Psalm 86

English Standard Version

Great Is Your Steadfast Love

^(A)A Prayer of David.

86 ^(B)Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
    for I am ^(C)poor and needy.
²Preserve my life, for I am ^(D)godly;
    save your servant, who ^(E)trusts in you—you are my God.
³^(F)Be gracious to me, O Lord,
    for to you do I cry all the day.
⁴Gladden the soul of your servant,
    for ^(G)to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
⁵For you, O Lord, are good and ^(H)forgiving,
    ^(I)abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
⁶^(J)Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
    listen to my plea for grace.
⁷In ^(K)the day of my trouble I call upon you,
    ^(L)for you answer me.

⁸There is ^(M)none like you among the gods, O Lord,
    ^(N)nor are there any works like yours.
⁹^(O)All the nations you have made shall come
    and worship before you, O Lord,
    and shall glorify your name.
¹⁰For ^(P)you are great and ^(Q)do wondrous things;
    ^(R)you alone are God.
¹¹^(S)Teach me your way, O Lord,
    that I may ^(T)walk in your truth;
    ^(U)unite my heart to fear your name.
¹²I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.
¹³^(V)For great is your steadfast love toward me;
    you have ^(W)delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

¹⁴O God, insolent men have ^(X)risen up against me;
    a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
    and they do not set you before them.
¹⁵But you, O Lord, are a God ^(Y)merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
¹⁶^(Z)Turn to me and be gracious to me;
    give your strength to ^(AA)your servant,
    and save ^(AB)the son of your maidservant.
¹⁷^(AC)Show me a sign of your ^(AD)favor,
    that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
    because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Psalm 87

English Standard Version

Glorious Things of You Are Spoken

A Psalm of ^(A)the Sons of Korah. A Song.

87 On ^(B)the holy mount ^(C)stands the city he founded;
²    the Lord ^(D)loves the gates of Zion
    more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
³^(E)Glorious things of you are spoken,
    O ^(F)city of God. Selah

⁴Among those who ^(G)know me I mention ^(H)Rahab and Babylon;
    behold, Philistia and Tyre, with ^(I)Cush^[a]—
    “This one was born there,” they say.
⁵And of Zion it shall be said,
    “This one and that one were born in her”;
    for the Most High himself will ^(J)establish her.
⁶The Lord records as he ^(K)registers the peoples,
    “This one was born there.” Selah

⁷^(L)Singers and ^(M)dancers alike say,
“All my ^(N)springs are in you.”

Footnotes

Psalm 87:4 Probably Nubia

Isaiah 47

English Standard Version

The Humiliation of Babylon

47 ^(A)Come down and sit in the dust,
    O virgin ^(B)daughter of Babylon;
^(C)sit on the ground without a throne,
    O daughter of ^(D)the Chaldeans!
^(E)For you shall no more be called
    tender and delicate.
²Take the millstones and ^(F)grind flour,
    ^(G)put off your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
    pass through the rivers.
³Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
    and your disgrace shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
    and I will spare no one.
⁴^(H)Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—
    is the Holy One of Israel.

⁵^(I)Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
    O daughter of ^(J)the Chaldeans;
for you shall no more be called
    ^(K)the mistress of kingdoms.
⁶^(L)I was angry with my people;
    I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
    ^(M)you showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
⁷You said, “I shall be ^(N)mistress forever,”
    so that you did not lay these things to heart
    or remember their end.

⁸Now therefore hear this, ^(O)you lover of pleasures,
    ^(P)who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
    ^(Q)“I am, and there is no one besides me;
^(R)I shall not sit as a widow
    or know the loss of children”:
⁹^(S)These two things shall come to you
    in a moment, ^(T)in one day;
the loss of children and widowhood
    shall come upon you in full measure,
^(U)in spite of your many sorceries
    and the great power of your enchantments.

¹⁰You felt secure in your wickedness;
    you said, “No one sees me”;
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
    ^(V)“I am, and there is no one besides me.”
¹¹But evil shall come upon you,
    which you will not know how to charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
    for which you will not be able to atone;
^(W)and ruin shall come upon you suddenly,
    of which you know nothing.

¹²^(X)Stand fast in your enchantments
    and your many sorceries,
    with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
    perhaps you may inspire terror.
¹³You are wearied with your many counsels;
    let them stand forth and save you,
^(Y)those who divide the heavens,
    who gaze at the stars,
who at the new moons make known
    what shall come upon you.

¹⁴Behold, ^(Z)they are like stubble;
    ^(AA)the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
    from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
    no fire to sit before!
¹⁵Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
    who have done business with you from your youth;
they wander about, each in his own direction;
    there is no one to save you.

Acts 26

English Standard Version

Paul's Defense Before Agrippa

26 So ^(A)Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

²“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today ^(B)against all the accusations of the Jews, ³especially because you are familiar with all the ^(C)customs and ^(D)controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴^(E)“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among ^(F)my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. ⁵They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that ^(G)according to the strictest ^(H)party of our ^(I)religion I have lived as ^(J)a Pharisee. ⁶And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in ^(K)the promise made by God to our fathers, ⁷^(L)to which ^(M)our twelve tribes hope to ^(N)attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope ^(O)I am accused by Jews, O king! ⁸Why is it thought ^(P)incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

⁹^(Q)“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of ^(R)Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰^(S)And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority ^(T)from the chief priests, but ^(U)when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. ¹¹And ^(V)I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them ^(W)blaspheme, and ^(X)in raging fury against them I ^(Y)persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹²“In this connection ^(Z)I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me ^(AA)in the Hebrew language,^[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶But rise and ^(AB)stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^(AC)to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ¹⁷^(AD)delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—^(AE)to whom I ^(AF)am sending you ¹⁸^(AG)to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from ^(AH)the power of Satan to God, that they may receive ^(AI)forgiveness of sins and ^(AJ)a place among those who are sanctified ^(AK)by faith in me.’

¹⁹“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to ^(AL)the heavenly vision, ²⁰but declared first ^(AM)to those in Damascus, ^(AN)then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^(AO)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(AP)repent and ^(AQ)turn to God, performing deeds ^(AR)in keeping with their repentance. ²¹For this reason ^(AS)the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²²^(AT)To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so ^(AU)I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what ^(AV)the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ²³^(AW)that the Christ ^(AX)must suffer and that, ^(AY)by being the first ^(AZ)to rise from the dead, ^(BA)he would proclaim ^(BB)light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, ^(BC)you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, ^(BD)most excellent Festus, but I am speaking ^(BE)true and ^(BF)rational words. ²⁶For ^(BG)the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. ²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” ²⁸And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be ^(BH)a Christian?”^[b] ²⁹And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day ^(BI)might become such as I am—except for ^(BJ)these chains.”

³⁰Then the king rose, and ^(BK)the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. ³¹And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, ^(BL)“This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” ³²And Agrippa said to Festus, ^(BM)“This man could have been set ^(BN)free if he had not appealed ^(BO)to Caesar.”