Old/New Testament
A Prayer for Judging the Wicked
10 [a]Why do you stand far away, Lord?
Why do you hide in times of distress?
2 The wicked one arrogantly pursues the afflicted,[b]
who are trapped in the schemes he devises.
3 For the wicked one boasts about his own desire;
he blesses the greedy
and despises the Lord.
4 With haughty arrogance, the wicked thinks,
“God will not seek justice.”[c]
He always presumes “There is no God.”
5 Their ways always seem prosperous.
Your judgments are on high,
far away from them.
They scoff at all their enemies.
6 They say to themselves,
“We will not be moved throughout all time,
and we will not experience adversity.”
7 Their mouth is full of curses, lies, and oppression,
their tongues[d] spread trouble and iniquity.
8 They wait[e] in ambush in the villages,
they kill the innocent in secret.
9 Their eyes secretly watch the helpless,
lying in wait like a lion in his den.
They lie in wait to catch the afflicted.
They catch the afflicted when they pull him into their net.
10 The victim[f] is crushed,
and he sinks down;
the helpless fall by their might.
11 The wicked say to themselves,
“God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face,
he will never see it.”
12 Rise up, Lord!
Raise your hand, God.
Don’t forget the afflicted!
13 Why do the wicked despise God
and say to themselves, “God[g] will not seek justice.”?[h]
14 But you do see!
You take note of trouble and grief
in order to take the matter into your own hand.
The helpless one commits himself[i] to you;
you have been the orphan’s helper.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
so that when you seek out his wickedness
you will find it no more.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
nations will perish from his land.
17 Lord, you heard the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen them,[j]
you will listen carefully,
18 to do justice for the orphan[k] and the oppressed,
so that men of the earth may cause terror no more.
To the Director: A Davidic Song.[l]
Confident Trust in God
11 I take refuge in the Lord.
So how can you say to me,
“Flee like a bird to the mountains.”?
2 Look, the wicked have bent their bow
and placed their arrow[m] on the string,[n]
to shoot from the darkness[o] at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?
4 The Lord is in his holy Temple;
the Lord’s throne is in the heavens.
His eyes see,
his glance[p] examines humanity.[q]
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked and those who love violence, he hates.
6 He rains on the wicked burning coals and sulfur;
a scorching wind is their destiny.[r]
7 Indeed, the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteousness;
the upright will see him face-to-face.
To the Director: On an eight stringed harp.[s] A Davidic Psalm.
Human and Divine Words Contrasted
12 Help, Lord, for godly people no longer exist;
trustworthy people have disappeared from humanity.[t]
2 Everyone speaks lies to his neighbor;
they speak with flattering lips and hidden motives.[u]
3 The Lord will cut off all slippery lips,
and the tongue that boasts great things,
4 those who say,
“By our tongues we will prevail;
our lips belong to us.
Who is master[v] over us?”
5 “Because the poor are being oppressed,
because the needy are sighing,
I will now arise,” says the Lord,
“I will establish in safety those who yearn for it.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure,
like silver refined in an earthen furnace,
purified seven times over.
7 You, Lord, will keep them[w] safe,
you will guard them[x] from this generation forever.
8 The wicked, however,[y] keep walking around,
exalting the vileness of human beings.[z]
Paul in Ephesus
19 It was while Apollos was in Corinth that Paul passed through the inland districts and came to Ephesus. He found a few disciples there 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered him, “No, we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 He then asked, “Then into what were you baptized?”
They answered, “Into John’s baptism.”
4 Then Paul said, “John baptized when they repented, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in foreign languages[a] and to prophesy. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
8 He went into the synagogue and spoke there boldly for three months, holding discussions and persuading those who heard him[b] about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some people became stubborn, refused to believe, and slandered the Way in front of the people, Paul[c] left them, taking his disciples away with him, and held daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.[d] 10 This went on for two years, so that all who lived in Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord. 11 God continued to do extraordinary miracles through Paul.[e] 12 When handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched his skin were taken to the sick, their diseases left them and evil spirits went out of them.
13 Then some Jews who went around trying to drive out demons attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches!” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
15 But the evil spirit told them, “Jesus I know, and I am getting acquainted with Paul, but who are you?”
16 Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them, got the better of them, and so violently overpowered all of them that they fled out of the house naked and bruised. 17 When this became known to everyone living in Ephesus, Jews and Greeks alike, they all became terrified, and the name of the Lord Jesus began to be held in high honor. 18 Many who became believers kept coming to confess and talk about what they had been doing. 19 Moreover, many people who had practiced occult arts gathered their books and burned them in front of everybody. They estimated their value and found them to have been worth 50,000 silver coins.[f] 20 In that way the word of the Lord kept spreading and triumphing.
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