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9  Then will the Lord be a refuge for the oppressed, ♦︎
   a refuge in the time of trouble.
10  And those who know your name will put their trust in you, ♦︎
   for you, Lord, have never failed those who seek you.
11  Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion; ♦︎
   declare among the peoples the things he has done.
12  The avenger of blood has remembered them; ♦︎
   he did not forget the cry of the oppressed.
13  Have mercy upon me, O Lord; ♦︎
   consider the trouble I suffer from those who hate me,
      you that lift me up from the gates of death;
14  That I may tell all your praises in the gates of the city of Zion ♦︎
   and rejoice in your salvation.
15  The nations shall sink into the pit of their making ♦︎
   and in the snare which they set will their own foot be taken.
16  The Lord makes himself known by his acts of justice; ♦︎
   the wicked are snared in the works of their own hands.
17  They shall return to the land of darkness, ♦︎
   all the nations that forget God.
18  For the needy shall not always be forgotten ♦︎
   and the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever.
19  Arise, O Lord, and let not mortals have the upper hand; ♦︎
   let the nations be judged before your face.
20  Put them in fear, O Lord, ♦︎
   that the nations may know themselves to be but mortal.

David Plays the Lyre for Saul

14 Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. ¹⁵And Saul’s servants said to him, ‘See now, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶Let our lord now command the servants who attend you to look for someone who is skilful in playing the lyre; and when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will feel better.’ ¹⁷So Saul said to his servants, ‘Provide for me someone who can play well, and bring him to me.’ ¹⁸One of the young men answered, ‘I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skilful in playing, a man of valour, a warrior, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence; and the Lord is with him.’ ¹⁹So Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, ‘Send me your son David who is with the sheep.’ ²⁰Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a kid, and sent them by his son David to Saul. ²¹And David came to Saul, and entered his service. Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armour-bearer. ²²Saul sent to Jesse, saying, ‘Let David remain in my service, for he has found favour in my sight.’ ²³And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

Paul Goes to Macedonia and Greece

20After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples; and after encouraging them and saying farewell, he left for Macedonia. ²When he had gone through those regions and had given the believers^* much encouragement, he came to Greece, ³where he stayed for three months. He was about to set sail for Syria when a plot was made against him by the Jews, and so he decided to return through Macedonia. ⁴He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Beroea, by Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, by Gaius from Derbe, and by Timothy, as well as by Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia. ⁵They went ahead and were waiting for us in Troas; ⁶but we sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we joined them in Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Paul’s Farewell Visit to Troas

7 On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight. ⁸There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were meeting. ⁹A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead. ¹⁰But Paul went down, and bending over him took him in his arms, and said, ‘Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.’ ¹¹Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left. ¹²Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive and were not a little comforted.

The Voyage from Troas to Miletus

13 We went ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there; for he had made this arrangement, intending to go by land himself. ¹⁴When he met us in Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. ¹⁵We sailed from there, and on the following day we arrived opposite Chios. The next day we touched at Samos, and^* the day after that we came to Miletus. ¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia; he was eager to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.