to the fact that Claudius had issued an edict that all the Jews were to leave Rome. And [Paul] went to see them,
3 And because he was of the same occupation, he stayed with them; and they worked [together], for they were tentmakers by trade.
4 But he discoursed and argued in the synagogue every Sabbath and won over [both] Jews and Greeks.
5 By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was completely engrossed with preaching, earnestly arguing and testifying to the Jews that Jesus [is] the Christ.
6 But since they kept opposing and abusing and reviling him, he shook out his clothing [against them] and said to them, Your blood be upon your [own] heads! I am innocent [of it]. From now on I will go to the Gentiles (the heathen).(A)
7 He then left there and went to the house of a man named Titus Justus, who worshiped God and whose house was next door to the synagogue.
8 But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed [that Jesus is the Messiah and acknowledged Him with joyful trust as Savior and Lord], together with his entire household; and many of the Corinthians who listened [to Paul also] believed and were baptized.
9 And one night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, Have no fear, but speak and do not keep silent;
10 For I am with you, and no man shall assault you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.(B)
11 So he settled down among them for a year and six months, teaching the Word of God [concerning the [a]attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God].
12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia (most of Greece), the Jews unitedly made an attack upon Paul and brought him before the judge’s seat,
13 Declaring, This fellow is advising and inducing and inciting people to worship God in violation of the [b]Law [of Rome and of Moses].
14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth to reply, Gallio said to the Jews, If it were a matter of some misdemeanor or villainy, O Jews, I should have cause to bear with you and listen;
15 But since it is merely a question [of doctrine] about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I decline to be a judge of such matters and I have no intention of trying such cases.
16 And he drove them away from the judgment seat.
17 Then they [the Greeks] all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him right in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.
18 Afterward Paul remained many days longer, and then told the brethren farewell and sailed for Syria; and he was accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he [[c]Paul] cut his hair, for he had made a vow.
19 Then they arrived in Ephesus, and [Paul] left the others there; but he himself entered the synagogue and discoursed and argued with the Jews.
20 When they asked him to remain for a longer time, he would not consent;
21 But when he was leaving them he said, I will return to you if God is willing, and he set sail from Ephesus.
22 When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and saluted the church [at Jerusalem], and then went down to Antioch.
23 After staying there some time, he left and went from place to place in an orderly journey through the territory of Galatia and Phrygia, establishing the disciples and imparting new strength to them.
24 Meanwhile, there was a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, who came to Ephesus. He was a cultured and eloquent man, well versed and mighty in the Scriptures.
25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and burning with spiritual zeal, he spoke and taught diligently and accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he was acquainted only with the baptism of John.
26 He began to speak freely (fearlessly and boldly) in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him with them and expounded to him the way of God more definitely and accurately.
27 And when [Apollos] wished to cross to Achaia (most of Greece), the brethren wrote to the disciples there, urging and encouraging them to accept and welcome him heartily. When he arrived, he proved a great help to those who through grace (God’s unmerited favor and mercy) had believed (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Christ as Lord and Savior).
28 For with great power he refuted the Jews in public [discussions], showing and proving by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah).
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