Jer. 47

47:1 This was the Lord’s message to the prophet Jeremiah about the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza:

2“Look! Enemies are gathering in the north like water rising in a river.

They will be like an overflowing stream.

They will overwhelm the whole country and everything in it like a flood.

They will overwhelm the cities and their inhabitants.

People will cry out in alarm.

Everyone living in the country will cry out in pain.

3Fathers will hear the hoofbeats of the enemies’ horses,

the clatter of their chariots and the rumbling of their wheels.

They will not turn back to save their children

because they will be paralyzed with fear.

4For the time has come

to destroy all the Philistines.

The time has come to destroy all the help

that remains for Tyre and Sidon.

For I, the Lord, will destroy the Philistines,

that remnant that came from the island of Crete.

5The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning.

The people of Ashkelon will be struck dumb.

How long will you gash yourselves to show your sorrow,

you who remain of Philistia’s power?

6How long will you cry out, ‘Oh, sword of the Lord,

how long will it be before you stop killing?

Go back into your sheath;

stay there and rest!’

7But how can it rest

when I, the Lord, have given it orders?

I have ordered it to attack

the people of Ashkelon and the seacoast.”

Ps. 29

29:1 A psalm of David.

Acknowledge the Lord, you heavenly beings,

acknowledge the Lord’s majesty and power.

2Acknowledge the majesty of the Lord’s reputation.

Worship the Lord in holy attire.

3The Lord’s shout is heard over the water;

the majestic God thunders,

the Lord appears over the surging water.

4The Lord’s shout is powerful;

the Lord’s shout is majestic.

5The Lord’s shout breaks the cedars;

the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.

6He makes them skip like a calf,

Lebanon and Sirion like a young ox.

7The Lord’s shout strikes with flaming fire.

8The Lord’s shout shakes the wilderness;

the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

9The Lord’s shout bends the large trees

and strips the leaves from the forests.

Everyone in his temple says, “Majestic!”

10The Lord sits enthroned over the engulfing waters;

the Lord sits enthroned as the eternal king.

11The Lord gives his people strength;

the Lord grants his people security.

Acts 28:1–10

28:1 After we had safely reached shore, we learned that the island was called Malta. 2The local inhabitants showed us extraordinary kindness, for they built a fire and welcomed us all because it had started to rain and was cold. 3When Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. 4When the local people saw the creature hanging from Paul’s hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself has not allowed him to live!” 5However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. 6But they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly drop dead. So after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

7Now in the region around that place were fields belonging to the chief official of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably as guests for three days. 8The father of Publius lay sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and after praying, placed his hands on him and healed him. 9After this had happened, many of the people on the island who were sick also came and were healed. 10They also bestowed many honors, and when we were preparing to sail, they gave us all the supplies we needed.