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. A Psalm of David. A Song.
¹ God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him!
² As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God!
³ But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy!
⁴ Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him!
⁵ Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.
⁶ God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
⁷ O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
⁸ the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.
⁹ Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad; you restored your inheritance as it languished;
¹⁰ your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.
¹¹ The Lord gives the word; the women who announce the news are a great host:
¹² “The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!” The women at home divide the spoil—
¹³ though you men lie among the sheepfolds— the wings of a dove covered with silver, its pinions with shimmering gold.
¹⁴ When the Almighty scatters kings there, let snow fall on Zalmon.
¹⁵ O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan; O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
¹⁶ Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain, at the mount that God desired for his abode, yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?
¹⁷ The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
¹⁸ You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.
¹⁹ Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah
²⁰ Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
²¹ But God will strike the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
²² The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
²³ that you may strike your feet in their blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”
²⁴ Your procession is seen, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
²⁵ the singers in front, the musicians last, between them virgins playing tambourines:
²⁶ “Bless God in the great congregation, the LORD, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”
²⁷ There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead, the princes of Judah in their throng, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
²⁸ Summon your power, O God, the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.
²⁹ Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bear gifts to you.
³⁰ Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute; scatter the peoples who delight in war.
³¹ Nobles shall come from Egypt; Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.
³² O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, Selah
³³ to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
³⁴ Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies.
³⁵ Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God! (ESV)

¹ Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
² Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble
³ and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
⁴ Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in;
⁵ hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
⁶ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
⁷ He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in.
⁸ Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!
⁹ For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons,
¹¹ for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
¹² So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help.
¹³ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart.
¹⁵ Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!
¹⁶ For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron.
¹⁷ Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
¹⁸ they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.
¹⁹ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
²⁰ He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.
²¹ Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!
²² And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!
²³ Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters;
²⁴ they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep.
²⁵ For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.
²⁶ They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight;
²⁷ they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end.
²⁸ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
²⁹ He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
³⁰ Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.
³¹ Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!
³² Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
³³ He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,
³⁴ a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants.
³⁵ He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
³⁶ And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in;
³⁷ they sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield.
³⁸ By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish.
³⁹ When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
⁴⁰ he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
⁴¹ but he raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks.
⁴² The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth.
⁴³ Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

A Song. A Psalm of David.
¹ My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being!
² Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!
³ I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.
⁴ For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
⁵ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
⁶ That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer me!
⁷ God has promised in his holiness: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Valley of Succoth.
⁸ Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter.
⁹ Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom I cast my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
¹⁰ Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
¹¹ Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
¹² Oh grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man!
¹³ With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes. (ESV)

²³ Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (ESV)

¹ Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east.
² As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large,
³ and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.
⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.”
⁵ He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.”
⁶ He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!”
⁷ He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.”
⁸ But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”
⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
¹⁰ Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.
¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.
¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.
¹³ As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things,
¹⁴ and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.
¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”
¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.
¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.”
²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.”
²² So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast.
²³ But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her.
²⁴ (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.)
²⁵ And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”
²⁶ Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
²⁷ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”
²⁸ Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.
²⁹ (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.)
³⁰ So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years. (ESV)

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. (ESV)

¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
² “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
³ Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
⁴ Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.
⁵ “When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.
⁶ It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire.
⁷ If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is tainted; it will not be accepted,
⁸ and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from his people.
⁹ “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.
¹⁰ And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.
¹¹ “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.
¹² You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
¹³ “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
¹⁴ You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
¹⁵ “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
¹⁶ You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
¹⁷ “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.
¹⁸ You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
¹⁹ “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.
²⁰ “If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free;
²¹ but he shall bring his compensation to the LORD, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering.
²² And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the LORD for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.
²³ “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten.
²⁴ And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD.
²⁵ But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the LORD your God.
²⁶ “You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes.
²⁷ You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.
²⁸ You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD.
²⁹ “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity.
³⁰ You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
³¹ “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.
³² “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
³³ “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
³⁴ You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
³⁵ “You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity.
³⁶ You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
³⁷ And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the LORD.”

