Evening Devotion

A Song of Ascents.
¹ Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
² Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD!
³ May the LORD bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth! (ESV)

¹ Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
² In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
³ For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD.
⁴ In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
⁵ His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
⁶ He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”
⁷ His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
⁸ He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
⁹ he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
¹⁰ The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.
¹¹ He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
¹² Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.
¹³ Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
¹⁴ But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.
¹⁶ The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land.
¹⁷ O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
¹⁸ to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. (ESV)

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”
²⁶ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
²⁷ Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
²⁸ Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
³⁰ So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
³² Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
³³ For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
³⁴ They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (ESV)

¹ Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.
² And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
³ And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel.
⁴ And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,
⁵ sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me.
⁶ Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
⁷ So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message.
⁸ And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
⁹ And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”
¹⁰ And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying,
¹¹ ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’”
¹² God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
¹³ So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”
¹⁴ So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”
¹⁵ Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these.
¹⁶ And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me,
¹⁷ for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.’”
¹⁸ But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more.
¹⁹ So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.”
²⁰ And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” (ESV)

¹ Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover.
² And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.
³ Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.
⁴ He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.
⁵ And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.
⁶ So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.
⁷ Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.
⁸ So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.”
⁹ They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?”
¹⁰ He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters
¹¹ and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’
¹² And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.”
¹³ And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
¹⁴ And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.
¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
¹⁶ For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
¹⁷ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.
¹⁸ For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
¹⁹ And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
²⁰ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
²¹ But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.
²² For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”
²³ And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. (ESV)

¹ Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart went out to Absalom.
² And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, “Pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments. Do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead.
³ Go to the king and speak thus to him.” So Joab put the words in her mouth.
⁴ When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said, “Save me, O king.”
⁵ And the king said to her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead.
⁶ And your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.
⁷ And now the whole clan has risen against your servant, and they say, ‘Give up the man who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed.’ And so they would destroy the heir also. Thus they would quench my coal that is left and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth.”
⁸ Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.”
⁹ And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father’s house; let the king and his throne be guiltless.”
¹⁰ The king said, “If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again.”
¹¹ Then she said, “Please let the king invoke the LORD your God, that the avenger of blood kill no more, and my son be not destroyed.” He said, “As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”
¹² Then the woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.”
¹³ And the woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring his banished one home again.
¹⁴ We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.
¹⁵ Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid, and your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.
¹⁶ For the king will hear and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the heritage of God.’
¹⁷ And your servant thought, ‘The word of my lord the king will set me at rest,’ for my lord the king is like the angel of God to discern good and evil. The LORD your God be with you!”
¹⁸ Then the king answered the woman, “Do not hide from me anything I ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.”
¹⁹ The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered and said, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, one cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said. It was your servant Joab who commanded me; it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant.
²⁰ In order to change the course of things your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth.”
²¹ Then the king said to Joab, “Behold now, I grant this; go, bring back the young man Absalom.”
²² And Joab fell on his face to the ground and paid homage and blessed the king. And Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, in that the king has granted the request of his servant.”
²³ So Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
²⁴ And the king said, “Let him dwell apart in his own house; he is not to come into my presence.” So Absalom lived apart in his own house and did not come into the king’s presence.
²⁵ Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
²⁶ And when he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of every year he used to cut it; when it was heavy on him, he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels by the king’s weight.
²⁷ There were born to Absalom three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a beautiful woman.
²⁸ So Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, without coming into the king’s presence.
²⁹ Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him. And he sent a second time, but Joab would not come.
³⁰ Then he said to his servants, “See, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.
³¹ Then Joab arose and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?”
³² Absalom answered Joab, “Behold, I sent word to you, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to ask, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still.” Now therefore let me go into the presence of the king, and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.’”
³³ Then Joab went to the king and told him, and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.

¹ After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
² And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,”
³ Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.”
⁴ Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.”
⁵ And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him.
⁶ Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
⁷ And at the end of four years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron.
⁸ For your servant vowed a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the LORD will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to the LORD.’”
⁹ The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron.
¹⁰ But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’”
¹¹ With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew nothing.
¹² And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing. (ESV)

¹² Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.
¹³ None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.
¹⁴ And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,
¹⁵ so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.
¹⁶ The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
¹⁷ But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy
¹⁸ they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.
¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,
²⁰ “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”
²¹ And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
²² But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported,
²³ “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.”
²⁴ Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.
²⁵ And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”
²⁶ Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
²⁷ And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,
²⁸ saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
³⁰ The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.
³¹ God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
³² And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
³³ When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.
³⁴ But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.
³⁵ And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.
³⁶ For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.
³⁷ After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.
³⁸ So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail;
³⁹ but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,
⁴⁰ and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
⁴¹ Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
⁴² And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. (ESV)

¹⁵ The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
¹⁶ One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless.
¹⁷ A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated.
¹⁸ The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
¹⁹ The evil bow down before the good, the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
²⁰ The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends.
²¹ Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.
²² Do they not go astray who devise evil? Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.
²³ In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.
²⁴ The crown of the wise is their wealth, but the folly of fools brings folly. (ESV)