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Psalms 66
Make a Joyful Shout to God, All the Earth!
1Shout for joy to God, all the earth; 2 sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise! 3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. 4 All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.”
Selah
5 Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. 6 He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him, 7 who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard, 9 who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip. 10 For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried. 11 You brought us into the net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs; 12 you let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will perform my vows to you, 14 that which my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul. 17 I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue. 18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened. 19 But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!
Psalms 67
May God Cause His Face to Shine on Us
1May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah 2 that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah 5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
6 The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us. 7 God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!
Jeremiah 30
The Restoration of Israel and Judah
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 For behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.” 4 These are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:5 “Thus says the LORD:
We have heard a cry of panic,
of terror, and no peace. 6 Ask now, and see,
can a man bear a child?
Why then do I see every man
with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor?
Why has every face turned pale? 7 Alas! That day is so great
there is none like it;
it is a time of distress for Jacob;
yet he shall be saved out of it. 8 “And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him. 9 But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
10 “Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD,
nor be dismayed, O Israel;
for behold, I will save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid. 11 For I am with you to save you,
→ declares the LORD;
I will make a full end of all the nations
among whom I scattered you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
I will discipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.
12 “For thus says the LORD:
Your hurt is incurable,
and your wound is grievous. 13 There is none to uphold your cause,
no medicine for your wound,
no healing for you. 14 All your lovers have forgotten you;
they care nothing for you;
for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,
the punishment of a merciless foe,
because your guilt is great,
because your sins are flagrant. 15 Why do you cry out over your hurt?
Your pain is incurable.
Because your guilt is great,
because your sins are flagrant,
I have done these things to you. 16 Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,
and all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
those who plunder you shall be plundered,
and all who prey on you I will make a prey. 17 For I will restore health to you,
and your wounds I will heal,
→ declares the LORD,
because they have called you an outcast:
‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’
18 “Thus says the LORD:
Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city shall be rebuilt on its mound,
and the palace shall stand where it used to be. 19 Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,
and the voices of those who celebrate.
I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;
I will make them honored, and they shall not be small. 20 Their children shall be as they were of old,
and their congregation shall be established before me,
and I will punish all who oppress them. 21 Their prince shall be one of themselves;
their ruler shall come out from their midst;
I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,
for who would dare of himself to approach me?
→ declares the LORD. 22 And you shall be my people,
and I will be your God.”
23 Behold the storm of the LORD!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked. 24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intentions of his mind.
In the latter days you will understand this.
Job 30
Job's Honor Turned into Contempt
1 “But now they laugh at me,
men who are younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to set with the dogs of my flock. 2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands,
men whose vigor is gone? 3 Through want and hard hunger
they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation; 4 they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes,
and the roots of the broom tree for their food. 5 They are driven out from human company;
they shout after them as after a thief. 6 In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell,
in holes of the earth and of the rocks. 7 Among the bushes they bray;
under the nettles they huddle together. 8 A senseless, a nameless brood,
they have been whipped out of the land.
9 “And now I have become their song;
I am a byword to them. 10 They abhor me; they keep aloof from me;
they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me. 11 Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence. 12 On my right hand the rabble rise;
they push away my feet;
they cast up against me their ways of destruction. 13 They break up my path;
they promote my calamity;
they need no one to help them. 14 As through a wide breach they come;
amid the crash they roll on.
Job's Prosperity Becomes Calamity
15 Terrors are turned upon me;my honor is pursued as by the wind,
and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
16 “And now my soul is poured out within me;
days of affliction have taken hold of me. 17 The night racks my bones,
and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest. 18 With great force my garment is disfigured;
it binds me about like the collar of my tunic. 19 God has cast me into the mire,
and I have become like dust and ashes. 20 I cry to you for help and you do not answer me;
I stand, and you only look at me. 21 You have turned cruel to me;
with the might of your hand you persecute me. 22 You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it,
and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. 23 For I know that you will bring me to death
and to the house appointed for all living.
24 “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
and in his disaster cry for help? 25 Did not I weep for him whose day was hard?
Was not my soul grieved for the needy? 26 But when I hoped for good, evil came,
and when I waited for light, darkness came. 27 My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;
days of affliction come to meet me. 28 I go about darkened, but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. 29 I am a brother of jackals
and a companion of ostriches. 30 My skin turns black and falls from me,
and my bones burn with heat. 31 My lyre is turned to mourning,
and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.
Acts 19
The Holy Spirit Received at Ephesus
1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.Paul Ministers in Ephesus
8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.Seven Sons of Sceva
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.The Riot in Ephesus
21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. 23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These 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, saying that gods 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 great 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, “Great 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 Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions 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, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 Now 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, motioning 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, “Great 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 the sky? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious 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 proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further, 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.The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.
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