Old/New Testament
Psalm 43
1 Judge and vindicate me, O God; plead and defend my cause against an ungodly nation. O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
2 For You are the God of my strength [my Stronghold—in Whom I take refuge]; why have You cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling.
4 Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy; yes, with the lyre will I praise You, O God, my God!
5 Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my [sad] countenance, and my God.
Psalm 44
To the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of the sons of Korah. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem.
1 We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us [what] work You did in their days, in the days of old.
2 You drove out the nations with Your hand and it was Your power that gave [Israel] a home by rooting out the [heathen] peoples, but [Israel] You spread out.
3 For they got not the land [of Canaan] in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your countenance [did it], because You were favorable toward and did delight in them.
4 You are my King, O God; command victories and deliverance for Jacob (Israel).
5 Through You shall we push down our enemies; through Your name shall we tread them under who rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in and lean on my bow, neither shall my sword save me.
7 But You have saved us from our foes and have put them to shame who hate us.
8 In God we have made our boast all the day long, and we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
9 But now You have cast us off and brought us to dishonor, and You go not out with our armies.
10 You make us to turn back from the enemy, and they who hate us take spoil for themselves.
11 You have made us like sheep intended for mutton and have scattered us in exile among the nations.
12 You sell Your people for nothing, and have not increased Your wealth by their price.
13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are round about us.
14 You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the heads among the people.
15 My dishonor is before me all day long, and shame has covered my face
16 At the words of the taunter and reviler, by reason of the enemy and the revengeful.
17 All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten You, neither have we been false to Your covenant [which You made with our fathers].
18 Our hearts are not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Your path,
19 Though You have distressingly broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with deep darkness, even with the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God or stretched out our hands to a strange god,
21 Would not God discover this? For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 No, but for Your sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.(A)
23 Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arouse Yourself, cast us not off forever!
24 Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our lives are bowed down to the dust; our bodies cleave to the ground.
26 Rise up! Come to our help, and deliver us for Your mercy’s sake and because of Your steadfast love!
Psalm 45
To the Chief Musician; [set to the tune of] “Lilies” [probably a popular air. A Psalm] of the sons of Korah. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem. A song of love.
1 My heart overflows with a [a]goodly theme; I address my psalm to a King. My tongue is like the pen of a ready writer.
2 You are fairer than the children of men; graciousness is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever.
3 Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O mighty One, in Your glory and Your majesty!
4 And in Your majesty ride on triumphantly for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); and let Your right hand guide You to tremendous things.
5 Your arrows are sharp; the peoples fall under You; Your darts pierce the hearts of the King’s enemies.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
7 You love righteousness, uprightness, and right standing with God and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows.(B)
8 Your garments are all fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia; stringed instruments make You glad.
9 Kings’ daughters are among Your honorable women; at Your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
10 Hear, O daughter, consider, submit, and consent to my instruction: forget also your own people and your father’s house;
11 So will the King desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, be submissive and reverence and honor Him.
12 And, O daughter of Tyre, the richest of the people shall entreat your favor with a gift.
13 The King’s daughter in the inner part [of the palace] is all glorious; her clothing is inwrought with gold.(C)
14 She shall be brought to the King in raiment of needlework; with the virgins, her companions that follow her, she shall be brought to You.
15 With gladness and rejoicing will they be brought; they will enter into the King’s palace.
16 Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons, whom You will make princes in all the land.
17 I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore shall the people praise and give You thanks forever and ever.
27 The fourteenth night had come and we were drifting and being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors began to suspect that they were drawing near to some land.
28 So they took soundings and found twenty fathoms, and a little farther on they sounded again and found fifteen fathoms.
29 Then fearing that we might fall off [our course] onto rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and kept wishing for daybreak to come.
30 And as the sailors were trying to escape [secretly] from the ship and were lowering the small boat into the sea, pretending that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow,
31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, Unless these men remain in the ship, you cannot be saved.
32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes that held the small boat, and let it fall and drift away.
33 While they waited until it should become day, Paul entreated them all to take some food, saying, This is the fourteenth day that you have been continually in suspense and on the alert without food, having eaten nothing.
34 So I urge (warn, exhort, encourage, advise) you to take some food [for your safety]—it will give you strength; for not a hair is to perish from the head of any one of you.
35 Having said these words, he took bread and, giving thanks to God before them all, he broke it and began to eat.
36 Then they all became more cheerful and were encouraged and took food themselves.
37 All told there were 276 souls of us in the ship.
38 And after they had eaten sufficiently, [they proceeded] to lighten the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
39 Now when it was day [and they saw the land], they did not recognize it, but they noticed a bay with a beach on which they [taking counsel] purposed to run the ship ashore if they possibly could.
40 So they cut the cables and severed the anchors and left them in the sea; at the same time unlashing the ropes that held the rudders and hoisting the foresail to the wind, they headed for the beach.
41 But striking a crosscurrent (a place open to two seas) they ran the ship aground. The prow stuck fast and remained immovable, and the stern began to break up under the violent force of the waves.
42 It was the counsel of the soldiers to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim to land and escape;
43 But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, prevented their carrying out their purpose. He commanded those who could swim to throw themselves overboard first and make for the shore,
44 And the rest on heavy boards or pieces of the vessel. And so it was that all escaped safely to land.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation