Night Watch Devotion

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
¹ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶ Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
¹¹ Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
¹⁸ Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem;
¹⁹ then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar. (ESV)

¹ I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
² Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
³ The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.
⁴ Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”
⁵ Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful.
⁶ The LORD preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷ Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
⁸ For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling;
⁹ I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
¹⁰ I believed, even when I spoke: “I am greatly afflicted”;
¹¹ I said in my alarm, “All mankind are liars.”
¹² What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?
¹³ I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD,
¹⁴ I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
¹⁶ O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds.
¹⁷ I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.
¹⁸ I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹ in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD! (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 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.
² They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain,
³ while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:
⁴ ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.
⁵ Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;
⁶ and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
⁷ So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.
⁸ All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.
⁹ And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD,
¹⁰ the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments
¹¹ and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
¹² And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.
¹³ No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”
¹⁴ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments.
¹⁵ And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”
¹⁶ On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
¹⁷ Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.
¹⁸ Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
¹⁹ And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.
²⁰ The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
²¹ And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish.
²² Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.”
²³ And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’”
²⁴ And the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them.”
²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them. (ESV)

¹ Let brotherly love continue.
² Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
³ Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.
⁴ Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
⁵ Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
⁶ So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
⁷ Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
⁹ Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.
¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.
¹¹ For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.
¹² So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.
¹³ Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.
¹⁴ For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
¹⁵ Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
¹⁶ Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
¹⁷ Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
¹⁸ Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.
¹⁹ I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.
²⁰ Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,
²¹ equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

¹⁶ At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived among them.
¹⁷ And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.
¹⁸ But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders.
¹⁹ But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them.
²⁰ This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them.”
²¹ And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said of them.
²² Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell among us?
²³ Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.”
²⁴ They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing.
²⁵ And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.”
²⁶ So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them.
²⁷ But Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place that he should choose.

¹ As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,
² he feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were warriors.
³ So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,
⁴ “Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.”
⁵ Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.
⁶ And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.”
⁷ So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.
⁸ And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.”
⁹ So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal.
¹⁰ And the LORD threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
¹¹ And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.
¹² At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
¹³ And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.
¹⁴ There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel.
¹⁵ So Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.
¹⁶ These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah.
¹⁷ And it was told to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”
¹⁸ And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them,
¹⁹ but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies; attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the LORD your God has given them into your hand.”
²⁰ When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities,
²¹ then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.
²² Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.”
²³ And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
²⁴ And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.” Then they came near and put their feet on their necks.
²⁵ And Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. For thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.”
²⁶ And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the trees until evening.
²⁷ But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.
²⁸ As for Makkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.
²⁹ Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.
³⁰ And the LORD gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel. And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.
³¹ Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to Lachish and laid siege to it and fought against it.
³² And the LORD gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day and struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah.
³³ Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none remaining.
³⁴ Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to Eglon. And they laid siege to it and fought against it.
³⁵ And they captured it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. And he devoted every person in it to destruction that day, as he had done to Lachish.
³⁶ Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron. And they fought against it
³⁷ and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it. He left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and devoted it to destruction and every person in it.
³⁸ Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to Debir and fought against it
³⁹ and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.
⁴⁰ So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the LORD God of Israel commanded.
⁴¹ And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, as far as Gibeon.
⁴² And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.
⁴³ Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal. (ESV)

²⁶ And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
²⁷ And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.
²⁸ But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
²⁹ For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’
³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’
³¹ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
³² Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.
³³ And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
³⁴ And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
³⁵ And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
³⁶ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine
³⁷ and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
³⁸ There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
⁴² And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
⁴³ And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
⁴⁴ It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,
⁴⁵ while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
⁴⁶ Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”
⁴⁸ And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.
⁴⁹ And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
⁵⁰ Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,
⁵¹ who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God.
⁵² This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
⁵³ Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.
⁵⁴ It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.
⁵⁵ The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.
⁵⁶ Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. (ESV)

²¹ The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense.
²² The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.
²³ Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.
²⁴ What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
²⁵ When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever.
²⁶ Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.
²⁷ The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.
²⁸ The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.
²⁹ The way of the LORD is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers.
³⁰ The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land. (ESV)