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: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah; a love song.
¹ My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
² You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.
³ Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your splendor and majesty!
⁴ In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!
⁵ Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; the peoples fall under you.
⁶ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
⁷ you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
⁸ your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
⁹ daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
¹⁰ Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: forget your people and your father’s house,
¹¹ and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him.
¹² The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people.
¹³ All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
¹⁴ In many-colored robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions following behind her.
¹⁵ With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king.
¹⁶ In place of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth.
¹⁷ I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever. (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
² He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
³ He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
⁴ Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!
⁵ You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.
⁶ In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
⁸ I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
⁹ I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.
¹⁰ I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
¹¹ As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!
¹² For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.
¹³ Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!
¹⁴ Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt!
¹⁵ Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
¹⁶ But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
¹⁷ As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;
² the LORD protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
³ The LORD sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.
⁴ As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!”
⁵ My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die, and his name perish?”
⁶ And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
⁷ All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me.
⁸ They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.”
⁹ Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
¹⁰ But you, O LORD, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them!
¹¹ By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
¹² But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.
¹³ Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.
¹ As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
³ My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”
⁴ These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.
⁵ Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation
⁶ and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.
⁸ By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
⁹ I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
¹⁰ As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”
¹¹ Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (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 “I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
² I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me.
³ Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked?
⁴ Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees?
⁵ Are your days as the days of man, or your years as a man’s years,
⁶ that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin,
⁷ although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand?
⁸ Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether.
⁹ Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust?
¹⁰ Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?
¹¹ You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.
¹² You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.
¹³ Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose.
¹⁴ If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity.
¹⁵ If I am guilty, woe to me! If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look on my affliction.
¹⁶ And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me.
¹⁷ You renew your witnesses against me and increase your vexation toward me; you bring fresh troops against me.
¹⁸ “Why did you bring me out from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me
¹⁹ and were as though I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave.
²⁰ Are not my days few? Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer
²¹ before I go—and I shall not return— to the land of darkness and deep shadow,
²² the land of gloom like thick darkness, like deep shadow without any order, where light is as thick darkness.” (ESV)

¹ After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
² Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.
³ In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.
⁵ One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”
⁷ The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”
⁸ Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”
⁹ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.
¹⁰ So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”
¹¹ But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’”
¹² They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”
¹³ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.
¹⁴ Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”
¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
¹⁶ And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
¹⁸ This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (ESV)

¹ Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
² The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
³ The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.
⁴ “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
⁵ The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.
⁶ Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.
⁷ In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
⁸ At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
⁹ The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
¹⁰ You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
¹¹ “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
¹² You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them.
¹³ “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
¹⁴ The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
¹⁵ Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
¹⁶ Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
¹⁷ You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
¹⁸ The LORD will reign forever and ever.”
¹⁹ For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.
²⁰ Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.
²¹ And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”
²² Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.
²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
²⁴ And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
²⁵ And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,
²⁶ saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”
²⁷ Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

¹ They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.
² And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,
³ and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”
⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
⁷ and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?”
⁸ And Moses said, “When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD.”
⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.’”
¹⁰ And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
¹¹ And the LORD said to Moses,
¹² “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’”
¹³ In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp.
¹⁴ And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground.
¹⁵ When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.
¹⁶ This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’”
¹⁷ And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less.
¹⁸ But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.
¹⁹ And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.”
²⁰ But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.
²¹ Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.
²² On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,
²³ he said to them, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’”
²⁴ So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it.
²⁵ Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.
²⁶ Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”
²⁷ On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
²⁸ And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
²⁹ See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”
³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.
³¹ Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
³² Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
³³ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations.”
³⁴ As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept.
³⁵ The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
³⁶ (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.) (ESV)

¹ Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
² And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
⁴ And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
⁵ But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
⁶ He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
⁸ So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
⁹ And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
¹¹ While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.
¹² And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers
¹³ and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’
¹⁴ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
¹⁵ So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
¹⁶ Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
¹⁷ And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.
¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)

⁸ Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you.
⁹ You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.
¹⁰ You will destroy their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of man.
¹¹ Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
¹² For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows.
¹³ Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power. (ESV)

¹ He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
² And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?
³ Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
⁴ And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
⁵ And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
⁶ And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
⁷ And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
⁸ He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—
⁹ but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.
¹⁰ And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there.
¹¹ And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”
¹² So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.
¹³ And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
¹⁴ King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.”
¹⁵ But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
¹⁷ For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her.
¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not,
²⁰ for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
²² For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.”
²³ And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”
²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”
²⁵ And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
²⁶ And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her.
²⁷ And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison
²⁸ and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
²⁹ When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
³⁰ The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.
³¹ And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
³² And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.
³³ Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
³⁴ When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
³⁵ And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late.
³⁶ Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
³⁷ But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
³⁸ And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”
³⁹ Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.
⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.
⁴¹ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all.
⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied.
⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.
⁴⁴ And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
⁴⁵ Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
⁴⁶ And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.
⁴⁷ And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.
⁴⁸ And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them,
⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out,
⁵⁰ for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
⁵¹ And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,
⁵² for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
⁵³ When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore.
⁵⁴ And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him
⁵⁵ and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was.
⁵⁶ And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

¹ Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,
² they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.
³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders,
⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)
⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”
⁶ And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
⁷ in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
⁸ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
⁹ And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!
¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’
¹¹ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)—
¹² then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,
¹³ thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
¹⁴ And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand:
¹⁵ There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”
¹⁷ And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable.
¹⁸ And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,
¹⁹ since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
²⁰ And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.
²¹ For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
²³ All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
²⁴ And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.
²⁵ But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet.
²⁶ Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
²⁷ And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
²⁸ But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
²⁹ And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.”
³⁰ And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
³¹ Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.
³² And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.
³³ And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue.
³⁴ And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”
³⁵ And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
³⁶ And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.
³⁷ And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

¹ In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them,
² “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.
³ And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.”
⁴ And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?”
⁵ And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.”
⁶ And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd.
⁷ And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them.
⁸ And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full.
⁹ And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.
¹⁰ And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
¹¹ The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
¹² And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
¹³ And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.
¹⁴ Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.
¹⁵ And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
¹⁶ And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread.
¹⁷ And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?
¹⁸ Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?
¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.”
²⁰ “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.”
²¹ And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
²² And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him.
²³ And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”
²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.”
²⁵ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
²⁶ And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”
²⁷ And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
²⁸ And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”
²⁹ And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”
³⁰ And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
³¹ And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.
³² And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
³³ But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
³⁴ And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
³⁷ For what can a man give in return for his soul?
³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

¹ And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
² And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,
³ and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.
⁴ And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
⁵ And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
⁶ For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.
⁷ And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
⁸ And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
⁹ And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
¹⁰ So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.
¹¹ And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?”
¹² And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
¹³ But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”
¹⁴ And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them.
¹⁵ And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him.
¹⁶ And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
¹⁷ And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute.
¹⁸ And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”
¹⁹ And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”
²⁰ And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.
²¹ And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.
²² And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
²³ And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
²⁵ And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
²⁶ And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.”
²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
²⁸ And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
²⁹ And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
³⁰ They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know,
³¹ for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”
³² But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
³³ And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”
³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
³⁵ And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
³⁶ And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them,
³⁷ “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
³⁸ John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”
³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
⁴⁰ For the one who is not against us is for us.
⁴¹ For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
⁴² “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
⁴³ And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.
⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,
⁴⁸ ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire.
⁵⁰ Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (ESV)