December 21, 2022

Judges 5:16–31

¹⁶Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. ¹⁷Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves. ¹⁸The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the heights of the field.

¹⁹"Kings came, they fought; the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they carried off no silver, no plunder. ²⁰From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. ²¹The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong! ²²Then thundered the horses' hoofs-- galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds. ²³'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.'

²⁴"Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. ²⁵He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. ²⁶Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. ²⁷At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell--dead.

²⁸"Through the window peered Sisera's mother; behind the lattice she cried out, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?' ²⁹The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself, ³⁰'Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a girl or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck-- all this as plunder?'

³¹"So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength."

Then the land had peace forty years.

 

 

Psalm 142

¹A [maskil] of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer. I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy. ²I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble. ³When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me. ⁴Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. ⁵I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living." ⁶Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. ⁷Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.

 

 

Acts 12:1–17

¹It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. ²He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. ³When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. ⁴After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

⁶The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. ⁷Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists.

⁸Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. ⁹Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating."

¹²When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. ¹³Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. ¹⁴When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"

¹⁵"You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."

¹⁶But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the brothers about this," he said, and then he left for another place.