Old/New Testament
To the Director: By the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
Gratitude for Victory
18 He said:
“I love you, Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God,
my stronghold[a] in whom I take refuge, my shield, the glory[b]
of my salvation, and my high tower.”
3 I cried out to the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I was delivered from my enemies.
4 The cords of death entangled me;
the rivers of Belial[c] made me afraid.
5 The cords of Sheol[d] surrounded me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I cried to the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his Temple he heard my voice;
my cry reached his ears.
7 The world shook and trembled;
the foundations of the mountains quaked,
they shook because he was angry.
8 In his anger smoke poured out of his nostrils,
and consuming fire from his mouth;
coals were lit from it.
9 He bent the sky and descended,
and darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode upon a cherub and flew;
he soared upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his hiding place,
his canopy surrounding him was dark waters and thick clouds.
12 The brightness before him scattered the thick clouds,
with hail stones and flashes of fire.
13 Then the Lord thundered in[e] the heavens,
and the Most High sounded aloud,
calling for hail stones and flashes of fire.[f]
14 He shot his arrows and scattered them;
with many lightning bolts he frightened them.
15 Then the channels of the sea could be seen,
and the foundations of the earth were uncovered
because of your rebuke, Lord,
because of the blast from the breath of your nostrils.
16 He reached down and took me;
he drew me from many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemies,
from those who hated me because
they were stronger than I.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out to a spacious place;
he delivered me, for in me he takes delight.
God’s Reward to the Righteous
20 The Lord will reward me because I am righteous;
because my hands are clean he will restore me;
21 because I have kept the ways of the Lord,
and I have not wickedly departed from my God;
22 because all his judgments were always before me,
and I did not cast off his statutes.
23 I was upright[g] before him,
and I kept myself from iniquity.
24 So the Lord restored me according to my righteousness,
because my hands were clean in his sight.
25 To the holy, you show your gracious love,
to the upright, you show yourself upright;
26 to the pure, you show yourself pure,
and to the morally corrupt, you appear to be perverse.
27 Indeed, you deliver the oppressed,[h]
but you bring down those who exalt themselves
in their own eyes.
28 For you, Lord, make my lamp shine;
my God enlightens my darkness.
29 With your help[i] I will run through an army,
with help from[j] my God I leap over walls.
30 As for God, his way is upright;[k]
the word of God is pure;
he is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.
The Acts of God for the Righteous
31 For who is God but the Lord,
and who is a Rock other than our God?—
32 the God who clothes me with strength,
and who makes my way upright;[l]
33 who makes my feet swift as the deer;
who makes me stand on high places;
34 who teaches my hands to make war,
and my arms to bend a bronze bow.
35 You have given to me the shield of your deliverance,
and your right hand holds me up;
your gentleness made me great.
36 You make a broad place for my steps,
so my feet[m] won’t slip.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not turn around until they were utterly defeated.
38 I struck them down,
so they are not able to rise up;
they fell under my feet.
39 You clothed me with strength for war;
you will subdue under me those who rise up against me.
40 You have made my enemies turn their back to me,
and I will destroy those who hate me.
41 They cried out for deliverance,
but there was no one to deliver;
they cried out[n] to the Lord,
but he did not answer them.
42 I ground them like wind-swept dust;
I emptied them out[o] like dirt in the street.
43 You rescued me from conflict with the people;
you made me head of the nations.
People who did not know me will serve me.
44 When they hear of me,[p] they will obey me;
foreigners will submit to me.
45 Foreigners will wilt away;
they will come trembling out of their stronghold.
46 The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
May the God of my deliverance be exalted!
47 He is the God who executes vengeance on my behalf;
who destroys peoples under me;
48 who delivers me from my enemies.
Truly you will exalt me above those who oppose me;
you will deliver me from the violent person.
49 Therefore, I will give thanks to you among the nations, Lord;
I will sing praises to your name.
50 He is the one who gives victories to his king;
who shows gracious love to his anointed,
to David and his seed forever.
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
God’s Revelation in the Heavens
19 The heavens are declaring the glory of God,
and their expanse shows the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech,
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor are there words—
their voice is not heard—
4 yet their message[q] goes out into all the world,
and their words to the ends of the earth.
He has set up a tent for the sun in the heavens,[r]
5 which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
or like a champion who rejoices at the beginning of a race.
6 Its circuit is from one end of the sky to the other,
and nothing is hidden from its heat.
God’s Revelation in the Law
7 The Law of the Lord is perfect,
restoring life.
The testimony of the Lord is steadfast,
making foolish people wise.
8 The precepts of the Lord are upright,
making the heart rejoice.
The commandment of the Lord is pure,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean,
standing forever.
The judgments of the Lord are true;
they are altogether righteous.
10 They are more desirable than gold,
even much fine gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even the drippings from a honeycomb.
11 Moreover your servant is warned by them;
and there is great reward in keeping them.
12 Who can detect his own[s] mistake?
Cleanse me from hidden sin.
13 Preserve your servant from arrogant people;[t]
do not let them rule over me.
Then I will be upright[u]
and acquitted of great wickedness.
14 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart
be acceptable in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Paul Meets with the Ephesian Elders
17 From Miletus he sent messengers[a] to Ephesus to ask the elders of the church to meet with him. 18 When they came to him, he told them, “You know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day I set foot in Asia. 19 I served the Lord with all humility, with tears, and with trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. 20 I never shrank from telling you anything that would help you nor from teaching you publicly and from house to house. 21 I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus.[b] 22 And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that in town after town the Holy Spirit assures me that imprisonment and suffering are waiting for me. 24 But I don’t place any value on my life, if only I can finish my race and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I traveled preaching about the kingdom will ever see my face again. 26 I therefore declare to you today that I’m not responsible for the blood of any of you, 27 because I never shrank from telling you the whole plan of God. 28 Pay attention to yourselves and to the entire flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to be shepherds of God’s[c] church, which he acquired with his own blood. 29 I know that when I’m gone, savage wolves will come among you and not spare the flock. 30 Indeed, some of your own men will arise and distort the truth in order to lure the disciples into following them. 31 So be alert! Remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped tearfully warning each of you.
32 “I’m now entrusting you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and secure for you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. 33 I never desired anyone’s silver, gold, or clothes. 34 You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who were with me. 35 In every way I showed you that by working hard like this we should help the weak and remember the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”[d]
36 When Paul[e] had said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them. 37 All of them cried and cried[f] as they put their arms around Paul and kissed[g] him affectionately. 38 They were especially sorrowful because of what he had said—that they would never see his face again. Then they took him to the ship.
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