Old/New Testament
Psalm 40[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
40 I relied completely[b] on the Lord,
and he turned toward me
and heard my cry for help.
2 He lifted me out of the watery pit,[c]
out of the slimy mud.[d]
He placed my feet on a rock
and gave me secure footing.[e]
3 He gave me reason to sing a new song,[f]
praising our God.[g]
May many see what God has done,
so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord.[h]
4 How blessed[i] is the one[j] who trusts in the Lord[k]
and does not seek help from[l] the proud or from liars.[m]
5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;
you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us.[n]
No one can thwart you.[o]
I want to declare your deeds and talk about them,
but they are too numerous to recount.[p]
6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern.[q]
You make that quite clear to me.[r]
You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.
7 Then I say,
“Look, I come!
What is written in the scroll pertains to me.[s]
8 I want to do what pleases you,[t] my God.
Your law dominates my thoughts.”[u]
9 I have told the great assembly[v] about your justice.[w]
Look, I spare no words.[x]
O Lord, you know this is true.
10 I have not failed to tell about your justice;[y]
I spoke about your reliability and deliverance.
I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness.[z]
11 O Lord, you do not withhold[aa] your compassion from me.
May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me![ab]
12 For innumerable dangers[ac] surround me.
My sins overtake me
so I am unable to see;
they outnumber the hairs of my head
so my strength fails me.[ad]
13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!
O Lord, hurry and help me![ae]
14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life
be totally embarrassed and ashamed.[af]
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.[ag]
15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
be humiliated[ah] and disgraced.[ai]
16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you.
May those who love to experience[aj] your deliverance say continually,[ak]
“May the Lord be praised!”[al]
17 I am oppressed and needy.[am]
May the Lord pay attention to me.[an]
You are my helper and my deliverer.
O my God, do not delay.
Psalm 41[ao]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
41 How blessed[ap] is the one who treats the poor properly.[aq]
When trouble comes,[ar] may[as] the Lord deliver him.[at]
2 May the Lord protect him and save his life.[au]
May he be blessed[av] in the land.
Do not turn him over[aw] to his enemies.[ax]
3 The Lord supports[ay] him on his sickbed;
you have healed him from his illness.[az]
4 As for me, I said:[ba]
“O Lord, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you.
5 My enemies ask this cruel question about me,[bb]
‘When will he finally die and be forgotten?’[bc]
6 When someone comes to visit,[bd] he pretends to be friendly;[be]
he thinks of ways to defame me,[bf]
and when he leaves he slanders me.[bg]
7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another;[bh]
they plan ways to harm me.
8 They say,[bi]
‘An awful disease[bj] overwhelms him,[bk]
and now that he is bedridden he will never recover.’[bl]
9 Even my close friend[bm] whom I trusted,
he who shared meals with me, has turned against me.[bn]
10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,
so I can pay them back!”[bo]
11 By this[bp] I know that you are pleased with me,
for my enemy does[bq] not triumph[br] over me.
12 As for me, you uphold[bs] me because of my integrity;[bt]
you allow[bu] me permanent access to your presence.[bv]
13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise[bw]
in the future and forevermore.[bx]
We agree! We agree![by]
Book 2 (Psalms 42-72)
Psalm 42[bz]
For the music director, a well-written song[ca] by the Korahites.
42 As a deer[cb] longs[cc] for streams of water,
so I long[cd] for you, O God!
2 I thirst[ce] for God,
for the living God.
I say,[cf] “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?”[cg]
3 I cannot eat; I weep day and night.[ch]
All day long they say to me,[ci] “Where is your God?”
4 I will remember and weep.[cj]
For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God,
shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival.[ck]
5 Why are you depressed,[cl] O my soul?[cm]
Why are you upset?[cn]
Wait[co] for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention.[cp]
6 I am depressed,[cq]
so I will pray to you while in the region of the upper Jordan,[cr]
from Hermon,[cs] from Mount Mizar.[ct]
7 One deep stream calls out to another[cu] at the sound of your waterfalls;[cv]
all your billows and waves overwhelm me.[cw]
8 By day the Lord decrees his loyal love,[cx]
and by night he gives me a song,[cy]
a prayer[cz] to the God of my life.
