Psalms 7–9
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite.
1 O Lord my God, in You I put my trust;
save me from all those who persecute me, and deliver me,
2 lest they tear my soul like a lion,
rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is iniquity in the palms of my hands,
4 if I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me,
or have delivered my adversary without cause,
5 then may the enemy pursue my life and overtake me;
may my enemy trample my life to the ground,
and lay my honor in the dust. Selah
6 Arise, O Lord, in Your anger;
rise up because of the rage of my adversaries,
and awaken Yourself for me; You have commanded justice.
7 The congregation of the peoples surround You;
return above it to heaven’s heights.
8 The Lord will judge the peoples;
grant me justice, O Lord, according to my righteousness,
and according to my integrity within me.
9 May the evil of the wicked come to an end;
may You vindicate the righteous one;
You are a righteous God who examines the minds and hearts.
10 My defense depends on God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and God has indignation every day.
12 If one does not repent,
God will sharpen His sword;
He has bent His bow and made it ready.
13 He has prepared for Himself deadly weapons;
He makes His arrows flaming shafts.
14 The wicked man writhes in pain of iniquity;
he has conceived mischief and brought forth falsehood.
15 He who digs a hole and hollows it
will then fall into his own pit.
16 His mischief will return on his own head;
his violence will descend on the crown of his own head.
17 I will thank the Lord according to His righteousness,
and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
Psalm 8
For the Music Director. According to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is Your name in all the earth!
You have set Your glory
above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have ordained strength
because of Your enemies,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which You have established,
4 what is man that You are mindful of him,
and the son of man that You attend to him?
5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
and whatever travels the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Psalm 9
For the Music Director. To the melody of “The Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David.
1 I will give thanks to You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will declare all Your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies are turned back,
they will stumble and perish at Your presence.
4 For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You sat on the throne judging what is right.
5 You have rebuked the nations,
You have destroyed the wicked,
You have wiped out their name forever and ever.
6 O you enemy, destructions have come to you for a perpetual end.
You have destroyed cities;
their memory perished with them.
7 But the Lord remains forever;
He has established His throne for judgment.
8 He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will give judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
9 The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
10 Those who know Your name will put their trust in You,
for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion;
declare His deeds among the people.
12 He who avenges deaths remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the humble.
13 Be gracious to me, O Lord; consider my trouble from those who hate me,
O You who lifts me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all Your praise
in the gates of the daughter of Zion,
that I may rejoice in Your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made;
their own foot is caught in the net which they hid.
16 The Lord is known by the judgment that He executes;
the wicked one is snared in the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah
17 The wicked will be turned to Sheol,
and all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy will not always be forgotten,
nor will the hope of the poor perish forever.
19 Arise, O Lord, may mortals not prevail;
let the nations be judged in Your sight.
20 Put them in fear, O Lord,
that the nations themselves may know they are mortals. Selah
Acts 18
1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 He found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to them. 3 And because he was of the same trade, he remained with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 He lectured in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks.
5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul was pressed by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6 But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your heads. I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 Then he departed from there and entered the house of a man named Justus, one who worshipped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians, who heard, believed and were baptized.
9 The Lord spoke to Paul in the night through a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one shall attack you and hurt you, for I have many people in this city.” 11 So for a year and six months he sat among them, teaching the word of God.
12 When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews in unity attacked Paul and brought him to court, 13 saying, “This man is persuading men to worship God contrary to the law.”
14 When Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “O Jews, if it were a matter of a misdemeanor or serious crime, I would rightly bear with you. 15 But if it is a question of words and names and your law, look into it yourselves. For I do not intend to be a judge of these matters.” 16 So he drove them out of court. 17 Then all the Greeks seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But none of these things mattered to Gallio.
18 Yet Paul remained many days. He had his hair cut in Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow. Then, bidding farewell to the brothers, he sailed to Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. 19 He arrived at Ephesus and left them there. But he himself went into the synagogue and lectured the Jews. 20 When they asked him to remain for a while longer, he did not consent, 21 but, bidding farewell, said, “I must by all means attend this upcoming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return to you if God wills.” And he set sail from Ephesus. 22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.
23 After spending some time there, he departed and passed through the entire region of Galatia and Phrygia in sequence, strengthening all the disciples.
24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, who was an eloquent man and powerful in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John, but being fervent in spirit, he accurately spoke and taught the things concerning the Lord. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him and explained the way of God more accurately.
27 When Apollos intended to pass into Achaia, the brothers wrote to encourage the disciples to welcome him. On arriving, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. 28 For he vehemently refuted the Jews publicly, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.