A Prayer for Vindication

71 Shiggaion of David, which he sang to Jehovah, concerning the words of Cush the Benjaminite. Jehovah my God, in thee have I trusted: save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me; 2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, crushing it while there is no deliverer. 3 Jehovah my God, if I have done this, if there be iniquity in my hands; 4 If I have rewarded evil to him that was at peace with me; (indeed I have freed him that without cause oppressed me;) 5 Let the enemy pursue after my soul, and take [it], and let him tread down my life to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust. Selah. 6 Arise, Jehovah, in thine anger; lift thyself up against the raging of mine oppressors, and awake for me: thou hast commanded judgment. 7 And the assembly of the peoples shall encompass thee; and for their sakes return thou on high. 8 Jehovah shall minister judgment to the peoples. Judge me, Jehovah, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity which is in me. 9 Oh let the wrong of the wicked come to an end, and establish thou the righteous [man]; even thou that triest the hearts and reins, the righteous God.

10 My shield is with God, who saveth the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who is indignant all the day. 12 If one turn not, he will sharpen his sword; he hath bent his bow and made it ready, 13 And he hath prepared for him instruments of death; his arrows hath he made burning. 14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, yea, he hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood: 15 He digged a pit, and hollowed it out, and is fallen into the hole that he made. 16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violence shall come down upon his own pate. 17 I will praise Jehovah according to his righteousness, and will sing forth the name of Jehovah the Most High.

God's Glory and Man's Honor

81 To the chief Musician. Upon the Gittith. A Psalm of David. Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy majesty above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou established praise because of thine adversaries, to still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I see thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and stars, which thou hast established; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and splendour. 6 Thou hast made him to rule over the works of thy hands; thou hast put everything under his feet: 7 Sheep and oxen, all of them, and also the beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea, [whatever] passeth through the paths of the seas. 9 Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Thanksgiving for God's Justice

91 To the chief Musician. Upon Muthlabben. A Psalm of David. I will praise Jehovah with my whole heart; I will recount all thy marvellous works. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee; I will sing forth thy name, O Most High. 3 When mine enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished at thy presence: 4 For thou hast maintained my right and my cause. Thou sittest on the throne, judging righteously. 5 Thou hast rebuked the nations, thou hast destroyed the wicked; thou hast put out their name for ever and ever. 6 O enemy! destructions are ended for ever.—Thou hast also destroyed cities, even the remembrance of them hath perished. 7 But Jehovah sitteth for ever; he hath ordained his throne for judgment. 8 And it is he that will judge the world with righteousness; he shall execute judgment upon the peoples with equity. 9 And Jehovah will be a refuge to the oppressed one, a refuge in times of distress. 10 And they that know thy name will confide in thee; for thou, Jehovah, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

11 Sing psalms to Jehovah who dwelleth in Zion; tell among the peoples his doings. 12 For when he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them; the cry of the afflicted ones hath he not forgotten. 13 Be gracious unto me, O Jehovah; consider mine affliction from them that hate me, lifting me up from the gates of death: 14 That I may declare all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will be joyful in thy salvation. 15 The nations are sunk down in the pit [that] they made; in the net that they hid is their own foot taken. 16 Jehovah is known [by] the judgment he hath executed: the wicked is ensnared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. 17 The wicked shall be turned into Sheol, all the nations that forget God. 18 For the needy one shall not be forgotten alway; the hope of the meek shall not perish for ever. 19 Arise, Jehovah; let not man prevail: let the nations be judged in thy sight. 20 Put them in fear, Jehovah: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.

Paul at Corinth

181 And after these things, having left Athens, he came to Corinth; 2 and finding a certain Jew by name Aquila, of Pontus by race, just come from Italy, and Priscilla his wife, (because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome,) came to them, 3 and because they were of the same trade abode with them, and wrought. For they were tent-makers by trade. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks. 5 And when both Silas and Timotheus came down from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in respect of the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6 But as they opposed and spoke injuriously, he shook his clothes, and said to them, Your blood be upon your own head: I [am] pure; from henceforth I will go to the nations.

7 And departing thence he came to the house of a certain [man], by name Justus, who worshipped God, whose house adjoined the synagogue. 8 But Crispus the ruler of the synagogue believed in the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptised. 9 And the Lord said by vision in [the] night to Paul, Fear not, but speak and be not silent; 10 because I am with thee, and no one shall set upon thee to injure thee; because I have much people in this city. 11 And he remained [there] a year and six months, teaching among them the word of God.

12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one consent rose against Paul and led him to the judgment-seat, 13 saying, This [man] persuades men to worship God contrary to the law. 14 But as Paul was going to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, If indeed it was some wrong or wicked criminality, O Jews, of reason I should have borne with you; 15 but if it be questions about words, and names, and the law that ye have, see to it yourselves; [for] I do not intend to be judge of these things. 16 And he drove them from the judgment-seat. 17 And having all laid hold on Sosthenes the ruler of the synagogue, they beat him before the judgment-seat. And Gallio troubled himself about none of these things.

18 And Paul, having yet stayed [there] many days, took leave of the brethren and sailed thence to Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his head in Cenchrea, for he had a vow; 19 and he arrived at Ephesus, and left them there. But entering himself into the synagogue he reasoned with the Jews. 20 And when they asked him that he would remain for a longer time [with them] he did not accede, 21 but bade them farewell, saying, [I must by all means keep the coming feast at Jerusalem]; I will return to you again, if God will: and he sailed away from Ephesus.

Paul Returns to Antioch and Begins the Third Missionary Journey

22 And landing at Caesarea, and having gone up and saluted the assembly, he went down to Antioch. 23 And having stayed [there] some time, he went forth, passing in order through the country of Galatia and Phrygia, establishing all the disciples.

Apollos Preaches at Ephesus

24 But a certain Jew, Apollos by name, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, who was mighty in the scriptures, arrived at Ephesus. 25 He was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in his spirit, he spoke and taught exactly the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John. 26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. And Aquila and Priscilla, having heard him, took him to [them] and unfolded to him the way of God more exactly. 27 And when he purposed to go into Achaia, the brethren wrote to the disciples engaging them to receive him, who, being come, contributed much to those who believed through grace. 28 For he with great force convinced the Jews publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.