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Psalm 27

1  The Lord is my light and my salvation;
      whom then shall I fear? ♦︎
   The Lord is the strength of my life;
      of whom then shall I be afraid?
2  When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes,
      came upon me to eat up my flesh, ♦︎
   they stumbled and fell.
3  Though a host encamp against me,
      my heart shall not be afraid, ♦︎
   and though there rise up war against me,
      yet will I put my trust in him.
4  One thing have I asked of the Lord
      and that alone I seek: ♦︎
   that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
      all the days of my life,
5  To behold the fair beauty of the Lord ♦︎
   and to seek his will in his temple.
6  For in the day of trouble
      he shall hide me in his shelter; ♦︎
   in the secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me
      and set me high upon a rock.
7  And now shall he lift up my head ♦︎
   above my enemies round about me;
8  Therefore will I offer in his dwelling an oblation
      with great gladness; ♦︎
   I will sing and make music to the Lord.
9  Hear my voice, O Lord, when I call; ♦︎
   have mercy upon me and answer me.
10  My heart tells of your word, ‘Seek my face.’ ♦︎
   Your face, Lord, will I seek.
11  Hide not your face from me, ♦︎
   nor cast your servant away in displeasure.
12  You have been my helper; ♦︎
   leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
13  Though my father and my mother forsake me, ♦︎
   the Lord will take me up.
14  Teach me your way, O Lord; ♦︎
   lead me on a level path,
      because of those who lie in wait for me.
15  Deliver me not into the will of my adversaries, ♦︎
   for false witnesses have risen up against me,
      and those who breathe out violence.
16  I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord ♦︎
   in the land of the living.
17  Wait for the Lord;
      be strong and he shall comfort your heart; ♦︎
   wait patiently for the Lord.

⁷ The way of the righteous is level;
   O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous.
⁸ In the path of your judgements,
   O Lord, we wait for you;
your name and your renown
   are the soul’s desire.
⁹ My soul yearns for you in the night,
   my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
For when your judgements are in the earth,
   the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
¹⁰ If favour is shown to the wicked,
   they do not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness they deal perversely
   and do not see the majesty of the Lord.
¹¹ O Lord, your hand is lifted up,
   but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.
   Let the fire for your adversaries consume them.
¹² O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,
   for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us.
¹³ O Lord our God,
   other lords besides you have ruled over us,
   but we acknowledge your name alone.
¹⁴ The dead do not live;
   shades do not rise—
because you have punished and destroyed them,
   and wiped out all memory of them.
¹⁵ But you have increased the nation, O Lord,
   you have increased the nation; you are glorified;
   you have enlarged all the borders of the land.

The First Converts

37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers,^* what should we do?’ ³⁸Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’ ⁴⁰And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ ⁴¹So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. ⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.