Psalm 50-52

New International Version

Psalm 50

A psalm of Asaph.

¹The Mighty One, God, the Lord,^(A)
    speaks and summons the earth
    from the rising of the sun to where it sets.^(B)
²From Zion,^(C) perfect in beauty,^(D)
    God shines forth.^(E)
³Our God comes^(F)
    and will not be silent;^(G)
a fire devours^(H) before him,^(I)
    and around him a tempest^(J) rages.
⁴He summons the heavens above,
    and the earth,^(K) that he may judge his people:^(L)
⁵“Gather to me this consecrated people,^(M)
    who made a covenant^(N) with me by sacrifice.”
⁶And the heavens proclaim^(O) his righteousness,
    for he is a God of justice.^[a]^[b]^(P)

⁷“Listen, my people, and I will speak;
    I will testify^(Q) against you, Israel:
    I am God, your God.^(R)
⁸I bring no charges^(S) against you concerning your sacrifices
    or concerning your burnt offerings,^(T) which are ever before me.
⁹I have no need of a bull^(U) from your stall
    or of goats^(V) from your pens,^(W)
¹⁰for every animal of the forest^(X) is mine,
    and the cattle on a thousand hills.^(Y)
¹¹I know every bird^(Z) in the mountains,
    and the insects in the fields^(AA) are mine.
¹²If I were hungry I would not tell you,
    for the world^(AB) is mine, and all that is in it.^(AC)
¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴“Sacrifice thank offerings^(AD) to God,
fulfill your vows^(AE) to the Most High,^(AF)
¹⁵and call^(AG) on me in the day of trouble;^(AH)
I will deliver^(AI) you, and you will honor^(AJ) me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked person, God says:

“What right have you to recite my laws
    or take my covenant^(AK) on your lips?^(AL)
¹⁷You hate^(AM) my instruction
    and cast my words behind^(AN) you.
¹⁸When you see a thief, you join^(AO) with him;
    you throw in your lot with adulterers.^(AP)
¹⁹You use your mouth for evil
    and harness your tongue to deceit.^(AQ)
²⁰You sit and testify against your brother^(AR)
    and slander your own mother’s son.
²¹When you did these things and I kept silent,^(AS)
    you thought I was exactly^[c] like you.
But I now arraign^(AT) you
    and set my accusations^(AU) before you.

²²“Consider this, you who forget God,^(AV)
or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:^(AW)
²³Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
and to the blameless^[d] I will show my salvation.^(AX)”

Psalm 51^[e]

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.^(AY)

¹Have mercy^(AZ) on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;^(BA)
according to your great compassion^(BB)
    blot out^(BC) my transgressions.^(BD)
²Wash away^(BE) all my iniquity
    and cleanse^(BF) me from my sin.

³For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.^(BG)
⁴Against you, you only, have I sinned^(BH)
    and done what is evil in your sight;^(BI)
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.^(BJ)
⁵Surely I was sinful^(BK) at birth,^(BL)
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom^(BM) in that secret place.^(BN)

⁷Cleanse^(BO) me with hyssop,^(BP) and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.^(BQ)
⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;^(BR)
    let the bones^(BS) you have crushed rejoice.
⁹Hide your face from my sins^(BT)
    and blot out^(BU) all my iniquity.

¹⁰Create in me a pure heart,^(BV) O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.^(BW)
¹¹Do not cast me^(BX) from your presence^(BY)
    or take your Holy Spirit^(BZ) from me.
¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation^(CA)
    and grant me a willing spirit,^(CB) to sustain me.^(CC)

¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways,^(CD)
    so that sinners^(CE) will turn back to you.^(CF)
¹⁴Deliver me^(CG) from the guilt of bloodshed,^(CH) O God,
    you who are God my Savior,^(CI)
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.^(CJ)
¹⁵Open my lips, Lord,^(CK)
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶You do not delight in sacrifice,^(CL) or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
¹⁷My sacrifice,^(CM) O God, is^[f] a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart^(CN)
    you, God, will not despise.

¹⁸May it please you to prosper Zion,^(CO)
    to build up the walls of Jerusalem.^(CP)
¹⁹Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,^(CQ)
    in burnt offerings^(CR) offered whole;
    then bulls^(CS) will be offered on your altar.

Psalm 52^[g]

For the director of music. A maskil^[h] of David. When Doeg the Edomite^(CT) had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”

¹Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
    Why do you boast^(CU) all day long,^(CV)
    you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
²You who practice deceit,^(CW)
    your tongue plots destruction;^(CX)
    it is like a sharpened razor.^(CY)
³You love evil^(CZ) rather than good,
    falsehood^(DA) rather than speaking the truth.^[i]
⁴You love every harmful word,
    you deceitful tongue!^(DB)

⁵Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
    He will snatch you up and pluck^(DC) you from your tent;
    he will uproot^(DD) you from the land of the living.^(DE)
⁶The righteous will see and fear;
    they will laugh^(DF) at you, saying,
⁷“Here now is the man
    who did not make God his stronghold^(DG)
but trusted in his great wealth^(DH)
    and grew strong by destroying others!”

⁸But I am like an olive tree^(DI)
    flourishing in the house of God;
I trust^(DJ) in God’s unfailing love
    for ever and ever.
⁹For what you have done I will always praise you^(DK)
    in the presence of your faithful people.^(DL)
And I will hope in your name,^(DM)
    for your name is good.^(DN)

Footnotes

Psalm 50:6 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text for God himself is judge
Psalm 50:6 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
Psalm 50:21 Or thought the ‘I am’ was
Psalm 50:23 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; the meaning of the Masoretic Text for this phrase is uncertain.
Psalm 51:1 In Hebrew texts 51:1-19 is numbered 51:3-21.
Psalm 51:17 Or The sacrifices of God are
Psalm 52:1 In Hebrew texts 52:1-9 is numbered 52:3-11.
Psalm 52:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
Psalm 52:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 5.

Acts 27:1-25

New International Version

Paul Sails for Rome

27 When it was decided that we^(A) would sail for Italy,^(B) Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment.^(C) ²We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia,^(D) and we put out to sea. Aristarchus,^(E) a Macedonian^(F) from Thessalonica,^(G) was with us.

³The next day we landed at Sidon;^(H) and Julius, in kindness to Paul,^(I) allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs.^(J) ⁴From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.^(K) ⁵When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia^(L) and Pamphylia,^(M) we landed at Myra in Lycia. ⁶There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship^(N) sailing for Italy^(O) and put us on board. ⁷We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course,^(P) we sailed to the lee of Crete,^(Q) opposite Salmone. ⁸We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

⁹Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.^[a]^(R) So Paul warned them, ¹⁰“Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”^(S) ¹¹But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. ¹²Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete,^(T) facing both southwest and northwest.

The Storm

¹³When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. ¹⁴Before very long, a wind of hurricane force,^(U) called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. ¹⁵The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. ¹⁶As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat^(V) secure, ¹⁷so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground^(W) on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor^[b] and let the ship be driven along. ¹⁸We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.^(X) ¹⁹On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

²¹After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice^(Y) not to sail from Crete;^(Z) then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. ²²But now I urge you to keep up your courage,^(AA) because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. ²³Last night an angel^(AB) of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve^(AC) stood beside me^(AD) ²⁴and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar;^(AE) and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’^(AF) ²⁵So keep up your courage,^(AG) men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.^(AH)