Psalms 4; Psalms 5; Psalms 6; Acts 17:16-34

1 Answer me when I cry out, my righteous God! Set me free from my troubles! Have mercy on me! Listen to my prayer!

2 How long, you people, will my reputation be insulted? How long will you continue to love what is worthless and go after lies? Selah

3 Know this: the LORD takes personal care of the faithful. The LORD will hear me when I cry out to him.

4 So be afraid, and don't sin! Think hard about it in your bed and weep over it! Selah

5 Bring righteous offerings, and trust the LORD!

6 Many people say, "We can't find goodness anywhere. The light of your face has left us, LORD!"

7 But you have filled my heart with more joy than when their wheat and wine are everywhere!

8 I will lie down and fall asleep in peace because you alone, LORD, let me live in safety.

1 Hear my words, LORD! Consider my groans!

2 Pay attention to the sound of my cries, my king and my God, because I am praying to you!

3 LORD, in the morning you hear my voice. In the morning I lay it all out before you. Then I wait expectantly.

4 Because you aren't a God who enjoys wickedness; evil doesn't live with you.

5 Arrogant people won't last long in your sight; you hate all evildoers;

6 you destroy liars. The LORD despises people who are violent and dishonest.

7 But me? I will enter your house because of your abundant, faithful love; I will bow down at your holy temple, honoring you.

8 LORD, because of many enemies, please lead me in your righteousness. Make your way clear, right in front of me.

9 Because there's no truth in my enemies' mouths, all they have inside them is destruction. Their throats are open graves; their tongues slick with talk.

10 Condemn them, God! Let them fail by their own plans. Throw them out for their many sins because they've rebelled against you.

11 But let all who take refuge in you celebrate. Let them sing out loud forever! Protect them so that all who love your name can rejoice in you.

12 Because you, LORD, bless the righteous. You cover them with favor like a shield.

1 Please, LORD, don't punish me when you are angry; don't discipline me when you are furious.

2 Have mercy on me, LORD, because I'm frail. Heal me, LORD, because my bones are shaking in terror!

3 My whole body is completely terrified! But you, LORD! How long will this last?

4 Come back to me, LORD! Deliver me! Save me for the sake of your faithful love!

5 No one is going to praise you when they are dead. Who gives you thanks from the grave?

6 I'm worn out from groaning. Every night, I drench my bed with tears; I soak my couch all the way through.

7 My vision fails because of my grief; it's weak because of all my distress.

8 Get away from me, all you evildoers, because the LORD has heard me crying!

9 The LORD has listened to my request. The LORD accepts my prayer.

10 All my enemies will be ashamed and completely terrified; they will be defeated and ashamed instantly.

16 While Paul waited for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to find that the city was flooded with idols.

17 He began to interact with the Jews and Gentile God-worshippers in the synagogue. He also addressed whoever happened to be in the marketplace each day.

18 Certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers engaged him in discussion too. Some said, "What an amateur! What's he trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods." (They said this because he was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)

19 They took him into custody and brought him to the council on Mars Hill. "What is this new teaching? Can we learn what you are talking about?

20 You've told us some strange things and we want to know what they mean." (

21 They said this because all Athenians as well as the foreigners who live in Athens used to spend their time doing nothing but talking about or listening to the newest thing.)

22 Paul stood up in the middle of the council on Mars Hill and said, “People of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way.

23 As I was walking through town and carefully observing your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ‘To an unknown God.' What you worship as unknown, I now proclaim to you.

24 God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn't live in temples made with human hands.

25 Nor is God served by human hands, as though he needed something, since he is the one who gives life, breath, and everything else.

26 From one person God created every human nation to live on the whole earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.

27 God made the nations so they would seek him, perhaps even reach out to him and find him. In fact, God isn't far away from any of us.

28 In God we live, move, and exist. As some of your own poets said, ‘We are his offspring.'

29 "Therefore, as God's offspring, we have no need to imagine that the divine being is like a gold, silver, or stone image made by human skill and thought.

30 God overlooks ignorance of these things in times past, but now directs everyone everywhere to change their hearts and lives.

31 This is because God has set a day when he intends to judge the world justly by a man he has appointed. God has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead."

32 When they heard about the resurrection from the dead, some began to ridicule Paul. However, others said, "We'll hear from you about this again."

33 At that, Paul left the council.

34 Some people joined him and came to believe, including Dionysius, a member of the council on Mars Hill, a woman named Damaris, and several others.