Psalms 13–15; Acts 19:21–41

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Psalms 13–15

How Long, O Lord?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

vHow long, O Lord? Will you wforget me forever?

How long will you xhide your face from me?

How long must I take ycounsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

zConsider and answer me, O Lord my God;

alight up my eyes, lest bI sleep the sleep of death,

clest my enemy say, I have prevailed over him,

lest my foes rejoice because I am dshaken.

But I have etrusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall frejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

The Fool Says, There Is No God

To the choirmaster. Of David.

gThe hfool says in his heart, iThere is no God.

They are jcorrupt, they do abominable deeds;

kthere is none who does good.

The Lord llooks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,1

who mseek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become ncorrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

Have they no oknowledge, all the evildoers

who peat up my people as they eat bread

and qdo not call upon the Lord?

There they are in great terror,

for God is with rthe generation of the righteous.

You would shame the plans of the poor,

but2 the Lord is his srefuge.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the Lord trestores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill?

A Psalm of David.

O Lord, uwho shall sojourn in your vtent?

Who shall dwell on your wholy hill?

He who xwalks blamelessly and ydoes what is right

and zspeaks truth in his heart;

who adoes not slander with his tongue

and does no evil to his neighbor,

nor btakes up a reproach against his friend;

cin whose eyes a vile person is despised,

but who honors those who fear the Lord;

who dswears to his own hurt and does not change;

who edoes not put out his money at interest

and fdoes not take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be gmoved.


Acts 19:21–41

A Riot at Ephesus

21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit uto pass through vMacedonia and Achaia and wgo to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, xI must also see Rome. 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of yhis helpers, zTimothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia afor a while.

23 About that time bthere arose no little disturbance concerning cthe Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, dbrought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 dThese he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, esaying that fgods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the ggreat goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.

28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, gGreat is Artemis of the Ephesians! 29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and hAristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s icompanions in travel. 30 But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31 And even some of the Asiarchs,1 who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 jNow some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, kmotioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, lGreat is Artemis of the Ephesians!

35 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from mthe sky?2 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought nthese men here who are neither osacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are pproconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further,3 it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion. 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.