Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Naaman Healed of Leprosy

5 ^(A)Naaman, ^(B)commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.^{[a] 2} Now the Syrians on ^(C)one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” ⁴ So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” ⁵ And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

So he went, ^(D)taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels^[b] of gold, and ten ^(E)changes of clothing. ⁶ And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷ And when the king of Israel read the letter, ^(F)he tore his clothes and said, ^(G)“Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only ^(H)consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”

⁸ But when Elisha the ^(I)man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. ¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ^(J)“Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. ¹² Are not Abana^[c] and Pharpar, the rivers of ^(K)Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³ But his servants came near and said to him, ^(L)“My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, ^(M)and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, ^(N)and he was clean.

Gehazi's Greed and Punishment

¹⁵ Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that ^(O)there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so ^(P)accept now a present from your servant.” ¹⁶ But he said, ^(Q)“As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, ^(R)I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. ¹⁷ Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord. ¹⁸ In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of ^(S)Rimmon to worship there, ^(T)leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” ¹⁹ He said to him, ^(U)“Go in peace.”

But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, ^20 (V)Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. ^(W)As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” ²¹ So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, ^(X)“Is all well?” ²² And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from ^(Y)the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and ^(Z)two changes of clothing.’” ²³ And Naaman said, ^(AA)“Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. ²⁴ And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. ²⁵ He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” ²⁶ But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? ²⁷ Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence ^(AB)a leper, like snow.

Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia

¹³ Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And ^(A)John left them and returned ^(B)to Jerusalem, ¹⁴ but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And ^(C)on the Sabbath day ^(D)they went into the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After ^(E)the reading from ^(F)the Law and the Prophets, ^(G)the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any ^(H)word of encouragement for the people, say it.” ¹⁶ So Paul stood up, and ^(I)motioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and ^(J)you who fear God, listen. ^17 (K)The God of this people Israel ^(L)chose our fathers and ^(M)made the people great ^(N)during their stay in the land of Egypt, and ^(O)with uplifted arm he led them out of it. ¹⁸ And for about ^(P)forty years ^(Q)he put up with^[a] them in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And ^(R)after destroying ^(S)seven nations in the land of Canaan, ^(T)he gave them their land as an inheritance. ²⁰ All this took about 450 years. And after that ^(U)he gave them judges until ^(V)Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then ^(W)they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul ^(X)the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² And ^(Y)when he had removed him, ^(Z)he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ^(AA)‘I have found in David the son of Jesse ^(AB)a man after my heart, ^(AC)who will do all my will.’ ^23 (AD)Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel ^(AE)a Savior, Jesus, ^(AF)as he promised. ²⁴ Before his coming, ^(AG)John had proclaimed ^(AH)a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John was finishing his course, ^(AI)he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶ “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you ^(AJ)who fear God, to us has been sent ^(AK)the message of ^(AL)this salvation. ²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because ^(AM)they did not recognize him nor understand ^(AN)the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, ^(AO)fulfilled them by condemning him. ²⁸ And ^(AP)though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, ^(AQ)they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹ And when ^(AR)they had carried out all that was written of him, ^(AS)they took him down from ^(AT)the tree and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰ But ^(AU)God raised him from the dead, ³¹ and for many days ^(AV)he appeared to those ^(AW)who had come up with him ^(AX)from Galilee to Jerusalem, ^(AY)who are now ^(AZ)his witnesses to the people. ³² And we bring you the good news ^(BA)that what God promised to the fathers, ^33 (BB)this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

³⁴ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, ^(BD)(BE)no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

³⁵ Therefore he says also in another psalm,

³⁶ For David, after he had ^(BH)served the purpose of God in his own generation, ^(BI)fell asleep and ^(BJ)was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, ³⁷ but he whom ^(BK)God raised up did not see corruption. ³⁸ Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, ^(BL)that through this man ^(BM)forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and by him ^(BN)everyone who believes is freed^[b] from everything ^(BO)from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

⁴² As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. ⁴³ And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and ^(BQ)devout ^(BR)converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them ^(BS)to continue in ^(BT)the grace of God.

⁴⁴ The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. ^45 (BU)But ^(BV)when the Jews^[c] saw the crowds, they were filled with ^(BW)jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, ^(BX)reviling him. ⁴⁶ And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God ^(BY)be spoken first to you. ^(BZ)Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves ^(CA)unworthy of eternal life, behold, we ^(CB)are turning to the Gentiles. ^47 (CC)For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

⁴⁸ And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and ^(CG)glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹ And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. ^50 (CH)But the Jews incited the devout ^(CI)women of high standing and the leading men of the city, ^(CJ)stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and ^(CK)drove them out of their district. ⁵¹ But they ^(CL)shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled ^(CM)with joy and ^(CN)with the Holy Spirit.