Night Watch Devotion

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.
¹ It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
² to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,
³ to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.
⁴ For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
⁵ How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!
⁶ The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:
⁷ that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;
⁸ but you, O LORD, are on high forever.
⁹ For behold, your enemies, O LORD, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered.
¹⁰ But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil.
¹¹ My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.
¹² The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³ They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,
¹⁵ to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (ESV)

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
¹ Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain,
² beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.
³ Within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress.
⁴ For behold, the kings assembled; they came on together.
⁵ As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic; they took to flight.
⁶ Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in labor.
⁷ By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish.
⁸ As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever. Selah
⁹ We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.
¹⁰ As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
¹¹ Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments!
¹² Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers,
¹³ consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation
¹⁴ that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. (ESV)

²³ Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (ESV)

¹ “Behold, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard and understood it.
² What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.
³ But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.
⁴ As for you, you whitewash with lies; worthless physicians are you all.
⁵ Oh that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom!
⁶ Hear now my argument and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
⁷ Will you speak falsely for God and speak deceitfully for him?
⁸ Will you show partiality toward him? Will you plead the case for God?
⁹ Will it be well with you when he searches you out? Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?
¹⁰ He will surely rebuke you if in secret you show partiality.
¹¹ Will not his majesty terrify you, and the dread of him fall upon you?
¹² Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay. (ESV)

¹ After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.
² And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.
³ Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.
⁴ Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
⁵ Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”
⁶ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
⁷ Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”
⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,
⁹ “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”
¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.
¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.
¹² And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.”
¹³ So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.
¹⁴ When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”
¹⁵ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
¹⁶ When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
¹⁷ got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
¹⁸ The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
¹⁹ When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.
²⁰ But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
²¹ Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. (ESV)

¹ “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them.
² When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.
³ If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.
⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone.
⁵ But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’
⁶ then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.
⁷ “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.
⁸ If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her.
⁹ If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter.
¹⁰ If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights.
¹¹ And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.
¹² “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.
¹³ But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.
¹⁴ But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
¹⁵ “Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.
¹⁶ “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.
¹⁷ “Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.
¹⁸ “When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed,
¹⁹ then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.
²⁰ “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged.
²¹ But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.
²² “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.
²³ But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life,
²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
²⁶ “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye.
²⁷ If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.
²⁸ “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable.
²⁹ But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.
³⁰ If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him.
³¹ If it gores a man’s son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule.
³² If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
³³ “When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
³⁴ the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.
³⁵ “When one man’s ox butts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share.
³⁶ Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.

¹ “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
² If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him,
³ but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
⁴ If the stolen beast is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double.
⁵ “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best in his own field and in his own vineyard.
⁶ “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.
⁷ “If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man’s house, then, if the thief is found, he shall pay double.
⁸ If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor’s property.
⁹ For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before God. The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.
¹⁰ “If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it,
¹¹ an oath by the LORD shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor’s property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution.
¹² But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner.
¹³ If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence. He shall not make restitution for what has been torn.
¹⁴ “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution.
¹⁵ If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution; if it was hired, it came for its hiring fee.
¹⁶ “If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price for her and make her his wife.
¹⁷ If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride-price for virgins.
¹⁸ “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
¹⁹ “Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.
²⁰ “Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the LORD alone, shall be devoted to destruction.
²¹ “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
²² You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.
²³ If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry,
²⁴ and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
²⁵ “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.
²⁶ If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down,
²⁷ for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
²⁸ “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
²⁹ “You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me.
³⁰ You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: seven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.
³¹ “You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs. (ESV)

¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
²⁰ The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.
²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”
²³ One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.
²⁴ And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
²⁵ And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him:
²⁶ how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?”
²⁷ And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

¹ Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand.
² And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.
³ And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.”
⁴ And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.
⁵ And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
⁶ The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
⁷ Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea
⁸ and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him.
⁹ And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him,
¹⁰ for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.
¹¹ And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”
¹² And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
¹³ And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.
¹⁴ And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach
¹⁵ and have authority to cast out demons.
¹⁶ He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);
¹⁷ James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);
¹⁸ Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,
¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
²⁰ Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat.
²¹ And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
²² And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”
²³ And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?
²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.
²⁷ But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
²⁸ “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter,
²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—
³⁰ for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” (ESV)

¹ My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding,
² that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge.
³ For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil,
⁴ but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol;
⁶ she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.
⁷ And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
⁸ Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,
⁹ lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless,
¹⁰ lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
¹¹ and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,
¹² and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
¹³ I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴ I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.” (ESV)