Evening Devotion

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
¹ O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
² Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
³ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
⁴ what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
⁵ Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
⁶ You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,
⁷ all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
⁸ the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
⁹ O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
¹ We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.
² “At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity.
³ When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah
⁴ I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;
⁵ do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with haughty neck.’”
⁶ For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
⁷ but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.
⁸ For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.
⁹ But I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
¹⁰ All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up. (ESV)

A Song of Ascents. Of David.
¹ I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
² Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!
³ Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together,
⁴ to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
⁵ There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David.
⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you!
⁷ Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!”
⁸ For my brothers and companions’ sake I will say, “Peace be within you!”
⁹ For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.

A Song of Ascents.
¹ To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
² Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us.
³ Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
⁴ Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud. (ESV)

⁶ On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
⁷ And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.
⁸ He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.
⁹ It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (ESV)

¹ When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?”
² And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.”
³ So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
⁴ But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him.
⁵ Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
⁶ Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.
⁷ Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”
⁸ And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
⁹ And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
¹⁰ They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food.
¹¹ We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.”
¹² He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.”
¹³ And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.”
¹⁴ But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies.
¹⁵ By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.”
¹⁷ And he put them all together in custody for three days.
¹⁸ On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God:
¹⁹ if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households,
²⁰ and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so.
²¹ Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”
²² And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.”
²³ They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them.
²⁴ Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
²⁵ And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.
²⁶ Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed.
²⁷ And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack.
²⁸ He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”
²⁹ When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying,
³⁰ “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land.
³¹ But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies.
³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’
³³ Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way.
³⁴ Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’”

³⁸ But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.” (ESV)

¹ And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country.
² When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
³ And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
⁴ Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.
⁵ And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.
⁶ He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
⁷ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
⁸ And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
⁹ What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.
¹⁰ Have you not read this Scripture: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
¹¹ this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
¹² And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away. (ESV)

¹ The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
² “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers’ houses,
³ from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting.
⁴ This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things.
⁵ When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it.
⁶ Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.
⁷ And over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue and put on it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; the regular showbread also shall be on it.
⁸ Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles.
⁹ And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied.
¹⁰ And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame.
¹¹ And over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles.
¹² And they shall take all the vessels of the service that are used in the sanctuary and put them in a cloth of blue and cover them with a covering of goatskin and put them on the carrying frame.
¹³ And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it.
¹⁴ And they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles.
¹⁵ And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.
¹⁶ “And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of the whole tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.”
¹⁷ The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
¹⁸ “Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites,
¹⁹ but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden,
²⁰ but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.”
²¹ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
²² “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses and by their clans.
²³ From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, all who can come to do duty, to do service in the tent of meeting.
²⁴ This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens:
²⁵ they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of goatskin that is on top of it and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting
²⁶ and the hangings of the court and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service. And they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them.
²⁷ All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry and in all that they have to do. And you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry.
²⁸ This is the service of the clans of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their guard duty is to be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
²⁹ “As for the sons of Merari, you shall list them by their clans and their fathers’ houses.
³⁰ From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, everyone who can come on duty, to do the service of the tent of meeting.
³¹ And this is what they are charged to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases,
³² and the pillars around the court with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories. And you shall list by name the objects that they are required to carry.
³³ This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”
³⁴ And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation listed the sons of the Kohathites, by their clans and their fathers’ houses,
³⁵ from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting;
³⁶ and those listed by clans were 2,750.
³⁷ This was the list of the clans of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.
³⁸ Those listed of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers’ houses,
³⁹ from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty for service in the tent of meeting—
⁴⁰ those listed by their clans and their fathers’ houses were 2,630.
⁴¹ This was the list of the clans of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD.
⁴² Those listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers’ houses,
⁴³ from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting—
⁴⁴ those listed by clans were 3,200.
⁴⁵ This was the list of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.
⁴⁶ All those who were listed of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel listed, by their clans and their fathers’ houses,
⁴⁷ from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come to do the service of ministry and the service of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting,
⁴⁸ those listed were 8,580.
⁴⁹ According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses they were listed, each one with his task of serving or carrying. Thus they were listed by him, as the LORD commanded Moses.

¹ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
² “Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead.
³ You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.”
⁴ And the people of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the LORD said to Moses, so the people of Israel did.
⁵ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
⁶ “Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt,
⁷ he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.
⁸ But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him.
⁹ And every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his.
¹⁰ Each one shall keep his holy donations: whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.” (ESV)

⁵⁷ Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.
⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
⁵⁹ And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,
⁶⁰ but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.”
⁶¹ And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”
⁶² And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.
⁶³ And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.
⁶⁴ And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.
⁶⁵ And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea,
⁶⁶ and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.
⁶⁷ And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
⁶⁹ and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
⁷⁰ as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
⁷¹ that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
⁷² to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
⁷³ the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
⁷⁴ that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,
⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
⁷⁷ to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. (ESV)

¹¹ Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
¹² What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?
¹³ Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴ Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.
¹⁶ The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
¹⁷ When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸ The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
²⁰ He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
²¹ Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
²² The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (ESV)

¹ First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
⁴ who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
⁵ For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
⁷ For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
⁸ I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;
⁹ likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire,
¹⁰ but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.
¹¹ Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.
¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.
¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve;
¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
¹⁵ Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

¹ The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
² Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
³ not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
⁴ He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,
⁵ for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?
⁶ He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
⁷ Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
⁸ Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.
⁹ They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
¹⁰ And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.
¹¹ Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.
¹² Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.
¹³ For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
¹⁴ I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that,
¹⁵ if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
¹⁶ Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

¹ Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
² through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,
³ who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
⁴ For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
⁵ for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
⁶ If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
⁷ Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
⁸ for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
⁹ The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.
¹⁰ For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
¹¹ Command and teach these things.
¹² Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
¹³ Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.
¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
¹⁵ Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.
¹⁶ Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

¹ Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers,
² older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
³ Honor widows who are truly widows.
⁴ But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.
⁵ She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day,
⁶ but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.
⁷ Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach.
⁸ But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
⁹ Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband,
¹⁰ and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.
¹¹ But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry
¹² and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith.
¹³ Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.
¹⁴ So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander.
¹⁵ For some have already strayed after Satan.
¹⁶ If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.
¹⁷ Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
¹⁸ For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”
¹⁹ Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
²⁰ As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.
²¹ In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.
²² Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.
²³ No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
²⁴ The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later.
²⁵ So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden. (ESV)