Old/New Testament
1 ¶ Why dost thou stand afar off, O LORD? Why dost thou hide thyself in times of trouble?
2 The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
3 For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire and blesses the covetous, whom the LORD abhors.
4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, does not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight; as for all his enemies, he puffs at them.
6 He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved, for I shall never be in adversity.
7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
8 He sits in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places he murders the innocent: his eyes are secretly set against the poor.
9 He lies in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lies in wait to catch the poor: he catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 He crouches and hides himself, and many are those who fall under his power.
11 He has said in his heart, God has forgotten; he hides his face; he will never see it.
12 ¶ Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand; forget not the humble.
13 In what does the wicked irritate God? He has said in his heart, Thou wilt not require accountability.
14 Thou hast seen it, for thou dost behold mischief and spite to requite it with thy hand: the poor commits himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man; seek out his wickedness until thou find none.
16 The LORD is King for ever and ever; the Gentiles are perished out of his land.
17 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart; thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
18 to judge the fatherless and the oppressed that the man of the earth may no longer oppress.
To the Overcomer, A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ I put my trust in the LORD: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
2 For, behold, the wicked bend their bow; they make ready their arrow upon the string that they may secretly shoot at the upright in heart.
3 The foundations shall be destroyed. What has the righteous done?
4 ¶ The LORD is in the temple of his holiness, the LORD’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men.
5 The LORD tries the righteous, but the wicked and he that loves violence his soul hates.
6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, with winds of whirlwinds: this shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the righteous LORD loves righteousness; his countenance beholds the upright.
To the Overcomer upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ Help, LORD; for the merciful man ceases, for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
2 Each one speaks vanity with his neighbour: they speak with flattering lips and with a double heart.
3 The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks proud things:
4 Who have said, With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise, saith the LORD; I will set in safety the one whom the wicked one has ensnared.
6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
8 The wicked press in on every side when the vilest men are exalted.
19 ¶ And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus, and finding certain disciples,
2 he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Spirit since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there is any Holy Spirit.
3 And he said unto them, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into John’s baptism.
4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him who should come after him, that is, on Christ, Jesus.
5 When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
7 And all the men were about twelve.
8 ¶ And he went into the synagogue and spoke freely for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.
9 But when some were hardened and disobedient, but cursing the way before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.
10 And this continued by the space of two years so that all those who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul
12 so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
13 ¶ Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon themselves to invoke over those who had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.
14 (And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew and prince of the priests, who did so.)
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I am acquainted with, but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
18 And many that believed came, confessing and declaring their deeds.
19 In the same manner many who had practiced vain arts brought their books together and burned them before everyone, and they counted the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
20 So the word of God grew mightily and prevailed.
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