3For I will proclaim the name of theLord;ascribegreatness to our God!

4The Rock,his work is perfect,forall his ways are justice.A God of faithfulness andwithout iniquity,just and upright is he.

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

139OLord, you havesearched me and known me!2Youknow when I sit down and when I rise up;youdiscern my thoughts from afar.3You search out my path and my lying downand are acquainted with all my ways.4Even before a word is on my tongue,behold, OLord,you know it altogether.5Youhem me in, behind and before,andlay your hand upon me.6Such knowledge istoo wonderful for me;it is high; I cannot attain it.

7Where shall I go from your Spirit?Or whereshall I flee from your presence?8If I ascend to heaven, you are there!If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!9If I take the wings of the morningand dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,10even there your hand shalllead me,and your right hand shall hold me.11If I say,Surely the darkness shall cover me,and the light about me be night,12even the darkness is not dark to you;the night is bright as the day,for darkness is as light with you.

The Creation of the World

1In thebeginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Gen. 1:1

The Word Became Flesh

1In the beginning wasthe Word, andthe Word was with God, andthe Word was God.

John 1:1

Paul Addresses the Areopagus

22So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.23For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription:To the unknown god.What therefore you worshipas unknown, this I proclaim to you.24The God who made the world and everything in it, beingLord of heaven and earth,does not live in temples made by man,[a]25nor is he served by human hands,as though he needed anything, since he himselfgives to all mankindlife and breath and everything.26Andhe made from one man every nation of mankind to liveon all the face of the earth,having determined allotted periods andthe boundaries of their dwelling place,27that they should seek God,and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,28for

In him we live and move and have our being;[b]

as even some ofyour own poets have said,

For we are indeed his offspring.[c]

29Being then God's offspring,we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.30The times of ignoranceGod overlooked, butnow hecommands all people everywhere to repent,31because he has fixeda day on whichhe will judge the worldin righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; andof this he has given assurance to allby raising him from the dead.

32Now when they heard ofthe resurrection of the dead,some mocked. But others said,We will hear you again about this.33So Paul went out from their midst.34But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysiusthe Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

2Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in itwith thanksgiving.3At the same time, pray also for us, that God mayopen to us a door for the word,to declare the mystery of Christ,on account of which I am in prison4that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

Ask, and It Will Be Given

7Ask,and it will be given to you;seek, and you will find;knock, and it will be opened to you.8For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.9Or which one of you, if his son asks him forbread, will give hima stone?10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?11If you then,who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more willyour Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!