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. Of David, the servant of the LORD.
¹ Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.
² For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
³ The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
⁴ He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.
⁵ Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
⁶ Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD.
⁷ How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
⁸ They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
⁹ For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.
¹⁰ Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
¹¹ Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
¹² There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise. (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 A long time afterward, when the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years,
² Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years.
³ And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you.
⁴ Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west.
⁵ The LORD your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the LORD your God promised you.
⁶ Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left,
⁷ that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them,
⁸ but you shall cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day.
⁹ For the LORD has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day.
¹⁰ One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the LORD your God who fights for you, just as he promised you.
¹¹ Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God.
¹² For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,
¹³ know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.
¹⁴ “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.
¹⁵ But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you,
¹⁶ if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.” (ESV)

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.
²⁰ Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food.
²¹ On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.
²² And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”
²³ Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.
²⁴ But the word of God increased and multiplied.
²⁵ And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark. (ESV)

¹ Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of the city, to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab, saying,
² “Now then, as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, fortified cities also, and weapons,
³ select the best and fittest of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne and fight for your master’s house.”
⁴ But they were exceedingly afraid and said, “Behold, the two kings could not stand before him. How then can we stand?”
⁵ So he who was over the palace, and he who was over the city, together with the elders and the guardians, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, and we will do all that you tell us. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your eyes.”
⁶ Then he wrote to them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time.” Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were bringing them up.
⁷ And as soon as the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.
⁸ When the messenger came and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” he said, “Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.”
⁹ Then in the morning, when he went out, he stood and said to all the people, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who struck down all these?
¹⁰ Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the LORD has done what he said by his servant Elijah.”
¹¹ So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and his close friends and his priests, until he left him none remaining.
¹² Then he set out and went to Samaria. On the way, when he was at Beth-eked of the Shepherds,
¹³ Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah, and he said, “Who are you?” And they answered, “We are the relatives of Ahaziah, and we came down to visit the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother.”
¹⁴ He said, “Take them alive.” And they took them alive and slaughtered them at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two persons, and he spared none of them.
¹⁵ And when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. And he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart true to my heart as mine is to yours?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand. And Jehu took him up with him into the chariot.
¹⁶ And he said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD.” So he had him ride in his chariot.
¹⁷ And when he came to Samaria, he struck down all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had wiped them out, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke to Elijah.
¹⁸ Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much.
¹⁹ Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests. Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal.
²⁰ And Jehu ordered, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they proclaimed it.
²¹ And Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they entered the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other.
²² He said to him who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out the vestments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out the vestments for them.
²³ Then Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab, and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search, and see that there is no servant of the LORD here among you, but only the worshipers of Baal.”
²⁴ Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and said, “The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life.”
²⁵ So as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers, “Go in and strike them down; let not a man escape.” So when they put them to the sword, the guard and the officers cast them out and went into the inner room of the house of Baal,
²⁶ and they brought out the pillar that was in the house of Baal and burned it.
²⁷ And they demolished the pillar of Baal, and demolished the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day.
²⁸ Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel.
²⁹ But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin—that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan.
³⁰ And the LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.”
³¹ But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin.
³² In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel. Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel:
³³ from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the Valley of the Arnon, that is, Gilead and Bashan.
³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehu and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
³⁵ So Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place.
³⁶ The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

¹ Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family.
² But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death.
³ And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the LORD, while Athaliah reigned over the land.
⁴ But in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the LORD. And he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the LORD, and he showed them the king’s son.
⁵ And he commanded them, “This is the thing that you shall do: one third of you, those who come off duty on the Sabbath and guard the king’s house
⁶ (another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards) shall guard the palace.
⁷ And the two divisions of you, which come on duty in force on the Sabbath and guard the house of the LORD on behalf of the king,
⁸ shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever approaches the ranks is to be put to death. Be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.”
⁹ The captains did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.
¹⁰ And the priest gave to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the LORD.
¹¹ And the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house on behalf of the king.
¹² Then he brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king!”
¹³ When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the LORD to the people.
¹⁴ And when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!”
¹⁵ Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to death with the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest said, “Let her not be put to death in the house of the LORD.”
¹⁶ So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses’ entrance to the king’s house, and there she was put to death.
¹⁷ And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people, that they should be the LORD’s people, and also between the king and the people.
¹⁸ Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the LORD.
¹⁹ And he took the captains, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD, marching through the gate of the guards to the king’s house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings.
²⁰ So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king’s house.
²¹ Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign. (ESV)

¹ And after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul.
² And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: “Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation,
³ in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude.
⁴ But, to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly.
⁵ For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
⁶ He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.
⁸ By examining him yourself you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.”
⁹ The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.
¹⁰ And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied: “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense.
¹¹ You can verify that it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem,
¹² and they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city.
¹³ Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me.
¹⁴ But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,
¹⁵ having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
¹⁶ So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.
¹⁷ Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings.
¹⁸ While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia—
¹⁹ they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, should they have anything against me.
²⁰ Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council,
²¹ other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’”
²² But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.”
²³ Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.
²⁴ After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.
²⁵ And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.”
²⁶ At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him.
²⁷ When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. (ESV)

⁸ You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
⁹ You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.
¹⁰ The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches.
¹¹ It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River.
¹² Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
¹³ The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.
¹⁴ Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine,
¹⁵ the stock that your right hand planted, and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
¹⁶ They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your face!
¹⁷ But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
¹⁸ Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name!
¹⁹ Restore us, O LORD God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved! (ESV)