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)

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.
¹ Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
² Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
³ because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
⁴ My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
⁵ Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.
⁶ And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest;
⁷ yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
⁸ I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.”
⁹ Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰ Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it;
¹¹ ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.
¹² For it is not an enemy who taunts me— then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me— then I could hide from him.
¹³ But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.
¹⁴ We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng.
¹⁵ Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
¹⁶ But I call to God, and the LORD will save me.
¹⁷ Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.
¹⁹ God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, Selah because they do not change and do not fear God.
²⁰ My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant.
²¹ His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
²² Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
²³ But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you. (ESV)

To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering.
¹ Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!
² Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my life! Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt!
³ Let them turn back because of their shame who say, “Aha, Aha!”
⁴ May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!”
⁵ But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay!

¹ In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame!
² In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me!
³ Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
⁴ Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
⁵ For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
⁶ Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.
⁷ I have been as a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge.
⁸ My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day.
⁹ Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent.
¹⁰ For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together
¹¹ and say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.”
¹² O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!
¹³ May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt.
¹⁴ But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.
¹⁵ My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.
¹⁶ With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
¹⁷ O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
¹⁸ So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.
¹⁹ Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?
²⁰ You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.
²¹ You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.
²² I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
²³ My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed.
²⁴ And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt.

Of Solomon.
¹ Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son!
² May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice!
³ Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness!
⁴ May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!
⁵ May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
⁶ May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth!
⁷ In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!
⁸ May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!
⁹ May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust!
¹⁰ May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!
¹¹ May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!
¹² For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper.
¹³ He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.
¹⁴ From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.
¹⁵ Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day!
¹⁶ May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field!
¹⁷ May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!
¹⁸ Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
¹⁹ Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!
²⁰ The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. (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)

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
¹² And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
¹³ On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark,
¹⁴ they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature.
¹⁵ They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.
¹⁶ And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in.
¹⁷ The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.
¹⁸ The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters.
¹⁹ And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.
²⁰ The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.
²¹ And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind.
²² Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.
²³ He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.
²⁴ And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.
¹ But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
² The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,
³ and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated,
⁴ and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
⁵ And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
⁶ At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made
⁷ and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.
⁸ Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.
⁹ But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.
¹⁰ He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark.
¹¹ And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.
¹² Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. (ESV)

²⁰ Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat.
²¹ And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
²² And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”
²³ And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?
²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.
²⁷ But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
²⁸ “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter,
²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—
³⁰ for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
³¹ And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him.
³² And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.”
³³ And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
³⁴ And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
³⁵ For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (ESV)

¹ Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do.
² Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.
³ You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”
⁴ Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the LORD has commanded.
⁵ Take from among you a contribution to the LORD. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze;
⁶ blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats’ hair,
⁷ tanned rams’ skins, and goatskins; acacia wood,
⁸ oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense,
⁹ and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.
¹⁰ “Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the LORD has commanded:
¹¹ the tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its hooks and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases;
¹² the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil of the screen;
¹³ the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence;
¹⁴ the lampstand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light;
¹⁵ and the altar of incense, with its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle;
¹⁶ the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin and its stand;
¹⁷ the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court;
¹⁸ the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court, and their cords;
¹⁹ the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests.”
²⁰ Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
²¹ And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the LORD’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments.
²² So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the LORD.
²³ And every one who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or goatskins brought them.
²⁴ Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the LORD’s contribution. And every one who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it.
²⁵ And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.
²⁶ All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair.
²⁷ And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece,
²⁸ and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.
²⁹ All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the LORD had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the LORD.
³⁰ Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
³¹ and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship,
³² to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze,
³³ in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft.
³⁴ And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan.
³⁵ He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.

¹ “Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the LORD has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the LORD has commanded.”
² And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the LORD had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work.
³ And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning,
⁴ so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing,
⁵ and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the LORD has commanded us to do.”
⁶ So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing,
⁷ for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.
⁸ And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains. They were made of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked.
⁹ The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains were the same size.
¹⁰ He coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another.
¹¹ He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain of the first set. Likewise he made them on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set.
¹² He made fifty loops on the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set. The loops were opposite one another.
¹³ And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to the other with clasps. So the tabernacle was a single whole.
¹⁴ He also made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle. He made eleven curtains.
¹⁵ The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains were the same size.
¹⁶ He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves.
¹⁷ And he made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the other connecting curtain.
¹⁸ And he made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together that it might be a single whole.
¹⁹ And he made for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and goatskins.
²⁰ Then he made the upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood.
²¹ Ten cubits was the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each frame.
²² Each frame had two tenons for fitting together. He did this for all the frames of the tabernacle.
²³ The frames for the tabernacle he made thus: twenty frames for the south side.
²⁴ And he made forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under the next frame for its two tenons.
²⁵ For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty frames
²⁶ and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame and two bases under the next frame.
²⁷ For the rear of the tabernacle westward he made six frames.
²⁸ He made two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear.
²⁹ And they were separate beneath but joined at the top, at the first ring. He made two of them this way for the two corners.
³⁰ There were eight frames with their bases of silver: sixteen bases, under every frame two bases.
³¹ He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle,
³² and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle at the rear westward.
³³ And he made the middle bar to run from end to end halfway up the frames.
³⁴ And he overlaid the frames with gold, and made their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.
³⁵ He made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; with cherubim skillfully worked into it he made it.
³⁶ And for it he made four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four bases of silver.
³⁷ He also made a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework,
³⁸ and its five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals, and their fillets were of gold, but their five bases were of bronze. (ESV)

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. (ESV)

¹⁶ Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
¹⁷ The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses.
¹⁸ Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
¹⁹ Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.
²⁰ Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
²¹ May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
²² Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. (ESV)

¹ Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
² For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
³ We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,
⁴ but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,
⁵ beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;
⁶ by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love;
⁷ by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;
⁸ through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;
⁹ as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed;
¹⁰ as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
¹¹ We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open.
¹² You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections.
¹³ In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.
¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
¹⁵ What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
¹⁶ What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
¹⁷ Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,
¹⁸ and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

¹ Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
² Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one.
³ I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.
⁴ I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.
⁵ For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within.
⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
⁷ and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.
⁸ For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while.
⁹ As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
¹⁰ For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
¹¹ For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.
¹² So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God.
¹³ Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.
¹⁴ For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true.
¹⁵ And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling.
¹⁶ I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.

¹ We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia,
² for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
³ For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord,
⁴ begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—
⁵ and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.
⁶ Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace.
⁷ But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.
⁸ I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.
⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
¹⁰ And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it.
¹¹ So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.
¹² For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.
¹³ For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness
¹⁴ your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.
¹⁵ As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”
¹⁶ But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you.
¹⁷ For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord.
¹⁸ With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel.
¹⁹ And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will.
²⁰ We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us,
²¹ for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man.
²² And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you.
²³ As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.
²⁴ So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.

¹ Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints,
² for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them.
³ But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be.
⁴ Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident.
⁵ So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.
⁶ The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
⁷ Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
⁹ As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
¹⁰ He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
¹¹ You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
¹² For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.
¹³ By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others,
¹⁴ while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.
¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! (ESV)