Night Watch Devotion

A Song of Ascents.
¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
² O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
³ If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
⁵ I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
⁶ my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
⁷ O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
⁸ And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. (ESV)

A Song of Ascents.
¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
² My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
³ He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
⁴ Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
⁵ The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
⁷ The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
⁸ The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (ESV)

¹ “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
² Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
⁵ As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
⁶ But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
⁷ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’
¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
¹¹ Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’
¹² But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
¹³ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (ESV)

¹ The LORD said to Moses,
² “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me.
³ And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze,
⁴ blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats’ hair,
⁵ tanned rams’ skins, goatskins, acacia wood,
⁶ oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense,
⁷ onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.
⁸ And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.
⁹ Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.
¹⁰ “They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.
¹¹ You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it.
¹² You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it.
¹³ You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.
¹⁴ And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them.
¹⁵ The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.
¹⁶ And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you.
¹⁷ “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.
¹⁸ And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat.
¹⁹ Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends.
²⁰ The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.
²¹ And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you.
²² There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. (ESV)

¹⁷ On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.
¹⁸ And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,
¹⁹ but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.
²⁰ And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
²² When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts?
²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
²⁴ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.
²⁶ And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
²⁷ After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”
²⁸ And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
²⁹ And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.
³⁰ And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
³¹ And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
³³ And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.”
³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
³⁵ The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”
³⁶ He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.
³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
³⁹ And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’” (ESV)

¹ The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the people of Simeon, according to their clans, and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah.
² And they had for their inheritance Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah,
³ Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem,
⁴ Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,
⁵ Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah,
⁶ Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities with their villages;
⁷ Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities with their villages,
⁸ together with all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Simeon according to their clans.
⁹ The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah. Because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them, the people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.
¹⁰ The third lot came up for the people of Zebulun, according to their clans. And the territory of their inheritance reached as far as Sarid.
¹¹ Then their boundary goes up westward and on to Mareal and touches Dabbesheth, then the brook that is east of Jokneam.
¹² From Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chisloth-tabor. From there it goes to Daberath, then up to Japhia.
¹³ From there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Neah,
¹⁴ then on the north the boundary turns about to Hannathon, and it ends at the Valley of Iphtahel;
¹⁵ and Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve cities with their villages.
¹⁶ This is the inheritance of the people of Zebulun, according to their clans—these cities with their villages.
¹⁷ The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the people of Issachar, according to their clans.
¹⁸ Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,
¹⁹ Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath,
²⁰ Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,
²¹ Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez.
²² The boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan—sixteen cities with their villages.
²³ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Issachar, according to their clans—the cities with their villages.
²⁴ The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans.
²⁵ Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,
²⁶ Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west it touches Carmel and Shihor-libnath,
²⁷ then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel. Then it continues in the north to Cabul,
²⁸ Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great.
²⁹ Then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab, Achzib,
³⁰ Ummah, Aphek and Rehob—twenty-two cities with their villages.
³¹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans—these cities with their villages.
³² The sixth lot came out for the people of Naphtali, for the people of Naphtali, according to their clans.
³³ And their boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan.
³⁴ Then the boundary turns westward to Aznoth-tabor and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun at the south and Asher on the west and Judah on the east at the Jordan.
³⁵ The fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,
³⁶ Adamah, Ramah, Hazor,
³⁷ Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor,
³⁸ Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen cities with their villages.
³⁹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Naphtali according to their clans—the cities with their villages.
⁴⁰ The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans.
⁴¹ And the territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,
⁴² Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,
⁴³ Elon, Timnah, Ekron,
⁴⁴ Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,
⁴⁵ Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon,
⁴⁶ and Me-jarkon and Rakkon with the territory over against Joppa.
⁴⁷ When the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them, the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and striking it with the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor.
⁴⁸ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans—these cities with their villages.
⁴⁹ When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.
⁵⁰ By command of the LORD they gave him the city that he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it.
⁵¹ These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot at Shiloh before the LORD, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

¹ Then the LORD said to Joshua,
² “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,
³ that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood.
⁴ He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them.
⁵ And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past.
⁶ And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’”
⁷ So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
⁸ And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.
⁹ These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.

¹ Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel.
² And they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.”
³ So by command of the LORD the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasturelands out of their inheritance.
⁴ The lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.
⁵ And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.
⁶ The Gershonites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.
⁷ The Merarites according to their clans received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.
⁸ These cities and their pasturelands the people of Israel gave by lot to the Levites, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.
⁹ Out of the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name,
¹⁰ which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the clans of the Kohathites who belonged to the people of Levi; since the lot fell to them first.
¹¹ They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it.
¹² But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.
¹³ And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, Libnah with its pasturelands,
¹⁴ Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands,
¹⁵ Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands,
¹⁶ Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities out of these two tribes;
¹⁷ then out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands,
¹⁸ Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four cities.
¹⁹ The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands. (ESV)

¹ On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
² Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.
³ When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”
⁴ And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
⁶ Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
⁸ And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it.
⁹ When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom
¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
¹¹ This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
¹² After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
¹³ The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
¹⁴ In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.
¹⁵ And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.
¹⁶ And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”
¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
¹⁸ So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”
¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
²⁰ The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”
²¹ But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
²² When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
²³ Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.
²⁴ But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people
²⁵ and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. (ESV)

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”
¹ O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.
² O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.
³ For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before themselves. Selah
⁴ Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.
⁵ He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them.
⁶ With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.
⁷ For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies. (ESV)