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Psalm 1-3

BOOK I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

¹Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
²but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
³That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

⁴Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

⁶For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 2

¹Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
²The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
³“Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”

⁴The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
⁵He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
⁶“I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”

⁷I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have become your father.
⁸Ask me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹You will break them with a rod of iron;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

¹⁰Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
¹¹Serve the Lord with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling.
¹²Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 3

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.

¹Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
²Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”

³But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
⁴I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.

⁵I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
⁶I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.

⁷Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.

New International Version (NIV)

Acts 17:1-15

In Thessalonica

17 When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. ²As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, ³explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. ⁴Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

⁵But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, ⁷and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” ⁸When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. ⁹Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

In Berea

¹⁰As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. ¹²As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

¹³But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. ¹⁴The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. ¹⁵Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.