Evening Devotion

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
¹ Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
² It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
³ Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
⁴ Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.
⁵ Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
¹ I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
² I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
³ When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence.
⁴ For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
⁵ You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
⁶ The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.
⁷ But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice,
⁸ and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.
⁹ The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
¹⁰ And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
¹¹ Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds!
¹² For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
¹³ Be gracious to me, O LORD! See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
¹⁴ that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation.
¹⁵ The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
¹⁶ The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah
¹⁷ The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.
¹⁸ For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
¹⁹ Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you!
²⁰ Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah (ESV)

¹⁵ When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
¹⁶ But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many.
¹⁷ And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
¹⁸ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’
¹⁹ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’
²⁰ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
²¹ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’
²² And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’
²³ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.
²⁴ For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” (ESV)

¹⁰ And the people of Israel set out and camped in Oboth.
¹¹ And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness that is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise.
¹² From there they set out and camped in the Valley of Zered.
¹³ From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
¹⁴ Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD, “Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,
¹⁵ and the slope of the valleys that extends to the seat of Ar, and leans to the border of Moab.”
¹⁶ And from there they continued to Beer; that is the well of which the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people together, so that I may give them water.”
¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well!—Sing to it!—
¹⁸ the well that the princes made, that the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter and with their staffs.” And from the wilderness they went on to Mattanah,
¹⁹ and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah that looks down on the desert.
²¹ Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
²² “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into field or vineyard. We will not drink the water of a well. We will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”
²³ But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.
²⁴ And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong.
²⁵ And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.
²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon.
²⁷ Therefore the ballad singers say, “Come to Heshbon, let it be built; let the city of Sihon be established.
²⁸ For fire came out from Heshbon, flame from the city of Sihon. It devoured Ar of Moab, and swallowed the heights of the Arnon.
²⁹ Woe to you, O Moab! You are undone, O people of Chemosh! He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters captives, to an Amorite king, Sihon.
³⁰ So we overthrew them; Heshbon, as far as Dibon, perished; and we laid waste as far as Nophah; fire spread as far as Medeba.”
³¹ Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.
³² And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.
³³ Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.
³⁴ But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”
³⁵ So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left. And they possessed his land. (ESV)

²⁰ “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.
²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it,
²² for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.
²³ Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people.
²⁴ They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
²⁵ “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,
²⁶ people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
²⁷ And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
²⁸ Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
²⁹ And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.
³⁰ As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near.
³¹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
³² Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place.
³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
³⁴ “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.
³⁵ For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
³⁶ But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
³⁷ And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet.
³⁸ And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him. (ESV)

¹ Now Absalom, David’s son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David’s son, loved her.
² And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her.
³ But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother. And Jonadab was a very crafty man.
⁴ And he said to him, “O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”
⁵ Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’”
⁶ So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. And when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.”
⁷ Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Go to your brother Amnon’s house and prepare food for him.”
⁸ So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, where he was lying down. And she took dough and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and baked the cakes.
⁹ And she took the pan and emptied it out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “Send out everyone from me.” So everyone went out from him.
¹⁰ Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the chamber, that I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother.
¹¹ But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.”
¹² She answered him, “No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this outrageous thing.
¹³ As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”
¹⁴ But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.
¹⁵ Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Get up! Go!”
¹⁶ But she said to him, “No, my brother, for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you did to me.” But he would not listen to her.
¹⁷ He called the young man who served him and said, “Put this woman out of my presence and bolt the door after her.”
¹⁸ Now she was wearing a long robe with sleeves, for thus were the virgin daughters of the king dressed. So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her.
¹⁹ And Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long robe that she wore. And she laid her hand on her head and went away, crying aloud as she went.
²⁰ And her brother Absalom said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? Now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother; do not take this to heart.” So Tamar lived, a desolate woman, in her brother Absalom’s house.
²¹ When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.
²² But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar.
²³ After two full years Absalom had sheepshearers at Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons.
²⁴ And Absalom came to the king and said, “Behold, your servant has sheepshearers. Please let the king and his servants go with your servant.”
²⁵ But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you.” He pressed him, but he would not go but gave him his blessing.
²⁶ Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?”
²⁷ But Absalom pressed him until he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.
²⁸ Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.”
²⁹ So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and each mounted his mule and fled.
³⁰ While they were on the way, news came to David, “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons, and not one of them is left.”
³¹ Then the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the earth. And all his servants who were standing by tore their garments.
³² But Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men, the king’s sons, for Amnon alone is dead. For by the command of Absalom this has been determined from the day he violated his sister Tamar.
³³ Now therefore let not my lord the king so take it to heart as to suppose that all the king’s sons are dead, for Amnon alone is dead.”
³⁴ But Absalom fled. And the young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the mountain.
³⁵ And Jonadab said to the king, “Behold, the king’s sons have come; as your servant said, so it has come about.”
³⁶ And as soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king’s sons came and lifted up their voice and wept. And the king also and all his servants wept very bitterly.
³⁷ But Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son day after day.
³⁸ So Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there three years.
³⁹ And the spirit of the king longed to go out to Absalom, because he was comforted about Amnon, since he was dead. (ESV)

²³ When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
²⁴ And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
²⁵ who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?
²⁶ The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—
²⁷ for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
²⁸ to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
²⁹ And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
³⁰ while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
³¹ And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
³² Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
³³ And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
³⁴ There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold
³⁵ and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
³⁶ Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus,
³⁷ sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

¹ But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,
² and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
³ But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
⁴ While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”
⁵ When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.
⁶ The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
⁷ After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
⁸ And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.”
⁹ But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”
¹⁰ Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
¹¹ And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. (ESV)

⁹ Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent.
¹⁰ For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together
¹¹ and say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.”
¹² O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!
¹³ May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt.
¹⁴ But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.
¹⁵ My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.
¹⁶ With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
¹⁷ O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
¹⁸ So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. (ESV)