Psalms 13; Psalms 14; Psalms 15; Acts 19:21-41

Psalms 13

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,

4 and my enemy will say, "I have prevailed"; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

5 But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalms 14

1 Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.

3 They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one.

4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord?

5 There they shall be in great terror, for God is with the company of the righteous.

6 You would confound the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge.

7 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

Psalms 15

1 O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?

2 Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart;

3 who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors;

4 in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honor those who fear the Lord; who stand by their oath even to their hurt;

5 who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved.

Acts 19:21-41

21 Now after these things had been accomplished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go through Macedonia and Achaia, and then to go on to Jerusalem. He said, "After I have gone there, I must also see Rome."

22 So he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed for some time longer in Asia.

23 About that time no little disturbance broke out concerning the Way.

24 A man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the artisans.

25 These he gathered together, with the workers of the same trade, and said, "Men, you know that we get our wealth from this business.

26 You also see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost the whole of Asia this Paul has persuaded and drawn away a considerable number of people by 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 will be scorned, and she will be deprived of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her."

28 When they heard this, they were enraged and shouted, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

29 The city was filled with the confusion; and people rushed together to the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's travel companions.

30 Paul wished to go into the crowd, but the disciples would not let him;

31 even some officials of the province of Asia, who were friendly to him, sent him a message urging him not to venture into the theater.

32 Meanwhile, some were shouting 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 gave instructions to Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed forward. And Alexander motioned for silence and tried to make a defense before the people.

34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours all of them shouted in unison, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

35 But when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, "Citizens of Ephesus, who is there that does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell from heaven?

36 Since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.

37 You have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess.

38 If therefore Demetrius and the artisans with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges there against one another.

39 If there is anything further you want to know, it must be settled in the regular assembly.

40 For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion."

41 When he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.