Old/New Testament

God Keeps His Own

40 I did not give up waiting for the Lord. And He turned to me and heard my cry. ² He brought me up out of the hole of danger, out of the mud and clay. He set my feet on a rock, making my feet sure. ³ He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will put their trust in the Lord.

⁴ How happy is the man who has made the Lord his trust, and has not turned to the proud or to the followers of lies. ⁵ O Lord my God, many are the great works You have done, and Your thoughts toward us. No one can compare with You! If I were to speak and tell of them, there would be too many to number.

⁶ You have not wanted gifts given on the altar in worship. You have opened my ears. You have not wanted burnt gifts or gifts to cover sins. ⁷ Then I said, “Look, I have come. It is written about me in the book. ⁸ I am happy to do Your will, O my God. Your Law is within my heart.”

⁹ I have told the good news about what is right and good in the big meeting with many people. You know I will not close my lips, O Lord. ¹⁰ I have not hidden what is right and good with You in my heart. I have spoken about how faithful You are and about Your saving power. I have not hidden Your loving-kindness and Your truth from the big meeting.

¹¹ O Lord, You will not keep Your loving-pity from me. Your loving-kindness and Your truth will always keep me safe. ¹² Too many troubles gather around me. My sins have taken such a hold on me that I am not able to see. There are more of them than there are hairs on my head. And the strength of my heart has left me.

¹³ Be pleased to save me, O Lord. Hurry, O Lord, to help me. ¹⁴ Let all who want to destroy my life be ashamed and troubled. Let those who want to hurt me be turned away without honor. ¹⁵ Let those who say to me, “O! O!” be filled with fear because of their shame. ¹⁶ But let all who look for You have joy and be glad in You. Let those who love Your saving power always say, “The Lord be honored!” ¹⁷ Because I suffer and am in need, let the Lord think of me. You are my help and the One Who sets me free. O my God, do not wait.

Prayer of a Sick Man about False Friends

41 Happy is the man who cares for the poor. The Lord will save him in times of trouble. ² The Lord will keep him alive and safe. And he will be happy upon the earth. You will not give him over to the desire of those who hate him. ³ The Lord will give him strength on his bed of sickness. When he is sick, You will make him well again.

⁴ As for me, I said, “O Lord, have loving-kindness for me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.” ⁵ Those who hate me speak bad words against me, saying, “When will he die, and his name be forgotten?” ⁶ When one comes to see me, he speaks lies. His heart gathers up bad stories. Then he goes outside and tells them. ⁷ All who hate me speak in secret together against me. They make plans to hurt me, saying, ⁸ “A bad thing has come over him. When he lies down, he will not rise again.” ⁹ Even a friend of mine whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has turned against me.

¹⁰ Have loving-kindness for me, O Lord. Raise me up, so that I may pay them back. ¹¹ Then I will know that You are pleased with me, because he who hates me does not win over me. ¹² As for me, You hold me up in my honesty. And You set me beside You forever.

¹³ Honor be to the Lord, the God of Israel, forever and ever! Let it be so!

42 As the deer desires rivers of water, so my soul desires You, O God. ² My soul is thirsty for God, for the living God. When will I come and meet with God? ³ My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” ⁴ These things I remember, and I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with many people and lead them to the house of God, with the voice of thankful joy, among the many happy people.

⁵ Why are you sad, O my soul? Why have you become troubled within me? Hope in God, for I will praise Him again for His help of being near me. ⁶ O my God, my soul is troubled within me. So I remember You from the land of the Jordan and the tops of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. ⁷ Sea calls to sea at the sound of Your waterfalls. All Your waves have rolled over me. ⁸ The Lord will send His loving-kindness in the day. And His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I will say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I have sorrow because those who hate me come against me with power?” ¹⁰ As a breaking of my bones, those who hate me speak sharp words to me. All day long they say to me, “Where is your God?” ¹¹ Why are you sad, O my soul? Why have you become troubled within me? Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my help and my God.

Paul Is Sent to Rome

27 It was decided that we should go to the country of Italy by ship. Then they put Paul and some other men in chains. Julius, a captain of Caesar’s army, was to watch them. ² We went on a ship that was from the city of Adramyttian. It was going to stop at the towns along the sea-shore of Asia. Aristarchus was with us. He was a man from the city of Thessalonica in the country of Macedonia. ³ The next day we stopped in the city of Sidon. Julius was kind to Paul. He let him visit friends who cared for him.

⁴ After leaving Sidon we were blown by the wind along the south side of the island of Cyprus. The wind was against us. ⁵ We crossed the sea along the countries of Cilicia and Pamphylia and got to the city of Myra in the country of Lycia. ⁶ The captain found a ship from the city of Alexandria that was going to the country of Italy. He put us on it. ⁷ For many days the ship did not move fast. It was hard to get to the city of Cnidus. The wind would not let us go on. So we went along the south shore of the island of Crete and passed the end of the island called Salome. ⁸ The wind was against us, and we did not sail very fast. Then we came to a place called Fair Havens. It was near the city of Lasea.

⁹ Much time had been lost. To keep going that late in the year would mean danger. Paul spoke with strong words, ¹⁰ “Sirs, it looks to me as if this ship and its freight will be lost. We are in danger of being lost also.”

¹¹ The captain of the soldiers listened to what the captain of the ship said and not to what Paul said. ¹² It was not a good place to spend the winter. Most of those on the ship wanted to go on and try to get to Phoenix. Crete was a good place to tie up the ship. They wanted to spend the winter there. ¹³ When a south wind started to blow, they thought their plan was right. They pulled up the anchor and went close to the shore of Crete.

¹⁴ Later a bad wind storm came down from the land. It was called a northeaster. ¹⁵ The ship was stopped by the wind. After awhile we gave up and let it go with the wind. ¹⁶ We went behind a small island called Claudia. It was hard work but we were able to make the ship’s boat safe. ¹⁷ They pulled it up and tied ropes around it and the ship. They were afraid of going on the Syrtis sands. So they took the sail down and let the ship go with the wind.

¹⁸ The storm was so bad the high waves were beating against the ship. The next day the men threw some of the freight over into the sea. ¹⁹ On the third day, with their own hands, they threw part of the sails and ropes into the sea. ²⁰ We did not see the sun or stars for many days. A very bad storm kept beating against us. We lost all hope of being saved.

Paul Shows His Faith

²¹ No one had eaten for a long time. Then Paul stood up and said to them, “Men, you should have listened to me and not left Crete. You would not have had this trouble and loss. ²² But now I want you to take hope. No one will lose his life. Only the ship will be lost. ²³ I belong to God and I work for Him. Last night an angel of God stood by me ²⁴ and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand in front of Caesar. God has given you the lives of all the men on this ship.’ ²⁵ So take hope, men. I believe my God will do what He has told me. ²⁶ But the ship will be lost on some island.”