Old/New Testament
Prayer for God to Destroy the Sinful
10 Why do You stand far away, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? 2 The sinful, in their pride, try to catch the weak. Let them be caught in the plans they have made. 3 The sinful man is proud of the desires of his heart. He praises those who want everything but he speaks against the Lord. 4 The sinful man in his pride does not look for God. All his thoughts are that there is no God. 5 His ways always go well for him. Your laws are too high for him to see. He laughs at those who hate him. 6 He says to himself, “I will not be moved. For all time, I will never have trouble.” 7 With his mouth he swears and lies. He makes it hard for other people. Trouble and sin are under his tongue. 8 He lies hidden in the towns, waiting to kill those who are not guilty. His eyes are always watching for the weak. 9 He lies in wait like a hidden lion. He lies in wait to catch the weak, and they become caught in his net. 10 The weak are hurt and they fall. They cannot stand under his strength. 11 He says to himself, “God has forgotten. He has hidden His face and will never see it.”
12 Rise up, O Lord! Lift up Your hand, O God. Do not forget the weak. 13 Why does the sinful man turn away from God? He has said to himself, “You will not ask it of me.” 14 But You have seen it. You look upon trouble and suffering, to take it into Your hands. The suffering man gives himself to You. You are the Helper of the one who has no father. 15 Break the arm of the bad and sinful man. Find out all his sins until You find no more. 16 The Lord is King forever and ever. Those who worship false gods will be taken from the land.
17 O Lord, You have heard the prayers of those who have no pride. You will give strength to their heart, and You will listen to them. 18 In this way, You will do the right thing for those without a father and those who suffer, so that man who is of the earth will no longer make them afraid.
The Lord—a Safe Place
11 In the Lord I am safe. How can you say to me, “Fly away as a bird to your mountain? 2 For look, the sinful raise their bow. They make their arrow ready on the string to shoot in the dark against the pure in heart. 3 If the base of the building is destroyed, what can those who are right with God do?”
4 The Lord is in His holy house. The Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes see as He tests the sons of men. 5 The Lord tests and proves those who are right and good and those who are sinful. And His soul hates the one who loves to hurt others. 6 He will send down fire upon the sinful. Fire and sulphur and burning wind will be the cup they will drink. 7 For the Lord is right and good. He loves what is right and good. And those who are right with Him will see His face.
God—Our Helper
12 Help, Lord! For God-like men are here no more. The faithful can no longer be seen among the sons of men. 2 They lie to each other. Their lips speak with sweet-sounding words that are not true. 3 May the Lord cut off all lips of false respect, and the tongue that speaks of great things. 4 They say, “We can win with our tongues. Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the suffering of the weak, and because of the cries of the poor, I will now rise up,” says the Lord. “I will keep him safe as he has wanted to be.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words. They are like silver that has been made pure seven times in a stove of earth. 7 O Lord, You will keep us. You will keep us safe forever from the people of this day. 8 The sinful walk on every side when bad actions are held in honor among the sons of men.
Christians in Ephesus Are Filled with the Holy Spirit
19 While Apollos was in the city of Corinth, Paul went through the hill country to get to the city of Ephesus. He found a few followers there. 2 He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you put your trust in Christ?” They said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 He asked them, “How were you baptized?” They answered, “The way John baptized.” 4 Paul said, “John baptized those who were sorry for their sins and turned from them. He told the people to put their trust in Jesus Who was coming later.”
5 The people there were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus when they heard this. 6 When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them. They started to talk in special sounds and to speak God’s Word. 7 There were about twelve men.
Paul Preaches in a Place of Worship and in a School in Ephesus
8 For three months Paul went into the Jewish place of worship and spoke without fear. He taught them things about the holy nation of God. 9 Some let their hearts grow hard. They would not put their trust in Christ. These spoke against the Christian religion in front of other people. Then Paul took the followers away from the others. He taught them each day in the school of Tyrannus. 10 He did this for two years. All the Jews and the Greeks in the countries of Asia heard the Word of the Lord.
Paul Does Powerful Works
11 God used Paul to do powerful special works. 12 Pieces of cloth and parts of his clothes that had been next to his body were put on sick people. Then they were healed of their diseases and demons came out of them.
13 There were Jews who went from city to city trying to put demons out of people. Some of these tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had demons. They said, “I speak to you in the name of Jesus, the One Paul preaches about.” 14 A Jewish leader of the people by the name of Sceva had seven sons. These sons were trying to do this. 15 The demon said, “I know Jesus. I know about Paul. But who are you?” 16 Then the man with the demon jumped on the sons. He had power over them and beat them. They ran out of the house with no clothes on and they were hurt.
17 All the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus heard about it. Because of this all the people became afraid. And the name of the Lord Jesus was held in great honor. 18 Many Christians came and told of the wrong things they were doing. 19 Many of those who did witchcraft gathered their books together and burned them in front of everyone. These books were worth 50,000 pieces of silver money. 20 The Word of the Lord became well-known.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.