One Year Bible.

Deliver Me from My Enemies

¹For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him.

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;

protect me from those who rise against me.

²Deliver me from workers of iniquity,

and save me from men of bloodshed.

³See how they lie in wait for me.

Fierce men conspire against me

for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD.

⁴For no fault of my own,

they move swiftly to attack me.

Arise to help me, and take notice.

⁵O LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel,

rouse Yourself to punish all the nations;

show no mercy to the wicked traitors.

Selah

⁶They return in the evening, snarling like dogs

and prowling around the city.

⁷See what they spew from their mouths—

sharp words from their lips:

“For who can hear us?”

⁸But You, O LORD, laugh at them;

You scoff at all the nations.

⁹I will keep watch for You, O my strength,

because You, O God, are my fortress.

¹⁰My God of loving devotion will come to meet me;

God will let me stare down my foes.

¹¹Do not kill them,

or my people will forget.

Scatter them by Your power,

and bring them down,

O Lord, our shield.

¹²By the sins of their mouths

and the words of their lips,

let them be trapped in their pride,

in the curses and lies they utter.

¹³Consume them in wrath;

consume them till they are no more,

so it may be known to the ends of the earth

that God rules over Jacob.

Selah

¹⁴They return in the evening,

snarling like dogs

and prowling around the city.

¹⁵They scavenge for food,

and growl if they are not satisfied.

¹⁶But I will sing of Your strength

and proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning.

For You are my fortress,

my refuge in times of trouble.

¹⁷To You, O my strength, I sing praises,

for You, O God, are my fortress,

my God of loving devotion.

The Temptation of Jesus

¹Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ²After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.

³The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴But Jesus answered, “It is written:

‘Man shall not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. ⁶“If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He will command His angels concerning You,

and they will lift You up in their hands,

so that You will not strike Your foot

against a stone.’”

⁷Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹“All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus told him. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

¹¹Then the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹²When Jesus heard that John had been imprisoned, He withdrew to Galilee. ¹³Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵“Land of Zebulun

and land of Naphtali,

the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles —

¹⁶the people living in darkness

have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of the shadow of death,

a light has dawned.”

¹⁷From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

The First Disciples

¹⁸As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰And at once they left their nets and followed Him.

²¹Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them, ²²and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

Jesus Heals the Multitudes

²³Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them.

²⁵Large crowds followed Him, having come from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

Job Decries His Comforters

¹Then Job answered:

²“I have heard many things like these;

miserable comforters are you all.

³Is there no end to your long-winded speeches?

What provokes you to continue testifying?

⁴I could also speak like you

if you were in my place;

I could heap up words against you

and shake my head at you.

⁵But I would encourage you with my mouth,

and the consolation of my lips would bring relief.

⁶Even if I speak, my pain is not relieved,

and if I hold back, how will it go away?

⁷Surely He has now exhausted me;

You have devastated all my family.

⁸You have bound me, and it has become a witness;

my frailty rises up and testifies against me.

⁹His anger has torn me and opposed me;

He gnashes His teeth at me.

My adversary pierces me with His eyes.

¹⁰They open their mouths against me

and strike my cheeks with contempt;

they join together against me.

¹¹God has delivered me to unjust men;

He has thrown me to the clutches of the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, but He shattered me;

He seized me by the neck and crushed me.

He has set me up as His target;

¹³His archers surround me.

He pierces my kidneys without mercy

and spills my gall on the ground.

¹⁴He breaks me with wound upon wound;

He rushes me like a mighty warrior.

¹⁵I have sewn sackcloth over my skin;

I have buried my horn in the dust.

¹⁶My face is red with weeping,

and deep shadows ring my eyes;

¹⁷yet my hands are free of violence

and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸O earth, do not cover my blood;

may my cry for help never be laid to rest.

¹⁹Even now my witness is in heaven,

and my advocate is on high.

²⁰My friends are my scoffers

as my eyes pour out tears to God.

²¹Oh, that a man might plead with God

as he pleads with his neighbor!

²²For when only a few years are past

I will go the way of no return.[’’]

Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem

¹After we had torn ourselves away from them, we sailed directly to Cos, and the next day on to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. ²Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded it and set sail. ³After sighting Cyprus and passing south of it, we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre, where the ship was to unload its cargo.

⁴We sought out the disciples in Tyre and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they kept telling Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ⁵But when our time there had ended, we set out on our journey. All the disciples, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city and knelt down on the beach to pray with us. ⁶And after we had said our farewells, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day.

Paul Visits Philip the Evangelist

⁸Leaving the next day, we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven. ⁹He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

¹⁰After we had been there several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.’” ¹²When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴When he would not be dissuaded, we quieted down and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After these days, we packed up and went on to Jerusalem. ¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us, and they took us to stay at the home of Mnason the Cypriot, an early disciple.

Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem

¹⁷When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us joyfully. ¹⁸The next day Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. ²¹But they are under the impression that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe our customs. ²²What then should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come.

²³Therefore do what we advise you. There are four men with us who have taken a vow. ²⁴Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is no truth to these rumors about you, but that you also live in obedience to the law.

²⁵As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶So the next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he entered the temple to give notice of the date when their purification would be complete and the offering would be made for each of them.

Paul Seized at the Temple

²⁷When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, ²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and against our law and against this place. Furthermore, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” ²⁹For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. ³¹While they were trying to kill him, the commander of the Roman regiment received a report that all Jerusalem was in turmoil. ³²Immediately he took some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd. When the people saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³The commander came up and arrested Paul, ordering that he be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.

³⁴Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, and some another. And since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. ³⁵When Paul reached the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. ³⁶For the crowd that followed him kept shouting, “Away with him!”

Paul Addresses the Crowd

³⁷As they were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”

“Do you speak Greek?” he replied. ³⁸“Aren’t you the Egyptian who incited a rebellion some time ago and led four thousand members of the Assassins into the wilderness?”

³⁹But Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Now I beg you to allow me to speak to the people.”

⁴⁰Having received permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew: