Judges 4:4-23
At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you, 'Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.'" Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go." And she said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him. Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites, that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh. When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. Then Deborah said to Barak, "Up! For this is the day on which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. The LORD is indeed going out before you." So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. And the LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left. Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear." So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. Then he said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty." So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. He said to her, "Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say, 'No.'" But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground-- he was lying fast asleep from weariness-- and he died. Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking." So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple. So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites.
Acts 1:15-26
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, "Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus-- for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry." (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. This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) "For it is written in the book of Psalms, 'Let his homestead become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it' and 'Let another take his position of overseer.' So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us-- one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection." So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
Matthew 27:55-66
Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise again.' Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, 'He has been raised from the dead,' and the last deception would be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can." So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.
Morning Psalms
Psalm 70 Deus, in adjutorium
1 Be pleased, O God, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me.
2 Let those who seek my life be ashamed and altogether dismayed; let those who take pleasure in my misfortune draw back and be disgraced.
3 Let those who say to me "Aha!" and gloat over me turn back, because they are ashamed.
4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let those who love your salvation say for ever, "Great is the LORD!"
5 But as for me, I am poor and needy; come to me speedily, O God.
6 You are my helper and my deliverer; O LORD, do not tarry.
Psalm 71 In te, Domine, speravi
1 In you, O LORD, have I taken refuge; let me never be ashamed.
2 In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free; incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; you are my crag and my stronghold.
4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor.
5 For you are my hope, O LORD God, my confidence since I was young.
6 I have been sustained by you ever since I was born; from my mother's womb you have been my strength; my praise shall be always of you.
7 I have become a portent to many; but you are my refuge and my strength.
8 Let my mouth be full of your praise and your glory all the day long.
9 Do not cast me off in my old age; forsake me not when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies are talking against me, and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together.
11 They say, "God has forsaken him; go after him and seize him; because there is none who will save."
12 O God, be not far from me; come quickly to help me, O my God.
13 Let those who set themselves against me be put to shame and be disgraced; let those who seek to do me evil be covered with scorn and reproach.
14 But I shall always wait in patience, and shall praise you more and more.
15 My mouth shall recount your mighty acts and saving deeds all day long; though I cannot know the number of them.
16 I will begin with the mighty works of the Lord GOD; I will recall your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O God, you have taught me since I was young, and to this day I tell of your wonderful works.
18 And now that I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me, till I make known your strength to this generation and your power to all who are to come.
19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens; you have done great things; who is like you, O God?
20 You have showed me great troubles and adversities, but you will restore my life and bring me up again from the deep places of the earth.
21 You strengthen me more and more; you enfold and comfort me,
22 Therefore I will praise you upon the lyre for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing to you with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will sing with joy when I play to you, and so will my soul, which you have redeemed.
24 My tongue will proclaim your righteousness all day long, for they are ashamed and disgraced who sought to do me harm.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 74 Ut quid, Deus?
1 O God, why have you utterly cast us off? why is your wrath so hot against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your congregation that you purchased long ago, the tribe you redeemed to be your inheritance, and Mount Zion where you dwell.
3 Turn your steps toward the endless ruins; the enemy has laid waste everything in your sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries roared in your holy place; they set up their banners as tokens of victory.
5 They were like men coming up with axes to a grove of trees; they broke down all your carved work with hatchets and hammers.
6 They set fire to your holy place; they defiled the dwelling-place of your Name and razed it to the ground.
7 They said to themselves, "Let us destroy them altogether." They burned down all the meeting-places of God in the land.
8 There are no signs for us to see; there is no prophet left; there is not one among us who knows how long.
9 How long, O God, will the adversary scoff? will the enemy blaspheme your Name for ever?
10 Why do you draw back your hand? why is your right hand hidden in your bosom?
11 Yet God is my King from ancient times, victorious in the midst of the earth.
12 You divided the sea by your might and shattered the heads of the dragons upon the waters;
13 You crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him to the people of the desert for food.
14 You split open spring and torrent; you dried up ever-flowing rivers.
15 Yours is the day, yours also the night; you established the moon and the sun.
16 You fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.
17 Remember, O LORD, how the enemy scoffed, how a foolish people despised your Name.
18 Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts; never forget the lives of your poor.
19 Look upon your covenant; the dark places of the earth are haunts of violence.
20 Let not the oppressed turn away ashamed; let the poor and needy praise your Name.
21 Arise, O God, maintain your cause; remember how fools revile you all day long.
22 Forget not the clamor of your adversaries, the unending tumult of those who rise up against you.
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