Old/New Testament
Psalm 20[a]
Prayer in Praise of the Messiah King
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 May the Lord answer you in times of trouble;
may the name[c] of the God of Jacob protect you.
3 May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.[d]
4 May he remember[e] all your sacrifices
and accept all your burnt offerings. Selah
5 May he give you your heart’s desire[f]
and grant you success in all your plans.
6 May we shout with joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.[g]
May the Lord grant your every request.
7 Now I know that the Lord will grant victory to his anointed;[h]
he will answer him from his holy heaven,
granting mighty victories with his right hand.
8 [i]Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord, our God.
9 They will collapse and fall,
but we will rise up and stand firm.
10 O Lord, save the king,
and answer us when we call upon you.[j]
Psalm 21[k]
Thanksgiving for Messianic Blessings
1 For the director.[l] A psalm of David.
2 O Lord, the king rejoices in your strength;
your victories fill him with great joy.[m]
3 You have granted him the desire of his heart[n]
and not withheld from him the request of his lips. Selah
4 You welcomed him with choice blessings[o]
and placed a crown of pure gold upon his head.
5 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him,
length of days forever and ever.[p]
6 He has achieved great glory through your victory;
you have bestowed upon him splendor and majesty.[q]
7 You have conferred everlasting blessings[r] on him;
you gladdened him with the joy of your presence.
8 For the king places his trust in the Lord;
through the kindness[s] of the Most High he will not fall.
9 [t]Your hand will lay hold of all your enemies;
your right hand will overcome all your foes.
10 On the day when you appear,[u]
you will cast them into a fiery furnace.
The Lord’s anger will engulf them,
and fire will consume them.
11 You will blot out their descendants from the earth
and rid the human race of their posterity.[v]
12 They have devised wicked schemes against you,
but, plot though they may, they will not succeed.
13 For you will force them to retreat
when you aim your bows at them.
14 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength;[w]
we will sing and praise your power.
Psalm 22[x]
Suffering and Triumph of the Messiah
1 For the director.[y] According to “The Deer of the Dawn.” A psalm of David.
2 [z]My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why have you paid no heed to my call for help,
to my cries of anguish?
3 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I am afforded no relief.[aa]
4 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
5 Our ancestors placed their trust in you;
they trusted, and you gave them deliverance.
6 They cried out to you and were saved,
they trusted in you and were not put to shame.
7 But I am a worm and not human,[ab]
scorned by people and despised by my kinsmen.
8 All who see me jeer at me;
they sneer in mockery and toss their heads:[ac]
9 “He relied on the Lord;
let the Lord set him free.
Let the Lord deliver him,
if he loves him.”[ad]
10 [ae]Yet you brought me out of the womb
and made me feel secure
upon my mother’s breast.
11 I was entrusted to your care at my birth;
from my mother’s womb, you have been my God.
12 Do not remain aloof from me,
for trouble is near
and no one can help me.
13 [af]Many bulls[ag] are encircling me;
fierce bulls of Bashan are closing in on me.
14 They open wide their mouths against me
like ravening and roaring lions.
15 My strength is trickling away like water,
and all my bones are dislocated.
My heart[ah] has turned to wax
and melts within me.
16 My mouth is as dry as clayware,
and my tongue sticks to my jaw;[ai]
you have laid me down in the dust of death.
17 A pack of dogs surrounds me;
a band of evildoers is closing in on me.
They have pierced my hands and my feet;[aj]
18 I can count all my bones.[ak]
They stare at me and gloat;
19 they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.[al]
20 [am]But you, O Lord, do not remain aloof from me.
O my Strength, come quickly to my aid.
21 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the grasp of the dogs.
22 Save me[an] from the lion’s mouth
and from the horns of wild oxen.
23 [ao]I will proclaim your name to my family;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:[ap]
24 “You who fear the Lord, praise him.
All you descendants of Jacob,[aq] give him glory.
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel.
25 For he has not scorned or disregarded
the wretched man in his suffering;
he has not hidden his face[ar] from him
but has heeded his call for help.”
26 I will offer my praise to you in the great assembly;
in the presence of those who fear him, I will fulfill my vows.[as]
27 [at]The poor[au] will eat and be filled;
those who seek the Lord will praise him:
“May your hearts live forever.”
28 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord.
All the families of the nations
will bow low before him.
29 For kingly power belongs to the Lord;
he is the ruler of all the nations.
30 All those who prosper on the earth will bow down before him;
all those who lie in the grave will kneel in homage.
31 [av]But I will live for the Lord,
and my descendants will serve him.
32 Future generations will be told about the Lord
so that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn
the deliverance he has accomplished.
From Jerusalem to Rome[a]
Chapter 21
Last Journey to Jerusalem[b]
Arrival at Tyre. 1 When we[c] had finally torn ourselves away from them and set sail, we traveled directly to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2 There, we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, so we went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus, we passed by it on our left and sailed to Syria, landing at Tyre where the ship was to unload her cargo.
4 We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them for seven days. Through the Spirit, they advised Paul to abandon his plans to move on to Jerusalem. 5 However, when our time with them was ended, we left and continued on our journey. All of them, including women and children, escorted us outside the city. Kneeling down on the beach, we prayed 6 and then bid farewell to one another. Afterward, we boarded the ship and they returned home.
Arrival at Ptolemais and Caesarea. 7 We finished our voyage from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brethren and stayed with them for one day. 8 On the next day, we left and came to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven,[d] and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who possessed the gift of prophecy.
10 After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. 11 He came up to us, took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.’ ”
12 When we heard this, we joined with the people who lived there in begging Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 Since he would not be dissuaded, we finally gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Various Events and Paul’s Defenses at Jerusalem
15 Paul Is Welcomed by the Elders.[e] At the end of our stay, we made preparations and went up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, one of the early disciples, with whom we were to stay.
17 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren gave us a warm welcome.
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.