Psalm 13

A PLEA FOR DELIVERANCE
For the choir director. A psalm of David.

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long will I store up anxious concerns within me,
agony in my mind every day?
How long will my enemy dominate me?
3 Consider me and answer, Lord my God.
Restore brightness to my eyes;
otherwise, I will sleep in death.
4 My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,”
and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your faithful love;
my heart will rejoice in your deliverance.
6 I will sing to the Lord
because he has treated me generously.

Psalm 14

A PORTRAIT OF SINNERS
For the choir director. Of David.

The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.”
They are corrupt; they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.
3 All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.
4 Will evildoers never understand?
They consume my people as they consume bread;
they do not call on the Lord.
5 Then they will be filled with dread,
for God is with those who are righteous.
6 You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed,
but the Lord is his refuge.
7 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Psalm 15

A DESCRIPTION OF THE GODLY
A psalm of David.

Lord, who can dwell in your tent?
Who can live on your holy mountain?
2 The one who lives blamelessly, practices righteousness,
and acknowledges the truth in his heart —
3 who does not slander with his tongue,
who does not harm his friend
or discredit his neighbor,
4 who despises the one rejected by the Lord
but honors those who fear the Lord,
who keeps his word whatever the cost,
5 who does not lend his silver at interest
or take a bribe against the innocent —
the one who does these things will never be shaken.

Psalm 16

CONFIDENCE IN THE LORD
A Miktam of David.

Protect me, God, for I take refuge in you.
2 I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have nothing good besides you.”
3 As for the holy people who are in the land,
they are the noble ones.
All my delight is in them.
4 The sorrows of those who take another god
for themselves will multiply;
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
and I will not speak their names with my lips.
5 Lord, you are my portion
and my cup of blessing;
you hold my future.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me
in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I will bless the Lord who counsels me —
even at night when my thoughts trouble me.
8 I always let the Lord guide me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad
and my whole being rejoices;
my body also rests securely.
10 For you will not abandon me to Sheol;
you will not allow your faithful one to see decay.
11 You reveal the path of life to me;
in your presence is abundant joy;
at your right hand are eternal pleasures.

Psalm 17

A PRAYER FOR PROTECTION
A prayer of David.

Lord, hear a just cause;
pay attention to my cry;
listen to my prayer —
from lips free of deceit.
2 Let my vindication come from you,
for you see what is right.
3 You have tested my heart;
you have examined me at night.
You have tried me and found nothing evil;
I have determined that my mouth will not sin.
4 Concerning what people do:
by the words from your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.
5 My steps are on your paths;
my feet have not slipped.
6 I call on you, God,
because you will answer me;
listen closely to me; hear what I say.
7 Display the wonders of your faithful love,
Savior of all who seek refuge
from those who rebel against your right hand.
8 Protect me as the pupil of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked who treat me violently,
my deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They are uncaring;
their mouths speak arrogantly.
11 They advance against me; now they surround me.
They are determined
to throw me to the ground.
12 They are like a lion eager to tear,
like a young lion lurking in ambush.
13 Rise up, Lord!
Confront him; bring him down.
With your sword, save me from the wicked.
14 With your hand, Lord, save me from men,
from men of the world
whose portion is in this life:
You fill their bellies with what you have in store;
their sons are satisfied,
and they leave their surplus to their children.
15 But I will see your face in righteousness;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with your presence.

Psalm 18

PRAISE FOR DELIVERANCE
For the choir director. Of the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the power of Saul. He said:

Ilove you, Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock,
my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock where I seek refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold.
3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I was saved from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death were wrapped around me;
the torrents of destruction terrified me.
5 The ropes of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 I called to the Lord in my distress,
and I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the mountains trembled;
they shook because he burned with anger.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils,
and consuming fire came from his mouth;
coals were set ablaze by it.
9 He bent the heavens and came down,
total darkness beneath his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his hiding place,
dark storm clouds his canopy around him.
12 From the radiance of his presence,
his clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High made his voice heard.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered them;
he hurled lightning bolts and routed them.
15 The depths of the sea became visible,
the foundations of the world were exposed,
at your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He reached down from on high
and took hold of me;
he pulled me out of deep water.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out to a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me
according to my righteousness;
he repaid me
according to the cleanness of my hands.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not turned from my God to wickedness.
22 Indeed, I let all his ordinances guide me
and have not disregarded his statutes.
23 I was blameless toward him
and kept myself from my iniquity.
24 So the Lord repaid me
according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25 With the faithful
you prove yourself faithful,
with the blameless
you prove yourself blameless,
26 with the pure
you prove yourself pure,
but with the crooked
you prove yourself shrewd.
27 For you rescue an oppressed people,
but you humble those with haughty eyes.
28 Lord, you light my lamp;
my God illuminates my darkness.
29 With you I can attack a barricade,
and with my God I can leap over a wall.
30 God ​— ​his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is a rock? Only our God.
32 God ​— ​he clothes me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and sets me securely on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for war;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation;
your right hand upholds me,
and your humility exalts me.
36 You make a spacious place beneath me for my steps,
and my ankles do not give way.
37 I pursue my enemies and overtake them;
I do not turn back until they are wiped out.
38 I crush them, and they cannot get up;
they fall beneath my feet.
39 You have clothed me with strength for battle;
you subdue my adversaries beneath me.
40 You have made my enemies retreat before me;
I annihilate those who hate me.
41 They cry for help, but there is no one to save them —
they cry to the Lord, but he does not answer them.
42 I pulverize them like dust before the wind;
I trample them like mud in the streets.
43 You have freed me from the feuds among the people;
you have appointed me the head of nations;
a people I had not known serve me.
44 Foreigners submit to me cringing;
as soon as they hear they obey me.
45 Foreigners lose heart
and come trembling from their fortifications.
46 The Lord lives ​— ​blessed be my rock!
The God of my salvation is exalted.
47 God ​— ​he grants me vengeance
and subdues peoples under me.
48 He frees me from my enemies.
You exalt me above my adversaries;
you rescue me from violent men.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to you among the nations, Lord;
I will sing praises about your name.
50 He gives great victories to his king;
he shows loyalty to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.

Acts 18

FOUNDING THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH
After this, he left Athens and went to Corinth,
2 where he found a Jew named Aquila, 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, he stayed with them and worked. 4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself to preaching the word and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. 6 When they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his clothes and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 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. 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.” 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. 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.” 16 So he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, 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. 19 When they reached Ephesus 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, “I’ll come back to you again, if God wills.” 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.

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.

THE ELOQUENT APOLLOS
24 Now a Jew named Apollos, 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, he was speaking and teaching accurately about Jesus, although he knew only John’s baptism. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately. 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. 28 For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

— Psalms 13–18, Acts 18 (CSB)