¹ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
² “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.
³ I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name.
⁴ And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death,
⁵ then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.
⁶ “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.
⁷ Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.
⁸ Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
⁹ For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.
¹⁰ “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
¹¹ If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
¹² If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them.
¹³ If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
¹⁴ If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you.
¹⁵ If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal.
¹⁶ If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
¹⁷ “If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity.
¹⁸ If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
¹⁹ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to make naked one’s relative; they shall bear their iniquity.
²⁰ If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.
²¹ If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.
²² “You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.
²³ And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them.
²⁴ But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.
²⁵ You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean.
²⁶ You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
²⁷ “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.” (ESV)

⁴³ And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
⁴⁴ Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.”
⁴⁵ And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him.
⁴⁶ And they laid hands on him and seized him.
⁴⁷ But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.
⁴⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me?
⁴⁹ Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.”
⁵⁰ And they all left him and fled.
⁵¹ And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him,
⁵² but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.
⁵³ And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.
⁵⁴ And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire.
⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none.
⁵⁶ For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.
⁵⁷ And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying,
⁵⁸ “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’”
⁵⁹ Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.
⁶⁰ And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”
⁶¹ But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
⁶² And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
⁶³ And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need?
⁶⁴ You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death.
⁶⁵ And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.
⁶⁶ And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came,
⁶⁷ and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed.
⁶⁹ And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.”
⁷⁰ But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”
⁷¹ But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.”
⁷² And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept. (ESV)

³⁰ People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
³¹ but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house.
³² He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.
³³ He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
³⁴ For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
³⁵ He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts. (ESV)

¹ And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.”
² And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
³ Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?”
⁴ Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God’s high priest?”
⁵ And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
⁶ Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”
⁷ And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
⁸ For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
⁹ Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?”
¹⁰ And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks.
¹¹ The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”
¹² When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
¹³ There were more than forty who made this conspiracy.
¹⁴ They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul.
¹⁵ Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”
¹⁶ Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.
¹⁷ Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.”
¹⁸ So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.”
¹⁹ The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?”
²⁰ And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him.
²¹ But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.”
²² So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”
²³ Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.
²⁴ Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”
²⁵ And he wrote a letter to this effect:
²⁶ “Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings.
²⁷ This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen.
²⁸ And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council.
²⁹ I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment.
³⁰ And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”
³¹ So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.
³² And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him.
³³ When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him.
³⁴ On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia,
³⁵ he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod’s praetorium.

¹ And after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul.
² And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: “Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation,
³ in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude.
⁴ But, to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly.
⁵ For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
⁶ He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.
⁸ By examining him yourself you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.”
⁹ The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.
¹⁰ And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied: “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense.
¹¹ You can verify that it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem,
¹² and they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city.
¹³ Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me.
¹⁴ But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,
¹⁵ having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
¹⁶ So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.
¹⁷ Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings.
¹⁸ While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia—
¹⁹ they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, should they have anything against me.
²⁰ Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council,
²¹ other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’”
²² But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.”
²³ Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.
²⁴ After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.
²⁵ And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.”
²⁶ At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him.
²⁷ When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

¹ Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.
² And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him,
³ asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem—because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way.
⁴ Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly.
⁵ “So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”
⁶ After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.
⁷ When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove.
⁸ Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.”
⁹ But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?”
¹⁰ But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well.
¹¹ If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.”
¹² Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”
¹³ Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus.
¹⁴ And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man left prisoner by Felix,
¹⁵ and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.
¹⁶ I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him.
¹⁷ So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought.
¹⁸ When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed.
¹⁹ Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.
²⁰ Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them.
²¹ But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.”
²² Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.”
²³ So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.
²⁴ And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.
²⁵ But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him.
²⁶ But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write.
²⁷ For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.”

¹ So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:
² “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews,
³ especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
⁴ “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews.
⁵ They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee.
⁶ And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers,
⁷ to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king!
⁸ Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?
⁹ “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
¹⁰ And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.
¹¹ And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
¹² “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.
¹³ At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.
¹⁴ And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
¹⁶ But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,
¹⁷ delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you
¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
¹⁹ “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
²⁰ but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
²¹ For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
²² To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass:
²³ that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”
²⁴ And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.”
²⁵ But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.
²⁶ For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.
²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”
²⁸ And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”
²⁹ And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”
³⁰ Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them.
³¹ And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.”
³² And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” (ESV)