Night Watch Devotion

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

To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
¹ For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
² He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
³ How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
⁴ They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah
⁵ For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
⁶ He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
⁷ On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
⁸ Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah
⁹ Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.
¹⁰ Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
¹¹ Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God,
¹² and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work. (ESV)

¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
³ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
⁹ Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—
¹⁰ no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
¹² On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
¹⁴ “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.
¹⁵ When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.
¹ It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
² to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,
³ to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.
⁴ For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
⁵ How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!
⁶ The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:
⁷ that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;
⁸ but you, O LORD, are on high forever.
⁹ For behold, your enemies, O LORD, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered.
¹⁰ But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil.
¹¹ My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.
¹² The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³ They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,
¹⁵ to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

¹ The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
² Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.
³ The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring.
⁴ Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!
⁵ Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore. (ESV)

¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (ESV)

¹ The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised.
² And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
³ Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.
⁴ And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
⁵ Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
⁶ And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.”
⁷ And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
⁸ And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
⁹ But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.
¹⁰ So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.”
¹¹ And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.
¹² But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
¹³ And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.”
¹⁴ So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
¹⁵ When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes.
¹⁶ Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.
¹⁷ And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
¹⁸ Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
²⁰ And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.
²¹ He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. (ESV)

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. (ESV)

¹ On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel,
² and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the LORD.
³ And say to the people of Israel, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering,
⁴ and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the LORD will appear to you.’”
⁵ And they brought what Moses commanded in front of the tent of meeting, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD.
⁶ And Moses said, “This is the thing that the LORD commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.”
⁷ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and bring the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the LORD has commanded.”
⁸ So Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself.
⁹ And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar.
¹⁰ But the fat and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the LORD commanded Moses.
¹¹ The flesh and the skin he burned up with fire outside the camp.
¹² Then he killed the burnt offering, and Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar.
¹³ And they handed the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head, and he burned them on the altar.
¹⁴ And he washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.
¹⁵ Then he presented the people’s offering and took the goat of the sin offering that was for the people and killed it and offered it as a sin offering, like the first one.
¹⁶ And he presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the rule.
¹⁷ And he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning.
¹⁸ Then he killed the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings for the people. And Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar.
¹⁹ But the fat pieces of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail and that which covers the entrails and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver—
²⁰ they put the fat pieces on the breasts, and he burned the fat pieces on the altar,
²¹ but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the LORD, as Moses commanded.
²² Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings.
²³ And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.
²⁴ And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

¹ Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them.
² And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace.
⁴ And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.”
⁵ So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said.
⁶ And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, “Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the LORD has kindled.
⁷ And do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.
⁸ And the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying,
⁹ “Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
¹⁰ You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,
¹¹ and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the LORD has spoken to them by Moses.”
¹² Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his surviving sons: “Take the grain offering that is left of the LORD’s food offerings, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy.
¹³ You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, from the LORD’s food offerings, for so I am commanded.
¹⁴ But the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they are given as your due and your sons’ due from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of Israel.
¹⁵ The thigh that is contributed and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the food offerings of the fat pieces to wave for a wave offering before the LORD, and it shall be yours and your sons’ with you as a due forever, as the LORD has commanded.”
¹⁶ Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying,
¹⁷ “Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD?
¹⁸ Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.”
¹⁹ And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the LORD have approved?”
²⁰ And when Moses heard that, he approved. (ESV)

²⁸ and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?”
²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
³⁰ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”
³¹ And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
³² But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet.
³³ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

¹ And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country.
² When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
³ And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
⁴ Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.
⁵ And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.
⁶ He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
⁷ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
⁸ And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
⁹ What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.
¹⁰ Have you not read this Scripture: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
¹¹ this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
¹² And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away. (ESV)

A Psalm of David.
¹ Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
² Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
³ The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters.
⁴ The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
⁵ The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
⁷ The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
⁸ The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
¹⁰ The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.
¹¹ May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace! (ESV)

