Micah 7, Acts 11 - 12, Psalms 86 - 87

There Is No Upright Person

7Woe is me! For I amLike the fruit pickers, like the ^agrape gatherers.There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,Or a ^bfirst-ripe fig which my soul desires.²The ¹holy one has ^aperished from the land,And there is no upright person among men.All of them lie in wait for ^bbloodshed;Each of them hunts the other with a ^cnet.³Concerning evil, both hands do it ^awell.The prince asks, also the judge, for a ^bpayment,And a great man speaks the craving of his soul;So they weave it together.⁴The best of them is like a ^abriar,The most upright like a ^bthorn hedge.The day when you post your watchmen,Your ^cpunishment will come.¹At that time their ^dpanic will happen.⁵Do not ^abelieve in a neighbor;Do not have confidence in a close companion.From her who lies in your bosomGuard the openings of your mouth.⁶For ^ason treats father as a wicked fool;Daughter rises up against her mother,Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;^bA man’s enemies are the men of his own household.

Yahweh Is a Light for Me

⁷But as for me, I will ^awatch expectantly for Yahweh;I will ^bwait for the God of my salvation.My ^cGod will hear me.⁸^aDo not be glad over me, O ^bmy enemy.Though I fall I will ^crise;Though I inhabit the darkness, Yahweh is a ^dlight for me.⁹I will bear the rage of YahwehBecause I have sinned against Him,Until He ^apleads my case and does justice for me.He will bring me out to the ^blight,And I will see His ¹^,^crighteousness.¹⁰Then my enemy will see,And shame will cover her who ^asaid to me,“Where is Yahweh your God?”My eyes will look on her;¹At that time she will ²be ^btrampled downLike mire of the streets.¹¹It will be a day for ^abuilding your walls.On that day your boundary will be extended.¹²It will be a day when ¹they will ^acome to youFrom Assyria and the cities of Egypt,From Egypt even to the ²River,Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.¹³And the earth will become ^adesolate because of her inhabitants,On account of the ^bfruit of their deeds.¹⁴^aShepherd Your people with Your ^bscepter,The flock of Your inheritanceWhich dwells by itself in the forest,In the midst of ¹a fruitful orchard.Let them feed in ^cBashan and Gilead^dAs in the ancient days.¹⁵“As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt,I will show ¹^,^ayou wondrous deeds.”¹⁶Nations ^awill see and be ashamedOf all their might.They will ^bput their hand on their mouth;Their ears will be deaf.¹⁷They will ^alick the dust like a serpent,Like ^bcrawling things of the earth.They will come ^ctrembling out of their ¹fortresses;To Yahweh our God they will come in ^ddread,And they will be afraid before You.¹⁸Who is a God like You, who ^aforgives iniquityAnd passes over the transgression of the ^bremnant of His inheritance?He does not ^chold fast to His anger foreverBecause He ^ddelights in lovingkindness.¹⁹He will again have compassion on us;^aHe will subdue our iniquities.And You will ^bcast all ¹their sinsInto the depths of the sea.²⁰You will give ¹^,^atruth to JacobAnd lovingkindness to Abraham,Which You ^bswore to our fathersFrom the days of old.

Peter’s Report in Jerusalem

11Now the apostles and ^athe brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ²And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, ¹^,^athose who were circumcised took issue with him, ³saying, “^aYou ¹went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ⁴But Peter began speaking ¹and proceeded to explain to them ^ain orderly sequence, saying, ⁵“^aI was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ^ba vision, ¹an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from heaven, and it came right down to me, ⁶and when looking closely at it, I was observing it and saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the ¹sky. ⁷“And I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise up, Peter; ¹slaughter and eat.’ ⁸“But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing defiled or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹“But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘^aWhat God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.’ ¹⁰“And this happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven. ¹¹“And behold, immediately three men appeared at the house in which we were, having been sent to me from ^aCaesarea. ¹²“^aAnd the Spirit told me to go with them ¹^,^bwithout taking issue at all. ^cThese six brothers also went with me and we entered the man’s house. ¹³“And he reported to us how he had seen the angel ¹standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter; ¹⁴and he will speak ^awords to you by which you will be saved, you and ^ball your household.’ ¹⁵“And as I began to speak, ^athe Holy Spirit fell upon them just ^bas He did upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶“And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘^aJohn baptized with water, but you will be baptized ¹with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷“Therefore if ^aGod gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^bwho was I that I could prevent God’s way?” ¹⁸And when they heard this, they ¹quieted down and ^aglorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the ^brepentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹^aSo then those who were scattered because of the ¹persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way ²to ^bPhoenicia and ^cCyprus and ^dAntioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. ²⁰But there were some of them, men of ^aCyprus and ^bCyrene, who came to ^cAntioch and began speaking to the ¹^,^dGreeks also, ^eproclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus. ²¹And ^athe hand of the Lord was with them, and ^ba large number who believed turned to the Lord. ²²Now the ¹news about them ²reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent ^aBarnabas off ³to ^bAntioch, ²³who, when he arrived and saw ^athe grace of God, rejoiced and began to encourage them all with a purposeful heart to remain true to the Lord; ²⁴for he was a good man, and ^afull of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a ^bconsiderable crowd was ¹brought to the Lord. ²⁵And he left for ^aTarsus to search for Saul; ²⁶and when he found him, he brought him to ^aAntioch. And it happened that for an entire year they ¹met with the church and taught a considerable crowd. And ^bthe disciples were first called ^cChristians in ^dAntioch.

