¹⁷ The desire of the humble Thou hast heard, O Jehovah. Thou preparest their heart; Thou causest Thine ear to attend,

¹⁸ For not for ever is the needy forgotten, The hope of the humble lost to the age.

¹⁸ `O Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this to the age for the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and prepare their heart unto Thee;

²⁷ Because thy heart `is' tender, and thou art humbled before God in thy hearing His words concerning this place, and concerning its inhabitants, and art humbled before Me, and dost rend thy garments, and weep before Me: even I also have heard -- the affirmation of Jehovah.

¹⁵ The eyes of Jehovah `are' unto the righteous, And His ears unto their cry.

¹³ `And the tax-gatherer, having stood afar off, would not even the eyes lift up to the heaven, but was smiting on his breast, saying, God be propitious to me -- the sinner!

¹⁴ I say to you, this one went down declared righteous, to his house, rather than that one: for every one who is exalting himself shall be humbled, and he who is humbling himself shall be exalted.'

¹⁶ Be not led astray, my brethren beloved;

¹⁷ every good giving, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom is no variation, or shadow of turning;

¹² because the eyes of the Lord `are' upon the righteous, and His ears -- to their supplication, and the face of the Lord `is' upon those doing evil;'

¹² Also, in Judah hath the hand of God been to give to them one heart to do the command of the king and of the heads, in the matter of Jehovah;

¹² And when he is in distress he hath appeased the face of Jehovah his God, and is humbled exceedingly before the God of his fathers,

¹³ and prayeth unto Him, and He is entreated of him, and heareth his supplication, and bringeth him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom, and Manasseh knoweth that Jehovah -- He `is' God.

¹² For He who is seeking for blood Them hath remembered, He hath not forgotten the cry of the afflicted.

¹⁹ The desire of those fearing Him He doth, And their cry He heareth, and saveth them.

¹ Of man `are' arrangements of the heart, And from Jehovah an answer of the tongue.

²⁴ And it hath come to pass, They do not yet call, and I answer, They are yet speaking, and I hear.

⁵ In like manner, ye younger, be subject to elders, and all to one another subjecting yourselves; with humble-mindedness clothe yourselves, because God the proud doth resist, but to the humble He doth give grace;

¹⁰ be made low before the Lord, and He shall exalt you.

⁴ And delight thyself on Jehovah, And He giveth to thee the petitions of thy heart.

¹⁷ He turned unto the prayer of the destitute, And He hath not despised their prayer.

⁷ Of an evil report he is not afraid, Prepared is His heart, confident in Jehovah.

⁸ Sustained is his heart -- he feareth not, Till that he look on his adversaries.

²⁴ The feared thing of the wicked it meeteth him, And the desire of the righteous is given.

⁸ The sacrifice of the wicked `is' an abomination to Jehovah, And the prayer of the upright `is' His delight.

³ `Happy the poor in spirit -- because theirs is the reign of the heavens.

²⁴ and they having heard, with one accord did lift up the voice unto God, and said, `Lord, thou `art' God, who didst make the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all that `are' in them,

²⁵ who, through the mouth of David thy servant, did say, Why did nations rage, and peoples meditate vain things?

²⁶ the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ;

²⁷ for gathered together of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, were both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with nations and peoples of Israel,

²⁸ to do whatever Thy hand and Thy counsel did determine before to come to pass.

²⁹ `And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings, and grant to Thy servants with all freedom to speak Thy word,

³⁰ in the stretching forth of Thy hand, for healing, and signs, and wonders, to come to pass through the name of Thy holy child Jesus.'

³¹ And they having prayed, the place was shaken in which they were gathered together, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and were speaking the word of God with freedom,

⁵ Peter, therefore, indeed, was kept in the prison, and fervent prayer was being made by the assembly unto God for him,

⁶ and when Herod was about to bring him forth, the same night was Peter sleeping between two soldiers, having been bound with two chains, guards also before the door were keeping the prison,

⁷ and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood by, and a light shone in the buildings, and having smitten Peter on the side, he raised him up, saying, `Rise in haste,' and his chains fell from off `his' hands.

⁸ The messenger also said to him, `Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals;' and he did so; and he saith to him, `Put thy garment round and be following me;'

⁹ and having gone forth, he was following him, and he knew not that it is true that which is done through the messenger, and was thinking he saw a vision,

¹⁰ and having passed through a first ward, and a second, they came unto the iron gate that is leading to the city, which of its own accord did open to them, and having gone forth, they went on through one street, and immediately the messenger departed from him.

¹¹ And Peter having come to himself, said, `Now I have known of a truth that the Lord did sent forth His messenger, and did deliver me out of the hand of Herod, and all the expectation of the people of the Jews;'

¹² also, having considered, he came unto the house of Mary, the mother of John, who is surnamed Mark, where there were many thronged together and praying.

¹³ And Peter having knocked at the door of the porch, there came a damsel to hearken, by name Rhoda,

¹⁴ and having known the voice of Peter, from the joy she did not open the porch, but having run in, told of the standing of Peter before the porch,

¹⁵ and they said unto her, `Thou art mad;' and she was confidently affirming `it' to be so, and they said, `It is his messenger;'

¹⁶ and Peter was continuing knocking, and having opened, they saw him, and were astonished,

¹⁷ and having beckoned to them with the hand to be silent, he declared to them how the Lord brought him out of the prison, and he said, `Declare to James and to the brethren these things;' and having gone forth, he went on to another place.

¹⁸ And day having come, there was not a little stir among the soldiers what then was become of Peter,

¹⁹ and Herod having sought for him, and not having found, having examined the guards, did command `them' to be led away to punishment, and having gone down from Judea to Cesarea, he was abiding `there'.

²⁶ And, in like manner also, the Spirit doth help our weaknesses; for, what we may pray for, as it behoveth `us', we have not known, but the Spirit himself doth make intercession for us with groanings unutterable,

¹⁸ because through him we have the access -- we both -- in one Spirit unto the Father.

¹² in whom we have the freedom and the access in confidence through the faith of him,

⁶ and greater grace he doth give, wherefore he saith, `God against proud ones doth set Himself up, and to lowly ones He doth give grace?'

³⁶ and rejoice doth Hezekiah and all the people, because of God's giving preparation to the people, for the thing hath been suddenly.