¹ Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover.
² And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.
³ Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.
⁴ He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.
⁵ And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.
⁶ So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.
⁷ Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.
⁸ So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.”
⁹ They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?”
¹⁰ He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters
¹¹ and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’
¹² And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.”
¹³ And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
¹⁴ And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.
¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
¹⁶ For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
¹⁷ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.
¹⁸ For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
¹⁹ And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
²⁰ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
²¹ But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.
²² For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”
²³ And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.
²⁴ A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.
²⁵ And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors.
²⁶ But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.
²⁷ For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
²⁸ “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials,
²⁹ and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom,
³⁰ that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
³¹ “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
³² but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
³³ Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”
³⁴ Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”
³⁵ And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.”
³⁶ He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.
³⁷ For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.”
³⁸ And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.”
³⁹ And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.
⁴⁰ And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
⁴¹ And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,
⁴² saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
⁴³ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.
⁴⁴ And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
⁴⁵ And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow,
⁴⁶ and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
⁴⁷ While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him,
⁴⁸ but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
⁴⁹ And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”
⁵⁰ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
⁵¹ But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.
⁵² Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?
⁵³ When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
⁵⁴ Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance.
⁵⁵ And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them.
⁵⁶ Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.”
⁵⁷ But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.”
⁵⁸ And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.”
⁵⁹ And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.”
⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
⁶¹ And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.”
⁶² And he went out and wept bitterly.
⁶³ Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him.
⁶⁴ They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?”
⁶⁵ And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.
⁶⁶ When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said,
⁶⁷ “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe,
⁶⁸ and if I ask you, you will not answer.
⁶⁹ But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”
⁷⁰ So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.”
⁷¹ Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.”

¹ Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate.
² And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”
³ And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”
⁴ Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”
⁵ But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”
⁶ When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.
⁷ And when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.
⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him.
⁹ So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer.
¹⁰ The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him.
¹¹ And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate.
¹² And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.
¹³ Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,
¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him.
¹⁵ Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him.
¹⁶ I will therefore punish and release him.”
¹⁸ But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”—
¹⁹ a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder.
²⁰ Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus,
²¹ but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!”
²² A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.”
²³ But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed.
²⁴ So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.
²⁵ He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.
²⁶ And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
²⁷ And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.
²⁸ But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
²⁹ For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’
³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’
³¹ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
³² Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.
³³ And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
³⁴ And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
³⁵ And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
³⁶ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine
³⁷ and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
³⁸ There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
⁴² And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
⁴³ And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
⁴⁴ It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,
⁴⁵ while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
⁴⁶ Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”
⁴⁸ And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.
⁴⁹ And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
⁵⁰ Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,
⁵¹ who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God.
⁵² This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
⁵³ Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.
⁵⁴ It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.
⁵⁵ The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.
⁵⁶ Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

¹ But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
³ but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
⁵ And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
⁶ He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
⁷ that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
⁸ And they remembered his words,
⁹ and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
¹⁰ Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,
¹¹ but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
¹² But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
¹³ That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,
¹⁴ and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
¹⁶ But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
¹⁷ And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.
¹⁸ Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
¹⁹ And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
²⁰ and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.
²¹ But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
²² Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,
²³ and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.
²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”
²⁵ And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
²⁸ So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther,
²⁹ but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.
³⁰ When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
³¹ And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.
³² They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
³³ And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
³⁴ saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”
³⁵ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
³⁶ As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”
³⁷ But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.
³⁸ And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
³⁹ See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
⁴⁰ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
⁴¹ And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
⁴³ and he took it and ate before them.
⁴⁴ Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
⁴⁶ and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
⁴⁷ and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things.
⁴⁹ And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
⁵⁰ And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.
⁵¹ While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
⁵² And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
⁵³ and were continually in the temple blessing God.

¹ In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,
² until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
³ He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
⁴ And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;
⁵ for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
¹⁰ And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,
¹¹ and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
¹³ And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James.
¹⁴ All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
¹⁵ In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said,
¹⁶ “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
¹⁷ For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”
¹⁸ (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.
¹⁹ And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
²⁰ “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “‘Let another take his office.’
²¹ So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
²² beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
²³ And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias.
²⁴ And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen
²⁵ to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
²⁶ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. (ESV)