²⁷Now in those days, ^asome prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^bAntioch. ²⁸And one of them named ^aAgabus stood up and indicated ¹by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine ^ball over the ²world. ³And this took place in the reign of ^cClaudius. ²⁹And as any of ^athe disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the service of ^bthe brothers living in Judea. ³⁰^aAnd this they did, sending it ¹in charge of ^bBarnabas and Saul to the ^celders.

An Angel Frees Peter from Prison

12Now about that time ¹Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to harm them. ²And he ^ahad James the brother of John ^bput to death with a sword. ³And when he saw that it ^apleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now ¹it was during ^bthe days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four ¹^,^asquads of soldiers to guard him, intending after ^bthe Passover to bring him out before the people. ⁵So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

⁶Now on ¹the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^abound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. ⁷And behold, ^aan angel of the Lord suddenly ^bappeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Rise up quickly.” And ^chis chains fell off his hands. ⁸And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and ¹put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your garment around yourself and follow me.” ⁹And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but was thinking he was seeing ^aa vision. ¹⁰And when they had passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which ^aopened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹When Peter ^acame ¹to himself, he said, “Now truly I know that ^bthe Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all ²that the Jewish people were expecting.” ¹²And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of ^aJohn who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and ^bwere praying. ¹³And when he knocked at the door of the gate, ^aa servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴And when she recognized Peter’s voice, ^abecause of her joy she did not open the gate. But she ran in and reported that Peter was standing in front of the gate. ¹⁵And they said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is ^ahis angel.” ¹⁶But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door, they saw him and were astounded. ¹⁷But ^amotioning to them with his hand to be silent, he recounted to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to ^bJames and ^cthe brothers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what ¹had become of Peter. ¹⁹And when Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they ^abe led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to ^bCaesarea and was spending time there.

The Death of Herod

²⁰Now he was very angry with the people of ^aTyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because ^btheir country was fed by the king’s country. ²¹And on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel and sitting on the judgment seat, began delivering an address to them. ²²And the assembly kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³And immediately ^aan angel of the ¹Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

²⁴But ^athe word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

²⁵And ^aBarnabas and ^bSaul ¹returned ²to Jerusalem, ^cfulfilling their ministry, taking along with them ^dJohn, who was also called Mark.

To You, O Lord, I Lift Up My Soul

A Prayer of David.

^aIncline Your ear, O Yahweh, and answer me;For I am ^bafflicted and needy.²^aKeep my ¹soul, for I am a ^bholy one;O You my God, save Your slave who ^ctrusts in You.³Be ^agracious to me, O Lord,For ^bto You I call all day long.⁴Make glad the soul of Your slave,For to You, O Lord, ^aI lift up my soul.⁵For You, Lord, are ^agood, and ^bby nature forgiving,And ^cabundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.⁶^aGive ear, O Yahweh, to my prayer;And give heed to the voice of my supplications!⁷In ^athe day of my distress I shall call upon You,For ^bYou will answer me.⁸There is ^ano one like You among the gods, O Lord,Nor are there any works ^blike Yours.⁹^aAll nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord,And they shall glorify Your name.¹⁰For You are ^agreat and ^bdo ¹wondrous deeds;You alone ^care God.¹¹^aTeach me Your way, O Yahweh;I will walk in Your truth;^bUnite my heart to fear Your name.¹²I will ^agive thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,And will glorify Your name forever.¹³For Your lovingkindness toward me is great,And You have ^adelivered my soul from Sheol below.¹⁴O God, arrogant men have ^arisen up against me,And ¹a band of ruthless men have sought my ²life,And they have not set You before them.¹⁵But You, O Lord, are a God ^acompassionate and gracious,Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and ¹truth.¹⁶^aTurn to me, and be gracious to me;Oh ^bgrant Your strength to Your slave,And save the ^cson of Your maidservant.¹⁷¹^,^aShow me a sign for good,That those who hate me may ^bsee it and be ashamed,Because You, O Yahweh, ^chave helped me and comforted me.

Yahweh Loves the Gates of Zion

Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm. A Song.

His ^afoundation is in the holy mountains.²Yahweh ^aloves the gates of ZionMore than all the dwelling places of Jacob.³^aGlorious things are spoken of you,O ^bcity of God. ¹ Selah.⁴“I shall mention ¹^,^aRahab and Babylon among those who know Me;Behold, Philistia and ^bTyre with ²^,^cEthiopia:‘This one was born there.’”⁵But of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in her”;And the Most High Himself will ^aestablish her.⁶Yahweh will count when He ^aregisters the peoples,“This one was born there.” Selah.⁷And ^asingers, just like the ^bdancers, will all say,“All my ^csprings are in you.”