Psalm 99-100

English Standard Version

The Lord Our God Is Holy

99 ^(A)The Lord reigns; ^(B)let the peoples tremble!
    He ^(C)sits enthroned upon the cherubim; ^(D)let the earth quake!
²The Lord is ^(E)great in Zion;
    he is ^(F)exalted over all the peoples.
³Let them praise your ^(G)great and awesome name!
    ^(H)Holy is he!
⁴^(I)The King in his might ^(J)loves justice.^[a]
    You have established equity;
you have executed justice
    and righteousness in Jacob.
⁵^(K)Exalt the Lord our God;
    ^(L)worship at his ^(M)footstool!
    ^(N)Holy is he!

⁶^(O)Moses and Aaron were among his ^(P)priests,
    Samuel also was among those who ^(Q)called upon his name.
    They ^(R)called to the Lord, and he answered them.
⁷In ^(S)the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
    they ^(T)kept his testimonies
    and the statute that he gave them.

⁸O Lord our God, you answered them;
    you were ^(U)a forgiving God to them,
    but ^(V)an avenger of their wrongdoings.
⁹Exalt the Lord our God,
    and worship at his ^(W)holy mountain;
    for the Lord our God is holy!

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

A Psalm for ^(X)giving thanks.

100 ^(Y)Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
² ^(Z)Serve the Lord with gladness!
^(AA)Come into his presence with singing!

³Know that ^(AB)the Lord, he is God!
It is he who ^(AC)made us, and ^(AD)we are his;^[b]
we are his ^(AE)people, and ^(AF)the sheep of his pasture.

⁴^(AG)Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his ^(AH)courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; ^(AI)bless his name!

⁵^(AJ)For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his ^(AK)faithfulness to all generations.

Footnotes

Psalm 99:4 Or The might of the King loves justice
Psalm 100:3 Or and not we ourselves

Psalm 102

English Standard Version

Do Not Hide Your Face from Me

A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is ^(A)faint and ^(B)pours out his complaint before the Lord.

102 ^(C)Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry ^(D)come to you!
²^(E)Do not hide your face from me
in ^(F)the day of my distress!
^(G)Incline your ear to me;
^(H)answer me speedily ^(I)in the day when I call!

³For my days ^(J)pass away like smoke,
    and my ^(K)bones burn like a furnace.
⁴My heart is ^(L)struck down like grass and ^(M)has withered;
    I ^(N)forget to eat my bread.
⁵Because of my loud groaning
    my ^(O)bones cling to my flesh.
⁶I am like ^(P)a desert owl of the wilderness,
    like an owl^[a] of the waste places;
⁷I ^(Q)lie awake;
    I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
⁸All the day my enemies taunt me;
    those who ^(R)deride me ^(S)use my name for a curse.
⁹For I eat ashes like bread
    and ^(T)mingle tears with my drink,
¹⁰because of your indignation and anger;
    for you have ^(U)taken me up and ^(V)thrown me down.
¹¹My days are like ^(W)an evening shadow;
    I ^(X)wither away like grass.

¹²But you, O Lord, are ^(Y)enthroned forever;
    you ^(Z)are remembered throughout all generations.
¹³You will ^(AA)arise and have ^(AB)pity on Zion;
    it is the time to favor her;
    ^(AC)the appointed time has come.
¹⁴For your servants hold her ^(AD)stones dear
    and have pity on her dust.
¹⁵Nations will ^(AE)fear the name of the Lord,
    and all ^(AF)the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
¹⁶For the Lord ^(AG)builds up Zion;
    he ^(AH)appears in his glory;
¹⁷he ^(AI)regards the prayer of the destitute
    and does not despise their prayer.

¹⁸Let this be ^(AJ)recorded for ^(AK)a generation to come,
    so that ^(AL)a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
¹⁹that he ^(AM)looked down from his holy height;
    from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
²⁰to hear ^(AN)the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free ^(AO)those who were doomed to die,
²¹that they may ^(AP)declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,
²²when ^(AQ)peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

²³He has broken my strength in midcourse;
    he ^(AR)has shortened my days.
²⁴“O my God,” ^(AS)I say, “take me not away
    in the midst of my days—
^(AT)you whose years endure
    throughout all generations!”

²⁵^(AU)Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and ^(AV)the heavens are the work of your hands.
²⁶^(AW)They will perish, but ^(AX)you will remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
²⁷    but ^(AY)you are the same, and your years have no end.
²⁸^(AZ)The children of your servants ^(BA)shall dwell secure;
    ^(BB)their offspring shall be established before you.

Footnotes

Psalm 102:6 The precise identity of these birds is uncertain

Acts 17:16-34

English Standard Version

Paul in Athens

¹⁶Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was ^(A)provoked within him as he saw that the city was ^(B)full of idols. ¹⁷So ^(C)he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, ^(D)“What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because ^(E)he was preaching ^(F)Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹And they took him and brought him to ^(G)the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this ^(H)new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰For you bring some ^(I)strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” ²¹Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

Paul Addresses the Areopagus

²²So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. ²³For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ^(J)‘To the unknown god.’ ^(K)What therefore you worship ^(L)as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴^(M)The God who made the world and everything in it, being ^(N)Lord of heaven and earth, ^(O)does not live in temples made by man,^[a] ²⁵nor is he served by human hands, ^(P)as though he needed anything, since he himself ^(Q)gives to all mankind ^(R)life and breath and everything. ²⁶And ^(S)he made from one man every nation of mankind to live ^(T)on all the face of the earth, ^(U)having determined allotted periods and ^(V)the boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷^(W)that they should seek God, ^(X)and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. ^(Y)Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸for

^(Z)“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;^[b]

as even some of ^(AA)your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’^[c]

²⁹^(AB)Being then God's offspring, ^(AC)we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ³⁰^(AD)The times of ignorance ^(AE)God overlooked, but ^(AF)now he ^(AG)commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹because he has fixed ^(AH)a day on which ^(AI)he will judge the world ^(AJ)in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and ^(AK)of this he has given assurance to all ^(AL)by raising him from the dead.”

³²Now when they heard of ^(AM)the resurrection of the dead, ^(AN)some mocked. But others said, ^(AO)“We will hear you again about this.” ³³So Paul went out from their midst. ³⁴But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius ^(AP)the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.