9 I will pray[da] to God, my high ridge:[db]
“Why do you ignore[dc] me?
Why must I walk around mourning[dd]
because my enemies oppress me?”
10 My enemies’ taunts cut me to the bone,[de]
as they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”[df]
11 Why are you depressed,[dg] O my soul?[dh]
Why are you upset?[di]
Wait for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention.[dj]
Paul and Company Sail for Rome
27 When it was decided we[a] would sail to Italy,[b] they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion[c] of the Augustan Cohort[d] named Julius. 2 We went on board[e] a ship from Adramyttium[f] that was about to sail to various ports[g] along the coast of the province of Asia[h] and put out to sea,[i] accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian[j] from Thessalonica. 3 The next day we put in[k] at Sidon,[l] and Julius, treating Paul kindly,[m] allowed him to go to his friends so they could provide him with what he needed.[n] 4 From there we put out to sea[o] and sailed under the lee[p] of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5 After we had sailed across the open sea[q] off Cilicia and Pamphylia,[r] we put in[s] at Myra[t] in Lycia.[u] 6 There the centurion[v] found[w] a ship from Alexandria[x] sailing for Italy, and he put us aboard it. 7 We sailed slowly[y] for many days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus.[z] Because the wind prevented us from going any farther,[aa] we sailed under the lee[ab] of Crete off Salmone.[ac] 8 With difficulty we sailed along the coast[ad] of Crete[ae] and came to a place called Fair Havens that was near the town of Lasea.[af]
Caught in a Violent Storm
9 Since considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous[ag] because the fast[ah] was already over,[ai] Paul advised them,[aj] 10 “Men, I can see the voyage is going to end[ak] in disaster[al] and great loss not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”[am] 11 But the centurion[an] was more convinced[ao] by the captain[ap] and the ship’s owner than by what Paul said.[aq] 12 Because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided[ar] to put out to sea[as] from there. They hoped that[at] somehow they could reach[au] Phoenix,[av] a harbor of Crete facing[aw] southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there. 13 When a gentle south wind sprang up, they thought[ax] they could carry out[ay] their purpose, so they weighed anchor[az] and sailed close along the coast[ba] of Crete. 14 Not long after this, a hurricane-force[bb] wind called the northeaster[bc] blew down from the island.[bd] 15 When the ship was caught in it[be] and could not head into[bf] the wind, we gave way to it and were driven[bg] along. 16 As we ran under the lee of[bh] a small island called Cauda,[bi] we were able with difficulty to get the ship’s boat[bj] under control. 17 After the crew[bk] had hoisted it aboard,[bl] they used supports[bm] to undergird the ship. Fearing they would run aground[bn] on the Syrtis,[bo] they lowered the sea anchor,[bp] thus letting themselves be driven along. 18 The next day, because we were violently battered by the storm,[bq] they began throwing the cargo overboard,[br] 19 and on the third day they threw the ship’s gear[bs] overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and a violent[bt] storm continued to batter us,[bu] we finally abandoned all hope of being saved.[bv]
21 Since many of them had no desire to eat,[bw] Paul[bx] stood up[by] among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me[bz] and not put out to sea[ca] from Crete, thus avoiding[cb] this damage and loss. 22 And now I advise[cc] you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only the ship will be lost.[cd] 23 For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong[ce] and whom I serve[cf] came to me[cg] 24 and said,[ch] ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before[ci] Caesar,[cj] and God has graciously granted you the safety[ck] of all who are sailing with you.’ 25 Therefore keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God[cl] that it will be just as I have been told. 26 But we must[cm] run aground on some island.”
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