Night Watch Devotion

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
¹ O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.
² Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.
³ My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD—how long?
⁴ Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
⁵ For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?
⁶ I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
⁷ My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.
⁸ Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
⁹ The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
¹⁰ All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. (ESV)

To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
¹ I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
² I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse.
³ My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:
⁴ “O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!
⁵ Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
⁶ Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
⁷ “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.
⁸ Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
⁹ I am mute; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it.
¹⁰ Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
¹¹ When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
¹² “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.
¹³ Look away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more!” (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
² O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
³ Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
⁶ But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
⁸ “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
⁹ Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
¹⁰ On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
¹¹ Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
¹² Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
¹³ they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
¹⁴ I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵ my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
¹⁶ For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
¹⁷ I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸ they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
¹⁹ But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
²⁰ Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
²¹ Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
²² I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³ You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴ For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
²⁵ From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
²⁶ The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
²⁷ All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
²⁸ For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
²⁹ All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.
³⁰ Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
³¹ they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

A Psalm of David.
¹ The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
³ He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

A Psalm of David.
¹ The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
² for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
³ Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?
⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
⁵ He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
⁶ Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
⁷ Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
⁸ Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!
⁹ Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
¹⁰ Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory! Selah (ESV)

¹ Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.
² For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
³ While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
⁴ But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
⁵ For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.
⁶ So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. (ESV)

¹ “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
² Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.
³ I have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
⁴ His children are far from safety; they are crushed in the gate, and there is no one to deliver them.
⁵ The hungry eat his harvest, and he takes it even out of thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
⁶ For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
⁷ but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.
⁸ “As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause,
⁹ who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number:
¹⁰ he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields;
¹¹ he sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
¹² He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
¹³ He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in the night.
¹⁵ But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the mighty.
¹⁶ So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
¹⁷ “Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.
¹⁸ For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.
¹⁹ He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you.
²⁰ In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.
²¹ You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
²² At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.
²³ For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
²⁴ You shall know that your tent is at peace, and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
²⁵ You shall know also that your offspring shall be many, and your descendants as the grass of the earth.
²⁶ You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
²⁷ Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear, and know it for your good.” (ESV)

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)

¹ These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household:
² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
⁴ Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
⁵ All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt.
⁶ Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation.
⁷ But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.
⁸ Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
⁹ And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.
¹⁰ Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”
¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.
¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.
¹³ So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves
¹⁴ and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.
¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,
¹⁶ “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”
¹⁷ But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.
¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?”
¹⁹ The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”
²⁰ So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong.
²¹ And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
²² Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

¹ Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman.
² The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.
³ When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank.
⁴ And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him.
⁵ Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it.
⁶ When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”
⁸ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother.
⁹ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him.
¹⁰ When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”
¹¹ One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.
¹² He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
¹³ When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?”
¹⁴ He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.”
¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.
¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
¹⁷ The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock.
¹⁸ When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?”
¹⁹ They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
²⁰ He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.”
²¹ And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah.
²² She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”
²³ During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
²⁴ And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
²⁵ God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

¹ Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
² And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
⁴ When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
⁵ Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
⁶ And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
⁷ Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,
⁸ and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
⁹ And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
¹⁰ Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
¹² He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
¹³ Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
¹⁶ Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt,
¹⁷ and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
¹⁸ And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’
¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.
²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.
²¹ And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty,
²² but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” (ESV)

¹ When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples,
² “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
⁴ and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.
⁵ But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”
⁶ Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,
⁷ a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.
⁸ And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste?
⁹ For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”
¹⁰ But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me.
¹¹ For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.
¹² In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.
¹³ Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
¹⁴ Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
¹⁵ and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.
¹⁶ And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
¹⁷ Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
¹⁸ He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’”
¹⁹ And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.
²⁰ When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve.
²¹ And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
²² And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?”
²³ He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me.
²⁴ The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
²⁵ Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”
²⁶ Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
²⁷ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,
²⁸ for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
²⁹ I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
³⁰ And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
² Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
⁴ Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵ which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. (ESV)

¹ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
⁹ Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,
¹⁰ and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.
¹¹ For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
¹² Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
¹⁸ Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
¹⁹ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
²⁰ for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
²¹ Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
²⁴ For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
²⁵ But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
²⁶ If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
²⁷ Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

¹ My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
² For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,
³ and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”
⁴ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
⁶ But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?
⁷ Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
⁹ But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
¹¹ For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
¹² So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.
¹³ For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
¹⁵ If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
¹⁷ So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
¹⁹ You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
²⁰ Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
²² You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
²⁴ You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
²⁵ And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
²⁶ For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

¹ Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
² For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
³ If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
⁴ Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
⁷ For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,
⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
¹¹ Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
¹² Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
¹⁴ But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
¹⁵ This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

¹ What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
² You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
⁴ You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
⁵ Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
⁶ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
⁹ Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
¹¹ Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
¹² There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—
¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
¹⁷ So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (ESV)