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Psalm 44

1  We have heard with our ears, O God, our forebears have told us, ♦︎
   all that you did in their days, in time of old;
2  How with your hand you drove out nations and planted us in, ♦︎
   and broke the power of peoples and set us free.
3  For not by their own sword did our ancestors take the land ♦︎
   nor did their own arm save them,
4  But your right hand, your arm, and the light of your countenance, ♦︎
   because you were gracious to them.
5  You are my King and my God, ♦︎
   who commanded salvation for Jacob.
6  Through you we drove back our adversaries; ♦︎
   through your name we trod down our foes.
7  For I did not trust in my bow; ♦︎
   it was not my own sword that saved me;
8  It was you that saved us from our enemies ♦︎
   and put our adversaries to shame.
9  We gloried in God all the day long, ♦︎
   and were ever praising your name.
10  But now you have rejected us and brought us to shame, ♦︎
   and go not out with our armies.
11  You have made us turn our backs on our enemies, ♦︎
   and our enemies have despoiled us.
12  You have made us like sheep to be slaughtered, ♦︎
   and have scattered us among the nations.
13  You have sold your people for a pittance ♦︎
   and made no profit on their sale.
14  You have made us the taunt of our neighbours, ♦︎
   the scorn and derision of those that are round about us.
15  You have made us a byword among the nations; ♦︎
   among the peoples they wag their heads.
16  My confusion is daily before me, ♦︎
   and shame has covered my face,
17  At the taunts of the slanderer and reviler, ♦︎
   at the sight of the enemy and avenger.
18  All this has come upon us,
      though we have not forgotten you ♦︎
   and have not played false to your covenant.
19  Our hearts have not turned back, ♦︎
   nor our steps gone out of your way,
20  Yet you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals, ♦︎
   and covered us with the shadow of death.
21  If we have forgotten the name of our God, ♦︎
   or stretched out our hands to any strange god,
22  Will not God search it out? ♦︎
   For he knows the secrets of the heart.
23  But for your sake are we killed all the day long, ♦︎
   and are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
24  Rise up! Why sleep, O Lord? ♦︎
   Awake, and do not reject us for ever.
25  Why do you hide your face ♦︎
   and forget our grief and oppression?
26  Our soul is bowed down to the dust; ♦︎
   our belly cleaves to the earth.
27  Rise up, O Lord, to help us ♦︎
   and redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.

In Praise of Wisdom

1All wisdom is from the Lord,
   and with him it remains for ever.
² The sand of the sea, the drops of rain,
   and the days of eternity—who can count them?
³ The height of heaven, the breadth of the earth,
   the abyss, and wisdom^*—who can search them out?
⁴ Wisdom was created before all other things,
   and prudent understanding from eternity.^*
6 The root of wisdom—to whom has it been revealed?
   Her subtleties—who knows them?^*
8 There is but one who is wise, greatly to be feared,
   seated upon his throne—the Lord.
⁹ It is he who created her;
   he saw her and took her measure;
   he poured her out upon all his works,
¹⁰ upon all the living according to his gift;
   he lavished her upon those who love him.^*

¹⁸ The fear of the Lord is the crown of wisdom,
   making peace and perfect health to flourish.^*
19 She rained down knowledge and discerning comprehension,
   and she heightened the glory of those who held her fast.
²⁰ To fear the Lord is the root of wisdom,
   and her branches are long life.^*

²² Unjust anger cannot be justified,
   for anger tips the scale to one’s ruin.
²³ Those who are patient stay calm until the right moment,
   and then cheerfulness comes back to them.
²⁴ They hold back their words until the right moment;
   then the lips of many tell of their good sense.

²⁵ In the treasuries of wisdom are wise sayings,
   but godliness is an abomination to a sinner.
²⁶ If you desire wisdom, keep the commandments,
   and the Lord will lavish her upon you.
²⁷ For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and discipline,
   fidelity and humility are his delight.

Micah

1The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Judgement Pronounced against Samaria

² Hear, you peoples, all of you;
   listen, O earth, and all that is in it;
and let the Lord God be a witness against you,
   the Lord from his holy temple.
³ For lo, the Lord is coming out of his place,
   and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
⁴ Then the mountains will melt under him
   and the valleys will burst open,
like wax near the fire,
   like waters poured down a steep place.
⁵ All this is for the transgression of Jacob
   and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
   Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place^* of Judah?
   Is it not Jerusalem?
⁶ Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,
   a place for planting vineyards.
I will pour down her stones into the valley,
   and uncover her foundations.
⁷ All her images shall be beaten to pieces,
   all her wages shall be burned with fire,
   and all her idols I will lay waste;
for as the wages of a prostitute she gathered them,
   and as the wages of a prostitute they shall again be used.

The Doom of the Cities of Judah

⁸ For this I will lament and wail;
   I will go barefoot and naked;
I will make lamentation like the jackals,
   and mourning like the ostriches.
⁹ For her wound^* is incurable.
   It has come to Judah;
it has reached to the gate of my people,
   to Jerusalem.

Paul on the Island of Malta

28After we had reached safety, we then learned that the island was called Malta. ²The natives showed us unusual kindness. Since it had begun to rain and was cold, they kindled a fire and welcomed all of us round it. ³Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire, when a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. ⁴When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, ‘This man must be a murderer; though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.’ ⁵He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶They were expecting him to swell up or drop dead, but after they had waited a long time and saw that nothing unusual had happened to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

7 Now in the neighbourhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. ⁸It so happened that the father of Publius lay sick in bed with fever and dysentery. Paul visited him and cured him by praying and putting his hands on him. ⁹After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. ¹⁰They bestowed many honours on us, and when we were about to sail, they put on board all the provisions we needed.

Paul Arrives at Rome

11 Three months later we set sail on a ship that had wintered at the island, an Alexandrian ship with the Twin Brothers as its figurehead. ¹²We put in at Syracuse and stayed there for three days; ¹³then we weighed anchor and came to Rhegium. After one day there a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. ¹⁴There we found believers^* and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. ¹⁵The believers^* from there, when they heard of us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

16 When we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.