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. A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:
¹ I love you, O LORD, my strength.
² The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
³ I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
⁴ The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;
⁵ the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
⁶ In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
⁷ Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.
⁸ Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.
⁹ He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
¹⁰ He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water.
¹² Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
¹³ The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴ And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
¹⁵ Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
¹⁶ He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.
¹⁷ He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support.
¹⁹ He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
²⁰ The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
²¹ For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
²² For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.
²³ I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt.
²⁴ So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
²⁵ With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
²⁶ with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
²⁷ For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.
²⁸ For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness.
²⁹ For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.
³⁰ This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
³¹ For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?—
³² the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.
³³ He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.
³⁴ He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.
³⁶ You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.
³⁷ I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed.
³⁸ I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet.
³⁹ For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me.
⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed.
⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.
⁴² I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
⁴³ You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.
⁴⁴ As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me.
⁴⁵ Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses.
⁴⁶ The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation—
⁴⁷ the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me,
⁴⁸ who rescued me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from the man of violence.
⁴⁹ For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing to your name.
⁵⁰ Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever. (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)

¹ Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.
² A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.
³ The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.
⁴ An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
⁵ Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
⁶ Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.
⁷ Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince.
⁸ A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it; wherever he turns he prospers.
⁹ Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
¹⁰ A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.
¹¹ An evil man seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
¹² Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly.
¹³ If anyone returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.
¹⁴ The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.
¹⁵ He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.
¹⁶ Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense?
¹⁷ A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
¹⁸ One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
¹⁹ Whoever loves transgression loves strife; he who makes his door high seeks destruction.
²⁰ A man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
²¹ He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy.
²² A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
²³ The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.
²⁴ The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
²⁵ A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.
²⁶ To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good, nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
²⁷ Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
²⁸ Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. (ESV)

¹⁷ So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”
¹⁸ So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.”
¹⁹ Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’?
²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
²¹ When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
²³ In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father.
²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf;
²⁷ for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
²⁹ His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech!
³⁰ Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.”
³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?
³² Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.
³³ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (ESV)

¹³ Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “Do you come peacefully?” He said, “Peacefully.”
¹⁴ Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” She said, “Speak.”
¹⁵ He said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother’s, for it was his from the LORD.
¹⁶ And now I have one request to make of you; do not refuse me.” She said to him, “Speak.”
¹⁷ And he said, “Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.”
¹⁸ Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak for you to the king.”
¹⁹ So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right.
²⁰ Then she said, “I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”
²¹ She said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife.”
²² King Solomon answered his mother, “And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older brother, and on his side are Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah.”
²³ Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, “God do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life!
²⁴ Now therefore as the LORD lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today.”
²⁵ So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died.
²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because you shared in all my father’s affliction.”
²⁷ So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, thus fulfilling the word of the LORD that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
²⁸ When the news came to Joab—for Joab had supported Adonijah although he had not supported Absalom—Joab fled to the tent of the LORD and caught hold of the horns of the altar.
²⁹ And when it was told King Solomon, “Joab has fled to the tent of the LORD, and behold, he is beside the altar,” Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.”
³⁰ So Benaiah came to the tent of the LORD and said to him, “The king commands, ‘Come out.’” But he said, “No, I will die here.” Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”
³¹ The king replied to him, “Do as he has said, strike him down and bury him, and thus take away from me and from my father’s house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause.
³² The LORD will bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because, without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with the sword two men more righteous and better than himself, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.
³³ So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the LORD forevermore.”
³⁴ Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck him down and put him to death. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
³⁵ The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.
³⁶ Then the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever.
³⁷ For on the day you go out and cross the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall die. Your blood shall be on your own head.”
³⁸ And Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good; as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.
³⁹ But it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei’s servants ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And when it was told Shimei, “Behold, your servants are in Gath,”
⁴⁰ Shimei arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.
⁴¹ And when Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned,
⁴² the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die’? And you said to me, ‘What you say is good; I will obey.’
⁴³ Why then have you not kept your oath to the LORD and the commandment with which I commanded you?”
⁴⁴ The king also said to Shimei, “You know in your own heart all the harm that you did to David my father. So the LORD will bring back your harm on your own head.
⁴⁵ But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever.”
⁴⁶ Then the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died. So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

¹ Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem.
² The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the LORD.
³ Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places.
⁴ And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
⁵ At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”
⁶ And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day.
⁷ And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.
⁸ And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude.
⁹ Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
¹⁰ It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.
¹¹ And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,
¹² behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.
¹³ I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.
¹⁴ And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
¹⁵ And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants. (ESV)

¹⁹ Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.
²⁰ But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus.
²¹ And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
²² The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
²³ When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose,
²⁴ for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.
²⁵ So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
²⁶ and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
²⁷ Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
²⁸ And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).
²⁹ So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
³⁰ And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

¹ About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.
² He killed James the brother of John with the sword,
³ and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread.
⁴ And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.
⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.
⁶ Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison.
⁷ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.
⁸ And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”
⁹ And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
¹⁰ When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.
¹¹ When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”
¹² When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.
¹³ And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.
¹⁴ Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.
¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!”
¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.
¹⁷ But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place.
¹⁸ Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.
¹⁹ And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there. (ESV)

¹ A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
² The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
³ The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
⁴ A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
⁵ A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.
⁶ In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked.
⁷ The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools.
⁸ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.
⁹ The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but he loves him who pursues righteousness.
¹⁰ There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; whoever hates reproof will die. (ESV)