Old/New Testament
Psalm 7
Prayer for Justice
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.
1 Lord my God, I seek refuge in you;(A)
save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,(B)
2 or they[a] will tear me like a lion,
ripping me apart with no one to rescue me.(C)
3 Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is injustice on my hands,(D)
4 if I have done harm to one at peace with me(E)
or have plundered[b] my adversary without cause,(F)
5 may an enemy pursue and overtake me;
may he trample me to the ground(G)
and leave my honor in the dust.(H)Selah
6 Rise up, Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my adversaries;(I)
awake for me;[c](J)
you have ordained a judgment.(K)
7 Let the assembly of peoples gather around you;(L)
take your seat on high over it.(M)
8 The Lord judges the peoples;(N)
vindicate me, Lord,
according to my righteousness and my integrity.(O)
9 Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,(P)
but establish the righteous.(Q)
The one who examines the thoughts and emotions[d]
is a righteous God.(R)
10 My shield is with God,(S)
who saves the upright in heart.(T)
11 God is a righteous judge
and a God who shows his wrath every day.(U)
12 If anyone does not repent,
he will sharpen his sword;(V)
he has strung his bow and made it ready.(W)
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he tips his arrows with fire.(X)
14 See, the wicked one is pregnant with evil,
conceives trouble, and gives birth to deceit.(Y)
15 He dug a pit and hollowed it out
but fell into the hole he had made.(Z)
16 His trouble comes back on his own head;
his own violence comes down on top of his head.(AA)
17 I will thank the Lord for his righteousness;
I will sing about the name of the Lord Most High.(AB)
Psalm 8
God’s Glory, Human Dignity
For the choir director: on the Gittith.(AC) A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord,
how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!(AD)
You have covered the heavens with your majesty.[e](AE)
2 From the mouths of infants and nursing babies,(AF)
you have established a stronghold[f]
on account of your adversaries
in order to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I observe your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you set in place,(AG)
4 what is a human being that you remember him,
a son of man[g] that you look after him?(AH)
5 You made him little less than God[h][i]
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:(AI)
7 all the sheep and oxen,
as well as the animals in the wild,
8 the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea
that pass through the currents of the seas.(AJ)
9 Lord, our Lord,
how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!
Psalm 9
Celebration of God’s Justice
For the choir director: according to Muth-labben. A psalm of David.
1 I will thank the Lord with all my heart;
I will declare all your wondrous works.(AK)
2 I will rejoice and boast about you;(AL)
I will sing about your name, Most High.(AM)
3 When my enemies retreat,
they stumble and perish before you.(AN)
4 For you have upheld my just cause;(AO)
you are seated on your throne as a righteous judge.(AP)
5 You have rebuked the nations:(AQ)
You have destroyed the wicked;(AR)
you have erased their name forever and ever.(AS)
6 The enemy has come to eternal ruin;
you have uprooted the cities,
and the very memory of them has perished.(AT)
7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever;(AU)
he has established his throne for judgment.(AV)
8 And he judges the world with righteousness;
he executes judgment on the nations with fairness.(AW)
9 The Lord is a refuge for the persecuted,
a refuge in times of trouble.(AX)
10 Those who know your name trust in you
because you have not abandoned
those who seek you, Lord.(AY)
11 Sing to the Lord, who dwells in Zion;(AZ)
proclaim his deeds among the nations.(BA)
12 For the one who seeks an accounting
for bloodshed remembers them;(BB)
he does not forget the cry of the oppressed.(BC)
13 Be gracious to me, Lord;
consider my affliction at the hands of those who hate me.(BD)
Lift me up from the gates of death,(BE)
14 so that I may declare all your praises.
I will rejoice in your salvation(BF)
within the gates of Daughter Zion.
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they made;
their foot is caught in the net they have concealed.(BG)
16 The Lord has made himself known;
he has executed justice,(BH)
snaring the wicked
by the work of their hands.(BI)Higgaion. Selah
Founding the Corinthian Church
18 After this, he[a] left Athens and went to Corinth,(A) 2 where he found a Jew named Aquila,(B) a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them, 3 and since they were of the same occupation, tentmakers by trade,(C) he stayed with them and worked. 4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.(D)
5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself to preaching the word[b] and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.(E) 6 When they resisted and blasphemed,(F) he shook out his clothes(G) and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads!(H) I am innocent.[c] From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”(I) 7 So he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole household.(J) Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.
9 The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”(K) 11 He stayed there a year and a half, teaching the word of God among them.
12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him to the tribunal.(L) 13 “This man,” they said, “is persuading people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”
14 As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or of a serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews. 15 But if these are questions about words, names, and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.”(M) 16 So he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all[d] seized Sosthenes,(N) the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal, but none of these things mattered to Gallio.
The Return Trip to Antioch
18 After staying for some time, Paul said farewell to the brothers and sisters and sailed away to Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken.(O) 19 When they reached Ephesus(P) he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and debated with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined, 21 but he said farewell and added,[e] “I’ll come back to you again, if God wills.”(Q) Then he set sail from Ephesus.
22 On landing at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, then went down to Antioch.(R)
23 After spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.(S)
The Eloquent Apollos
24 Now a Jew named Apollos,(T) a native Alexandrian, an eloquent man who was competent in the use of the Scriptures, arrived in Ephesus. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit,[f] he was speaking and teaching accurately about Jesus, although he knew only John’s baptism.(U) 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside[g] and explained the way of God to him more accurately.(V) 27 When he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers and sisters wrote to the disciples to welcome him. After he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.(W) 28 For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.(X)
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