Evening Devotion

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
¹ O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;
² many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah
³ But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
⁴ I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
⁵ I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
⁶ I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
⁷ Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.
⁸ Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! Selah (ESV)

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
² Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.
³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁴ to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁵ to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁶ to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁷ to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁸ the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁹ the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁰ to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹² with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹³ to him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁴ and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁵ but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁶ to him who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁷ to him who struck down great kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁸ and killed mighty kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁹ Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁰ and Og, king of Bashan, for his steadfast love endures forever;
²¹ and gave their land as a heritage, for his steadfast love endures forever;
²² a heritage to Israel his servant, for his steadfast love endures forever.
²³ It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁴ and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁵ he who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever.
²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever. (ESV)

²⁸ So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther,
²⁹ but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.
³⁰ When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
³¹ And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. (ESV)

¹ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
² “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”
³ So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel.

¹⁷ Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country,
¹⁸ and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many,
¹⁹ and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds,
²⁰ and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
²¹ So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath.
²² They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
²³ And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs.
²⁴ That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.
²⁵ At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.
²⁶ And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
²⁷ And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
²⁸ However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
²⁹ The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”
³⁰ But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”
³¹ Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”
³² So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.
³³ And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” (ESV)

¹ And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
² He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.
³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
⁴ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man,
⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”
⁶ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.
⁷ And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?
⁸ I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
⁹ He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
¹¹ The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
¹³ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
¹⁵ Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
¹⁶ But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
¹⁷ Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (ESV)

¹ In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
² The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.
³ But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.
⁴ These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years,
⁵ and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
⁶ Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and given them food.
⁷ So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
⁹ The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
¹⁰ And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”
¹¹ But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?
¹² Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons,
¹³ would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”
¹⁴ Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
¹⁵ And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”
¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”
¹⁸ And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
¹⁹ So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?”
²⁰ She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
²¹ I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”
²² So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

¹ Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
² And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”
³ So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.
⁴ And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered, “The LORD bless you.”
⁵ Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”
⁶ And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.
⁷ She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”
⁸ Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women.
⁹ Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.”
¹⁰ Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”
¹¹ But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.
¹² The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”
¹³ Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”
¹⁴ And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.
¹⁵ When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her.
¹⁶ And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”
¹⁷ So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.
¹⁸ And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied.
¹⁹ And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”
²⁰ And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”
²¹ And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’”
²² And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.”
²³ So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law. (ESV)

¹ As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
² And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
³ Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
⁴ We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.
⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
⁶ Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud
⁷ and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
⁸ The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”
⁹ Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”
¹⁰ So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”
¹¹ He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.”
¹² They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
¹³ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.
¹⁴ Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
¹⁵ So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.
¹⁷ So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
¹⁸ The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight
¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.
²¹ But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”
²² (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.
²³ Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”)
²⁴ So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
²⁵ He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
²⁶ They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
²⁷ He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”
²⁸ And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”
³⁰ The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.
³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.
³² Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.
³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
³⁴ They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. (ESV)

⁸ A man is commended according to his good sense, but one of twisted mind is despised.
⁹ Better to be lowly and have a servant than to play the great man and lack bread.
¹⁰ Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
¹¹ Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.
¹² Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers, but the root of the righteous bears fruit.
¹³ An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escapes from trouble.
¹⁴ From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him.
¹⁵ The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.
¹⁶ The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.
¹⁷ Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit. (ESV)