Wisdom of Solomon 19
The Foolishness of Egypt
1 But unmerciful anger came upon the ungodly to the end, For God knew of them and their future beforehand,†
2 That they would allow Your people to depart And eagerly send them forth, But then change their minds and pursue them.
3 For while they were yet mourning And lamenting at the graves of their dead, They made another foolish decision And pursued as fugitives Those whom they had begged and had sent away.
4 For a deserved destiny drew them to this end And made them forget what had happened, So they might fill up the punishment Which was lacking in their torments,
5 And that Your people might attempt an incredible journey, But that they themselves might come upon a strange death.
Creation Serves Its God
6 For the whole creation in its kind was fashioned again from above To serve Your commands, That Your servants might be kept unharmed.
7 The cloud was seen overshadowing the camp And the emerging of dry land out of the water previously present, An unhindered way out of the Red Sea And a grassy plain out of the violence of rough water,
8 Through which those sheltered by Your hand Passed with the whole nation After observing marvelous wonders.
9 For they grazed like horses And leaped about like lambs, Praising You, O Lord, who saved them.
10 For they still remembered their sojourn in a foreign land, How instead of the birth of animals the land brought forth small flies, And instead of things living in water The river vomited forth a multitude of frogs.
11 Afterwards they also saw a new kind of birds, When led by their passion they requested meats for self-indulgence;
12 For their relief, quails came up from the sea.
The Punishment of Egypt
13 The punishments did not come upon the sinners Without previous signs in the violence of thunder, And they suffered justly because of their own evils; For they practiced a very bitter hatred of strangers.
14 Others did not welcome those unknown to them when they arrived, But these enslaved foreign benefactors.
15 And not only this, but there shall be a certain visitation Because they received foreigners hatefully;
16 For after receiving them with festivals, They mistreated with terrible sufferings Those who had already shared the same rights.
17 They were also stricken with blindness Like those at the doors of the righteous man, When, clothed in darkness, each sought the way through his own doors.
God Dwells with His People
18 For the elements combined among themselves in different ways, Which can be accurately conjectured from the sight of what took place, As on a harp the sounds of the rhythm differ in expression While always remaining the same in sound.
19 For land animals were changed into water creatures, And creatures that swim crossed over to the land.
20 In water, fire prevailed with its own power, And water forgot its quenching properties.
21 Flames, on the contrary, did not consume The flesh of perishable animals that walked among them, Nor was the species of immortal food capable of being melted Like easily melted ice.
22 For in everything, O Lord, You have exalted and glorified Your people, And have not neglected to be present with them in every time and place.†
Psalms 7
1 A psalm by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, the son of Benjamin. †
2 O Lord my God, in You I hope; Save me from all who pursue me, and deliver me,
3 Lest like a lion he snatch away my soul While there is none to redeem or save.
4 O Lord my God, if I have done this, If there is wrongdoing in my hands,
5 If I dealt back evil to those dealing evil to me, Then may I fall empty because of my enemies,
6 Then may the enemy pursue and overtake my soul, And trample down my life to the ground, And make my glory settle in the dust. (Pause)
7 Arise, O Lord, in Your anger; Be exalted to the very boundaries of my enemies; Awaken, O Lord my God, in the ordinance You commanded,
8 So the congregation of the peoples shall surround You, And because of this, return on high.
9 The Lord shall judge the people; Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, And according to the innocence within me.
10 Bring an end to the wickedness of sinners, And keep straight the righteous; For God examines hearts and reins.
11 My righteous help is from God, Who saves the upright in heart.
12 God is a righteous, strong, and patient judge, Not bringing down wrath every single day.
13 If You do not return, he will polish his sword; He stretched his bow and readied it,
14 And he readied his instruments of death And prepared his arrows to kindle a fire.
15 Behold, he suffered the pains of childbirth in unrighteousness; He conceived pain and brought forth lawlessness;
16 He opened up a pit and dug it out, And he will fall into the hole he made.
17 The pain shall return on his own head, And his wrongdoing shall come down on his crown.
18 I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness And will sing to the name of the Lord Most High.
Proverbs of Solomon 1
Wisdom Speaks Out
20 Wisdom sings in the streets; She moves boldly in the squares.
21 She preaches on high city walls And sits at the gates of lords. At the gates of a city she boldly says,
22 “So long a time as the simple hold fast to righteousness, They shall not be ashamed;†
23 But those without discernment, since they are desirous of arrogance, And are become ungodly, they hate perception, And are become subject to reproofs.†
24 Behold, I shall bring forth upon you the utterance of my breath, And I shall teach you my word.†
Acts 13
26 “Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.†
27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. †
28 And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death.
29 Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.
30 But God raised Him from the dead.
31 He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people.
32 And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers.
33 God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’
34 And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’
35 Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’
36 “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;
37 but He whom God raised up saw no corruption.
38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins;†
39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
40 Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:
41 ‘Behold, you despisers, Marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, A work which you will by no means believe, Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”
42 So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.
43 Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
Apostles to the Gentiles
44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.
45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.†
46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
47 For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
49 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region.
50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.
51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium.
52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.