Old/New Testament
Psalm 10
I
1 Why, Lord, do you stand afar
and pay no heed in times of trouble?
2 Arrogant scoundrels pursue the poor;
they trap them by their cunning schemes.(A)
II
3 The wicked even boast of their greed;
these robbers curse and scorn the Lord.(B)
4 In their insolence the wicked boast:
“God does not care; there is no God.”(C)
5 Yet their affairs always succeed;
they ignore your judgment on high;
they sneer at all who oppose them.
6 They say in their hearts, “We will never fall;
never will we see misfortune.”
7 Their mouths are full of oaths, violence, and lies;
discord and evil are under their tongues.(D)
8 They wait in ambush near towns;
their eyes watch for the helpless
to murder the innocent in secret.(E)
9 They lurk in ambush like lions in a thicket,
hide there to trap the poor,
snare them and close the net.(F)
10 The helpless are crushed, laid low;
they fall into the power of the wicked,
11 Who say in their hearts, “God has forgotten,
shows no concern, never bothers to look.”(G)
III
12 Rise up, Lord! God, lift up your hand!
Do not forget the poor!
13 Why should the wicked scorn God,
say in their hearts, “God does not care”?
14 But you do see;
you take note of misery and sorrow;(H)
you take the matter in hand.
To you the helpless can entrust their cause;
you are the defender of orphans.(I)
15 Break the arm of the wicked and depraved;
make them account for their crimes;
let none of them survive.
IV
16 The Lord is king forever;(J)
the nations have vanished from his land.
17 You listen, Lord, to the needs of the poor;
you strengthen their heart and incline your ear.
18 You win justice for the orphaned and oppressed;(K)
no one on earth will cause terror again.
Psalm 11[a]
Confidence in the Presence of God
1 For the leader. Of David.
I
In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to me,
“Flee like a bird to the mountains!(L)
2 See how the wicked string their bows,
fit their arrows to the string
to shoot from the shadows at the upright of heart.(M)
3 [b]If foundations are destroyed,
what can the just one do?”
II
4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord’s throne is in heaven.(N)
God’s eyes keep careful watch;
they test the children of Adam.
5 The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
hates those who love violence,
6 And rains upon the wicked
fiery coals and brimstone,
a scorching wind their allotted cup.[c](O)
7 The Lord is just and loves just deeds;
the upright will see his face.
Psalm 12[d]
Prayer Against Evil Tongues
1 For the leader; “upon the eighth.” A psalm of David.
I
2 Help, Lord, for no one loyal remains;
the faithful have vanished from the children of men.(P)
3 They tell lies to one another,
speak with deceiving lips and a double heart.(Q)
II
4 May the Lord cut off all deceiving lips,
and every boastful tongue,
5 Those who say, “By our tongues we prevail;
when our lips speak, who can lord it over us?”(R)
III
6 “Because they rob the weak, and the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the Lord;
“I will grant safety to whoever longs for it.”(S)
IV
Chapter 19
Paul in Ephesus. 1 [a]While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the country and came [down] to Ephesus where he found some disciples. 2 He said to them, “Did you receive the holy Spirit when you became believers?” They answered him, “We have never even heard that there is a holy Spirit.” 3 He said, “How were you baptized?” They replied, “With the baptism of John.” 4 Paul then said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.”(A) 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul laid [his] hands on them, the holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.(B) 7 Altogether there were about twelve men.
8 He entered the synagogue, and for three months debated boldly with persuasive arguments about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some in their obstinacy and disbelief disparaged the Way before the assembly, he withdrew and took his disciples with him and began to hold daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years with the result that all the inhabitants of the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord, Jews and Greeks alike. 11 So extraordinary were the mighty deeds God accomplished at the hands of Paul 12 that when face cloths or aprons that touched his skin were applied to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.(C)
The Jewish Exorcists. 13 Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 When the seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, tried to do this, 15 the evil spirit said to them in reply, “Jesus I recognize, Paul I know, but who are you?” 16 The person with the evil spirit then sprang at them and subdued them all. He so overpowered them that they fled naked and wounded from that house. 17 When this became known to all the Jews and Greeks who lived in Ephesus, fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in great esteem. 18 Many of those who had become believers came forward and openly acknowledged their former practices. 19 Moreover, a large number of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in public. They calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand silver pieces. 20 Thus did the word of the Lord continue to spread with influence and power.
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.