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23  When your steps are guided by the Lord ♦︎
   and you delight in his way,
24  Though you stumble, you shall not fall headlong, ♦︎
   for the Lord holds you fast by the hand.
25  I have been young and now am old, ♦︎
   yet never have I seen the righteous forsaken,
      or their children begging their bread.
26  All the day long they are generous in lending, ♦︎
   and their children also shall be blest.
27  Depart from evil and do good ♦︎
   and you shall abide for ever.
28  For the Lord loves the thing that is right ♦︎
   and will not forsake his faithful ones.
29  The unjust shall be destroyed for ever, ♦︎
   and the offspring of the wicked shall be rooted out.
30  The righteous shall possess the land ♦︎
   and dwell in it for ever.
31  The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, ♦︎
   and their tongue speaks the thing that is right.
32  The law of their God is in their heart ♦︎
   and their footsteps shall not slide.
33  The wicked spy on the righteous ♦︎
   and seek occasion to slay them.
34  The Lord will not leave them in their hand, ♦︎
   nor let them be condemned when they are judged.
35  Wait upon the Lord and keep his way; ♦︎
   he will raise you up to possess the land,
      and when the wicked are uprooted, you shall see it.
36  I myself have seen the wicked in great power ♦︎
   and flourishing like a tree in full leaf.
37  I went by and lo, they were gone; ♦︎
   I sought them, but they could nowhere be found.
38  Keep innocence and heed the thing that is right, ♦︎
   for that will bring you peace at the last.
39  But the sinners shall perish together, ♦︎
   and the posterity of the wicked shall be rooted out.
40  The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; ♦︎
   he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
41  The Lord shall stand by them and deliver them; ♦︎
   he shall deliver them from the wicked and shall save them,
      because they have put their trust in him.

⁶ Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,
   I have posted sentinels;
all day and all night
   they shall never be silent.
You who remind the Lord,
   take no rest,
⁷ and give him no rest
   until he establishes Jerusalem
   and makes it renowned throughout the earth.
⁸ The Lord has sworn by his right hand
   and by his mighty arm:
I will not again give your grain
   to be food for your enemies,
and foreigners shall not drink the wine
   for which you have laboured;
⁹ but those who garner it shall eat it
   and praise the Lord,
and those who gather it shall drink it
   in my holy courts.

¹⁰ Go through, go through the gates,
   prepare the way for the people;
build up, build up the highway,
   clear it of stones,
   lift up an ensign over the peoples.

Autobiographical Poem on Wisdom

¹³ While I was still young, before I went on my travels,
   I sought wisdom openly in my prayer.
¹⁴ Before the temple I asked for her,
   and I will search for her until the end.

¹⁵ From the first blossom to the ripening grape
   my heart delighted in her;
my foot walked on the straight path;
   from my youth I followed her steps.

¹⁶ I inclined my ear a little and received her,
   and I found for myself much instruction.
¹⁷ I made progress in her;
   to him who gives wisdom I will give glory.

¹⁸ For I resolved to live according to wisdom,^*
   and I was zealous for the good,
   and I shall never be disappointed.
¹⁹ My soul grappled with wisdom,^*
   and in my conduct I was strict;^*

I spread out my hands to the heavens,
   and lamented my ignorance of her.
²⁰ I directed my soul to her,
   and in purity I found her.

With her I gained understanding from the first;
   therefore I will never be forsaken.
²¹ My heart was stirred to seek her;
   therefore I have gained a prize possession.
²² The Lord gave me my tongue as a reward,
   and I will praise him with it.

²³ Draw near to me, you who are uneducated,
   and lodge in the house of instruction.
²⁴ Why do you say you are lacking in these things,^*
   and why do you endure such great thirst?
²⁵ I opened my mouth and said,
   Acquire wisdom^* for yourselves without money.

²⁶ Put your neck under her^* yoke,
   and let your souls receive instruction;
   it is to be found close by.

²⁷ See with your own eyes that I have laboured but little
   and found for myself much serenity.
²⁸ Hear but a little of my instruction,
   and through me you will acquire silver and gold.^*

²⁹ May your soul rejoice in God’s^* mercy,
   and may you never be ashamed to praise him.
³⁰ Do your work in good time,
   and in his own time God^* will give you your reward.

²⁵Then after completing their mission Barnabas and Saul returned to^* Jerusalem and brought with them John, whose other name was Mark.

Barnabas and Saul Commissioned

13Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler,^* and Saul. ²While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ ³Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

The Apostles Preach in Cyprus

4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also to assist them. ⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. ⁷He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰and said, ‘You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? ¹¹And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.’ Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand. ¹²When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas in Antioch of Pisidia

13 Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem;