Read Through the Bible in a Year / September

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / September​

September 20.
Nehemiah Chapters1-5


CHAPTER 1

THE WORDS or story of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: Now in the month of Chislev in the twentieth year [of the Persian king], as I was in the castle of Shushan,
2 Hanani, one of my kinsmen, came with certain men from Judah, and I asked them about the surviving Jews who had escaped exile, and about Jerusalem.
3 And they said to me, The remnant there in the province who escaped exile are in great trouble and reproach; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its [fortified] gates are destroyed by fire.

4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept and mourned for days and fasted and prayed [constantly] before the God of heaven,
5 And I said, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, Who keeps covenant, loving-kindness, and mercy for those who love Him and keep His commandments,
6 Let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to listen to the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You day and night for the Israelites, Your servants, confessing the sins of the Israelites which we have sinned against You. Yes, I and my father’s house have sinned.

7 We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, statutes, and ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. [Deut. 6:1-9.]
8 Remember [earnestly] what You commanded Your servant Moses: If you transgress and are unfaithful, I will scatter you abroad among the nations; [Lev. 26:33.]

9 But if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the farthest part of the heavens [the expanse of outer space], yet will I gather them from there and will bring them to the place in which I have chosen to set My Name. [Deut. 30:1–5.]

10 Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.
11 O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere and fear Your name (Your nature and attributes); and prosper, I pray You, Your servant this day and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was cupbearer to the king.


CHAPTER 2

IN THE month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad before in his presence.
2 So the king said to me, Why do you look sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart. Then I was very much afraid.

3 And said to the king, Let the king live forever! Why should I not be sad faced when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchers, lies waste, and its [fortified] gates are consumed by fire?
4 The king said to me, For what do you ask? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

5 And I said to [him], If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you will send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ sepulchers, that I may rebuild it.
6 The king, beside whom the queen was sitting, asked me, How long will your journey take, and when will you return? So it pleased [him] to send me; and I set him a time.

7 Also I said to the king, If it pleases the king, let letters be given me for the governors beyond the [Euphrates] River, that they may let me pass through to Judah,
8 And a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest or park, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple and for the city wall and for the house that I shall occupy. And the king granted what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.

9 Then I came to the governors beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard this, it distressed them exceedingly that a man had come to inquire for and require the good and prosperity of the Israelites.
11 So I came to Jerusalem and had been there three days.

12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. No beast was with me except the one I rode.

13 I went out by night by the Valley Gate toward the Dragon’s Well and to the Dung Gate and inspected the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.
14 I passed over to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
15 So [gradually] I went up by the brook [Kidron] in the night and inspected the wall; then I turned back and entered [the city] by the Valley Gate, and so returned.

16 And the magistrates knew not where I went or what I did; nor had I yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who did the work.
17 Then I said to them, You see the bad situation we are in—how Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a disgrace.
18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was upon me for good, and also the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise up and build! So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed us to scorn and despised us and said, What is this thing you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?
20 I answered them, The God of heaven will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or memorial in Jerusalem.


CHAPTER 3

THEN ELIASHIB the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set up its doors; they consecrated it even to the Tower of Hammeah or the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel.
2 And next to him [Eliashib] the men of Jericho built. Next to [them] Zaccur son of Imri built.

3 And the Fish Gate the sons of Hassenaah built; they laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
4 And next to them Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired. Next to them Meshullam son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, repaired. Next to them Zadok son of Baana repaired.

5 Next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles or lords did not put their necks to the work of their Lord.
6 Moreover, the Old Gate Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah repaired. They laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

7 Next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, [up] to the seat or residence of the governor [west of] the River [Euphrates, there in Jerusalem].
8 Next to them repaired Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths. Next to him repaired Hananiah, one of the perfumers, and they abandoned [fortification of] Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall [omitting that part of the ancient city and reducing the area].

9 Next to them repaired Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem.
10 Next to them repaired Jedaiah son of Harumaph, opposite his own house. And next to him repaired Hattush son of Hashabneiah.

11 Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-moab repaired another portion and the Tower of the Furnaces.
12 Next to [them] repaired Shallum son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.
13 The Valley Gate [the main entrance in the west wall, the Jaffa Gate] was repaired by Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah. They built it and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.
14 The Dung Gate was repaired by Malchijah son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

15 The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallum son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt and covered it and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and the wall of the Pool of Shelah (Siloam), by the King’s Garden, as far as the stairs that go down [the eastern slope] from the [portion of Jerusalem known as] the City of David.
16 After him Nehemiah [III] son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired [the wall] to a point opposite the sepulchers of David, and to the artificial pool and the house of the guards.

17 After him the Levites: Rehum son of Bani. Next to him repaired Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah.
18 After him repaired their brethren under Bavvai son of Henadad, ruler of [the other] half of the district of Keilah.
19 Next to him repaired Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, another district over opposite the ascent to the armory at the angle [in the wall].

20 After him Baruch son of Zabbai (Zaccai) earnestly repaired another portion [toward the hill] from the angular turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

21 After him Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired from the door of Eliashib’s house to the end of his house.
22 After him the priests, men of the plain, repaired.
23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them repaired Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah beside his own house.

24 After him Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section [of the wall], from the house of Azariah to the angular turn of the wall and to the corner.

25 Palal son of Uzai repaired opposite the angular turn of the wall and the tower which stands out from the upper house of the king by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah son of Parosh
26 And the servants of the priests dwelling on Ophel [the hill south of the temple] repaired to opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower.

27 After them the Tekoites repaired another portion opposite the great projecting tower to the wall of Ophel.
28 Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, everyone opposite his own house.
29 After them repaired Zadok son of Immer opposite his house. Then Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, keeper of the East Gate, repaired.

30 After him Hananiah son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. After him Meshullam son of Berechiah repaired opposite his chamber.
31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate, and to the ascent and upper room of the corner.

32 And from the ascent and upper room of the corner to the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and merchants repaired.

CHAPTER 4

BUT WHEN Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and in a great rage, and he ridiculed the Jews.
2 And he said before his brethren and the army of Samaria, What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things [at will and by themselves]? Will they [try to bribe their God] with sacrifices? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned?

3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him, and he said, What they build—if a fox climbs upon it, he will break down their stone wall.

4 [And Nehemiah prayed] Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their taunts upon their own heads, and give them for a prey in a land of their captivity.
5 Cover not their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have vexed [with alarm] the builders and provoked You.

6 So we built the wall, and all [of it] was joined together to half its height, for the people had a heart and mind to work.
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were going up and that the breaches were being closed, they were very angry.

8 And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem, to injure and cause confusion and failure in it.
9 But because of them we made our prayer to our God and set a watch against them day and night.
10 And [the leaders of] Judah said, The strength of the burden bearers is weakening, and there is much rubbish; we are not able to work on the wall.

11 And our enemies said, They will not know or see till we come into their midst and kill them and stop the work.
12 And when the Jews who lived near them came, they said to us ten times, You must return [to guard our little villages]; from all places where they dwell they will be upon us.

13 So I set [armed men] behind the wall in places where it was least protected; I even thus used the people as families with their swords, spears, and bows.

14 I looked [them over] and rose up and said to the nobles and officials and the other people, Do not be afraid of the enemy; [earnestly] remember the Lord and imprint Him [on your minds], great and terrible, and [take from Him courage to] fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.

15 And when our enemies heard that their plot was known to us and that God had frustrated their purpose, we all returned to the wall, everyone to his work.

16 And from that time forth, half of my servants worked at the task, and the other half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail; and the leaders stood behind all the house of Judah.

17 Those who built the wall and those who bore burdens loaded themselves so that everyone worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other hand,
18 And every builder had his sword girded by his side, and so worked. And he who sounded the trumpet was at my side.
19 And I said to the nobles and officials and the rest of the people, The work is great and scattered, and we are separated on the wall, one far from another.

20 In whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.
21 So we labored at the work while half of them held the spears from dawn until the stars came out.
22 At that time also I said to the people, Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that at night they may be a guard to us and a laborer during the day.

23 So none of us—I, my kinsmen, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me—took off our clothes; each kept his weapon [in his hand for days].


CHAPTER 5

NOW THERE arose a great cry of the [poor] people and of their wives [driven to borrowing] against their Jewish brethren [the few who could afford to lend].
2 For some said, We, our sons and daughters, are many; therefore allow us to take grain, that we may eat and live! If we are not given grain, let us take it!

3 Also some said, We are mortgaging our lands, vineyards, and houses to buy grain because of the scarcity.
4 Others said, We have borrowed money on our fields and vineyards to pay the [Persian] king’s heavy tax.
5 Although our flesh is the same as that of our brethren and our children are as theirs, yet we are forced to sell our children as slaves; some of our daughters have already been thus sold, and we are powerless to redeem them, for others have our lands and vineyards.

6 I [Nehemiah] was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.
7 I thought it over and then rebuked the nobles and officials. I told them, You are exacting interest from your own kinsmen. And I held a great assembly against them.

8 I said to them, We, according to our ability, have bought back our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations; but will you even sell your brethren, that they may be sold to us? Then they were silent and found not a word to say.
9 Also I said, What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts and reproach of the nations, our enemies?

10 I, my brethren, and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us stop this forbidden interest! [Exod. 22:25.]
11 Return this very day to them their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, and also a hundredth of all the money, grain, new wine, and oil that you have exacted from them.

12 Then they said, We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say. Then I called the priests and took an oath of the lenders that they would do according to this promise.
13 I shook out my lap and said, So may God shake out every man from his house and from [the exercise and fruits of] his labor who does not keep this promise! So may he be shaken out and emptied. And all the assembly said, Amen, and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise.

14 Also, in the twelve years after I was appointed to be their governor in Judah, from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, neither I nor my kin ate the food allowed to [me] the governor.
15 But the former governors lived at the expense of the people and took from them food and wine, besides forty shekels of silver [a large monthly official salary]; yes, even their servants assumed authority over the people. But I did not so because of my [reverent] fear of God.

16 I also held fast to the work on this wall; and we bought no land. And all my servants were gathered there for the work.
17 And there were at my table 150 Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations about us.
18 Now these were prepared for each day: one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days a store of all sorts of wine. Yet for all this, I did not demand [my rights] the food allowed me as governor, for the [tribute] bondage was heavy upon this people.

19 O my God, [earnestly] remember me for good for all I have done for this people. [Heb. 6:10.]

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / September​

September 21.
Nehemiah Chapters 6-7

CHAPTER 6

NOW WHEN Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates,
2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they intended to do me harm.

3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave to come down to you?

4 They sent to me four times this way, and I answered them as before.
5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me again the fifth time with an open letter.

6 In it was written: It is reported among the neighboring nations, and Gashmu says it, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore you are building the wall, that you may be their king, according to the report.
7 Also you have set up prophets to announce concerning you in Jerusalem, There is a king in Judah. And now this will be reported to the [Persian] king. So, come now and let us take counsel together.

8 I replied to him, No such things as you say have been done; you are inventing them out of your own heart and mind.
9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, Their hands will be so weak that the work will not be done. But now strengthen my hands!

10 I went into the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut up. He said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you—at night they are coming to kill you.

11 But I said, Should such a man as I flee? And what man such as I could go into the temple [where only the priests are allowed to go] and yet live? I will not go in.
12 And behold, I saw that God had not sent him, but he made this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

13 He was hired that I should be made afraid and do as he said and sin, that they might have matter for an evil report with which to taunt and reproach me.

14 My God, think on Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have put me in fear.

15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.
16 When all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us feared and fell far in their own esteem, for they saw that this work was done by our God.

17 Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.
18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.
19 Also they spoke of [Tobiah’s] good deeds before me and told him what I said. And Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.


CHAPTER 7

NOW WHEN the wall was built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites had been appointed,
2 I gave my brother Hanani, with Hananiah the ruler of the castle, charge over Jerusalem, for Hananiah was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many.

3 I said to them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while the watchmen are still on guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from the people of Jerusalem, each to his watch [on the wall] and each opposite his own house.

4 Now the city was wide and large, but the people in it were few, and their houses were not yet built.
5 And my God put it into my mind and heart to assemble the nobles, the officers, and the people, that they might be counted by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of those who came [from Babylon] at the first, and found written in it:

6 These are the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away; they returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his town,

7 Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah [not the author], Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The men of Israel numbered:
8 The sons of Parosh, 2,172.
9 The sons of Shephatiah, 372.
10 The sons of Arah, 652.
11 The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818.
12 The sons of Elam, 1,254.
13 The sons of Zattu, 845.
14 The sons of Zaccai, 760.
15 The sons of Binnui, 648.
16 The sons of Bebai, 628.
17 The sons of Azgad, 2,322.
18 The sons of Adonikam, 667.
19 The sons of Bigvai, 2,067.
20 The sons of Adin, 655.
21 The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98.
22 The sons of Hashum, 328.
23 The sons of Bezai, 324.
24 The sons of Hariph, 112.
25 The sons of Gibeon, 95.
26 The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188.
27 The men of Anathoth, 128.
28 The men of Beth-azmaveth, 42.
29 The men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743.
30 The men of Ramah and Geba, 621.
31 The men of Michmas, 122.
32 The men of Bethel and Ai, 123.
33 The men of the other Nebo, 52.
34 The sons of the other Elam, 1,254.
35 The sons of Harim, 320.
36 The sons of Jericho, 345.
37 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721.
38 The sons of Senaah, 3,930.
39 The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, 973.
40 The sons of Immer, 1,052.
41 The sons of Pashhur, 1,247.
42 The sons of Harim, 1,017.
43 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the sons of Hodevah, 74.
44 The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148.
45 The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, of Ater, of Talmon, of Akkub, of Hatita, and of Shobai, 138.
46 The Nethinim [temple servants]: the sons of Ziha, of Hasupha, of Tabbaoth,
47 Of Keros, of Sia, of Padon,
48 Of Lebana, of Hagaba, of Shalmai,
49 Of Hanan, of Giddel, of Gahar,
50 Of Reaiah, of Rezin, of Nekoda,
51 Of Gazzam, of Uzza, of Paseah,
52 Of Besai, of Meunim, of Nephushesim,
53 Of Bakbuk, of Hakupha, of Harhur,
54 Of Bazlith, of Mehida, of Harsha,
55 Of Barkos, of Sisera, of Temah,
56 Of Neziah, of Hatipha.
57 The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, of Sophereth, of Perida,
58 Of Jaala, of Darkon, of Giddel,
59 Of Shephatiah, of Hattil, of Pochereth-hazzebaim, of Amon.
60 All the Nethinim [temple servants] and the sons of Solomon’s servants, 392.
61 And these were they who went up also from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they [had no birth records and] could not prove their father’s house nor their descent, whether they were of Israel:
62 The sons of Delaiah, of Tobiah, of Nekoda, 642.
63 Of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, of Hakkoz, and of Barzillai, who [was so named because he] married one of the daughters of the [noted] Gileadite Barzillai and was called by their name.
64 These sought their registration among those recorded in the genealogies, but it was not found; so they were excluded from the priesthood as [ceremonially] unclean.
65 The governor told them that they should refrain from eating any of the most holy food until a priest with Urim and Thummim should arise [to determine the will of God in the matter].
66 The congregation all together was 42,360,
67 Besides their manservants and their maidservants, of whom there were 7,337; and they had 245 singers, men and women.
68 Their horses were 736; their mules, 245;
69 Their camels, 435; their donkeys, 6,720.
70 And some of the heads of fathers’ houses gave to the work. The Tirshatha or governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 basins, 530 priests’ garments.
71 Some of the heads of fathers’ houses gave to the treasury for the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver.
72 What the rest of the people gave was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests’ garments.
73 So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the Nethinim [the temple servants], along with all Israel, dwelt in their towns, and were in them when the seventh month came.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / September​

September 22.
Nehemiah Chapters 8–10

CHAPTER 8

THEN ALL the people gathered together as one man in the broad place before the Water Gate; and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel.
2 And Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of both men and women and all who could hear with understanding, on the first of the seventh month.

3 He read from it, facing the broad place before the Water Gate, from early morning until noon, in the presence of the men and women and those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

4 Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden pulpit which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

5 Ezra opened the book in sight of all the people, for he was standing above them; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.
6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, lifting up their hands; and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with faces to the ground.

7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah—the Levites—helped the people to understand the Law, and the people [remained] in their place.
8 So they read from the Book of the Law of God distinctly, faithfully amplifying and giving the sense so that [the people] understood the reading.

9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all of them, This day is holy to the Lord your God; mourn not nor weep. For all the people wept when they heard the words of the Law.

10 Then [Ezra] told them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold.

11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be still, for the day is holy. And do not be grieved and sad.
12 And all the people went their way to eat, drink, send portions, and make great rejoicing, for they had understood the words that were declared to them.

13 On the second day, all the heads of fathers’ houses, with the priests and Levites, gathered to Ezra the scribe to study and understand the words of divine instruction.
14 And they found written in the law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month.

15 And that they should publish and proclaim in all their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written. [Lev. 23:39, 40.]

16 So the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each on the roof of his house and in their courts and the courts of God’s house and in the squares of the Water Gate and the Gate of Ephraim.

17 All the assembly of returned exiles made booths and dwelt in them; for since the days of Jeshua (Joshua) son of Nun up to that day, the Israelites had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing.

18 Also day by day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast for seven days; the eighth day was a [closing] solemn assembly, according to the ordinance.


CHAPTER 9

NOW ON the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Israelites were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth and with earth upon their heads.
2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

3 And they stood in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day, and for another fourth of it they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.
4 On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

5 Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be Your glorious name which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6 [And Ezra said], You are the Lord, You alone; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and You preserve them all, and the hosts of heaven worship You.

7 You are the Lord, the God Who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees and gave him the name Abraham.
8 You found his heart faithful before You, and You made the covenant with him to give his descendants the land of the Canaanite, Hittite, Amorite, Perizzite, Jebusite, and Girgashite. And You have fulfilled Your promise, for You are just and righteous.
9 You saw our fathers’ affliction in Egypt, and You heard their cry at the Red Sea.

10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for You knew that they dealt insolently against the Israelites. And You got for Yourself a name, as it is today.
11 You divided the sea before them, so that they went through its midst on dry land; their persecutors You threw into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters.

12 Moreover, by a pillar of cloud You led them by day, and by a pillar of fire by night to light the way they should go.
13 You came down also upon Mount Sinai and spoke with them from Heaven and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments.

14 And You made known to them Your holy Sabbath and gave them commandments, statutes, and a law through Moses Your servant.

15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst; and You told them to go in and possess the land You had sworn to give them. [John 6:31-34.]

16 But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks, and did not heed Your commandments.
17 They refused to obey, nor were they mindful of Your wonders and miracles which You did among them; but they stiffened their necks and in their rebellion appointed a captain, that they might return to their bondage [in Egypt]. But You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great steadfast love; and You did not forsake them.
18 Even when they had made for themselves a molten calf and said, This is your god, who brought you out of Egypt, and had committed great and contemptible blasphemies,
19 You in Your great mercy forsook them not in the wilderness; the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night to light the way they should go.

20 You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, and withheld not Your manna from them, and gave water for their thirst.
21 Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.

22 Also You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. So they possessed the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan.
23 Their children You also multiplied as the stars of heaven and brought them into the land which You told their fathers they should go in and possess.

24 So the descendants went in and possessed the land; and You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would.

25 And they captured fortified cities and a rich land and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns hewn out, vineyards, olive orchards, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in Your great goodness.

26 Yet they were disobedient and rebelled against You and cast Your law behind their back and killed Your prophets who accused and warned them to turn to You again; and they committed great and contemptible blasphemies.
27 Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, who distressed them. In the time of their suffering when they cried to You, You heard them from heaven, and according to Your abundant mercy You gave them deliverers, who saved them from their enemies.

28 But after they had rest, they did evil again before You; therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to You, You heard them from heaven, and many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
29 And reproved and warned them, that You might bring them again to Your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not heed Your commandments, but sinned against Your ordinances, which by keeping, a man shall live. And they turned a stubborn shoulder, stiffened their neck, and would not listen.

30 Yet You bore with them many years more and reproved and warned them by Your Spirit through Your prophets; still they would not listen. Therefore You gave them into the power of the peoples of the lands.

31 Yet in Your great mercies You did not utterly consume them or forsake them, for You are a gracious and merciful God.
32 Now therefore, our God, the great, mighty, and terrible God, Who keeps covenant and mercy and loving-kindness, let not all the trouble and hardship seem little to You—the hardship that has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and on all Your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.

33 However, You are just in all that has come upon us; for You have dealt faithfully, but we have done wickedly;
34 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your law or hearkened to Your commandments and Your warnings and reproofs which You gave them.

35 They did not serve You in their kingdom, and in Your great goodness that You gave them and in the large and rich land You set before them, nor did they turn from their wicked works.
36 Behold, we are slaves this day, and as for the land that You gave to our fathers to eat the fruit and the good of it, behold, we are slaves in it.

37 And its rich yield goes to the kings whom You have set over us because of our sins; they have power also over our bodies and over our livestock at their pleasure. And we are in great distress.
38 Because of all this, we make a firm and sure written covenant, and our princes, Levites, and priests set their seal to it.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / September​

September 23.
Nehemiah 11–13

CHAPTER 11

NOW THE leaders of the people dwelt at Jerusalem; the rest of the people also cast lots to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine-tenths dwelt in other towns and villages.
2 And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.
3 These are the province chiefs who dwelt in Jerusalem, but in the towns of Judah everyone lived on his property there—Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants.
4 And at Jerusalem dwelt certain of the sons of Judah and Benjamin. Of Judah: Athaiah son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez;
5 Maaseiah son of Baruch, the son of Col-hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite.
6 All the sons of Perez who dwelt at Jerusalem were 468 valiant men.
7 These are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah,
8 And after him Gabbai and Sallai, 928.
9 Joel son of Zichri was overseer, and Judah son of Hassenuah was second over the city.
10 Of the priests: Jedaiah son of Joiarib; Jachin;
11 Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, ruler of the house of God,
12 And their brethren, who did the work of the house, 822; and Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah,
13 And his brethren, chiefs of fathers’ houses, 242; and Amashsai son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,
14 And their brethren, mighty men of valor, 128. Their overseer was Zabdiel son of Haggedolim [one of the great men].
15 And of the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;
16 And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who had charge of the outside work of the house of God;
17 Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the leader to begin the thanksgiving in prayer; and Bakbukiah, second among his brethren; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.
18 The Levites in the holy city were 284.
19 The gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon, and their brethren, who kept watch, were 172.
20 And the rest of Israel, with the priests and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each in his inheritance.
21 But the temple servants dwelt on [the hill] Ophel; Ziha and Gishpa were over [them].
22 Overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem and the work of God’s house was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica, of Asaph’s sons, the singers.
23 For the [Persian] king had ordered concerning them that a certain provision be made for the singers, as each day required.
24 Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah son of Judah, was at the king’s hand in all matters concerning the people.
25 As for the villages with their fields, some people of Judah dwelt in Kiriath-arba, Dibon, and Jekabzeel, and their villages,
26 In Jeshua, Moladah, Beth-pelet,
27 Hazar-shual, Beersheba and its villages,
28 Ziklag, Meconah and its villages,
29 En-rimmon, Zorah, Jarmuth,
30 Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, Azekah and its villages. So they encamped from Beersheba to the Hinnom Valley.
31 The people of Benjamin also dwelt from Geba onward, at Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages,
32 At Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah,
33 Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim,
34 Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat,
35 Lod, and Ono, the Valley of the Craftsmen.
36 And certain divisions of the Levites in Judah were joined to Benjamin.


CHAPTER 12

NOW THESE are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,
3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah,
5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,
6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,
7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and their brethren in the days of Jeshua.
8 And the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who, with his brethren, was over the thanksgiving [choirs].
9 Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, stood opposite them according to their offices.
10 And Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim of Eliashib, Eliashib of Joiada,
11 Joiada was the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan of Jaddua.
12 And in the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers’ houses: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;
13 Of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;
14 Of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph;
15 Of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai;
16 Of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
17 Of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin and of Moadiah, Piltai;
18 Of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;
19 Of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi;
20 Of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber;
21 Of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.
22 As for the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the heads of fathers’ houses were recorded, as well as the priests, until the reign of Darius the Persian.
23 The sons of Levi, heads of fathers’ houses, were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johanan son of Eliashib.
24 And the chiefs of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, with their brethren opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, as David, God’s man, commanded, [one] watch [singing] in response to [the men in the opposite] watch.
25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers guarding at the storehouses of the gates.
26 These were in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest and scribe.
27 And for the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites in all their places to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings, and with singing, cymbals, harps, and lyres.
28 And the sons of the singers gathered together from the plain and circuit around Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites,
29 And also from Beth-gilgal and the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem.
30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, the people, the gates, and the wall.
31 Then I brought the princes of Judah up on the wall, and I appointed two great companies of them who gave thanks and went in procession. One went to the right upon the wall toward the Dung Gate.
32 And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the princes of Judah,
33 And Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam,
34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah,
35 And certain of the priests’ sons with trumpets, and Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph,
36 And his kinsmen—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, Hanani—with the musical instruments of David, God’s man. And Ezra the scribe went before them.
37 At the Fountain Gate they went up straight ahead by the stairs of the City of David at the wall’s ascent above David’s house to the Water Gate on the east.
38 The other company of those who gave thanks went to the left; I followed with half of the people upon the wall, above the Tower of the Furnaces to the Broad Wall,
39 And above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Old Gate and by the Fish Gate and by the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of Hammeah, even to the Sheep Gate; and they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.
40 So the two companies of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I, and the half of the officials with me;
41 And the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets;
42 And Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang and made themselves heard, with Jezrahiah as leader.
43 Also that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women also and the children rejoiced. The joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.
44 On that day men were appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by law for the priests and the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who served [faithfully].
45 And they performed the due service of their God and of the purification; so did the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had commanded.
46 For in the days of David and Asaph of old, there was a chief of singers and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.
47 And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and [later] of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart what was for the Levites, and the Levites set apart what was for the sons of Aaron [the priests].

CHAPTER 13

ON THAT day they read in the Book of Moses in the audience of the people, and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God,
2 For they met not the Israelites with food and drink but hired Balaam to curse them; yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. [Num. 22:3-11; Deut. 23:5, 6.]
3 When [the Jews] heard the law, they separated from Israel all who were of foreign descent.
4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and was related [by marriage] to Tobiah [our adversary],
5 Prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where previously they had put the cereal offerings, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and oil which were given by commandment to the Levites, the singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.
6 But in all this time I was not at Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes [Persian] king of Babylon I went to the king. Then later I asked leave of him
7 And came to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah in preparing him [an adversary] a chamber in the courts of the house of God!
8 And it grieved me exceedingly, and I threw all the house furnishings of Tobiah out of the chamber.
9 Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers; and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the cereal offerings and the frankincense.
10 And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who did the work [forced by necessity] had each fled to his field.
11 Then I contended with the officials and said, Why is the house of God neglected and forsaken? I gathered the Levites and singers and set them in their stations.
12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the storerooms.
13 I set treasurers over the storerooms: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites; assisting them was Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, for they were counted faithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren.
14 O my God, [earnestly] remember me concerning this and wipe not out my good deeds and kindnesses done for the house of my God and for His service.
15 In those days I saw in Judah men treading winepresses on the Sabbath, bringing in sheaves or heaps of grain with which they loaded donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I protested and warned them on the day they sold the produce.
16 There dwelt men of Tyre there also who brought fish and all kinds of wares and sold on the Sabbath to the people of Judah and in Jerusalem.
17 Then I reproved the nobles of Judah and said, What evil thing is this that you do—profaning the Sabbath day?
18 Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath.
19 And when it began to get dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath [day began], I commanded that the gates should be shut and not be opened till after the Sabbath. And I set some of my servants at the gates to prevent any burden being brought in on the Sabbath day.
20 So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21 But I reproved and warned them, saying, Why do you lodge by the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you. Then they stopped coming on the Sabbath.
22 And I commanded the Levites to cleanse themselves and come and guard the gates to keep the Sabbath day holy. O my God, [earnestly] remember me concerning this also and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy and loving-kindness.
23 In those days also I saw Jews who had married wives from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
24 And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak the Hebrew, but in the language of each people.
25 And I contended with them and reviled them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair and made them swear by God, saying, You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
26 Did not Solomon king of Israel act treacherously against God and miss the mark on account of such women? Among many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; yet strange women even caused him to sin [when he was old he turned treacherously away from the Lord to other gods, and God rent his kingdom from him]. [I Kings 11:1-11.]
27 Shall we then listen to you to do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying strange (heathen) women?
28 One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me.
29 O my God, [earnestly] remember them, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priests and Levites.
30 Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign (heathen), and I defined the duties of the priests and Levites, everyone in his work;
31 And I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. O my God, [earnestly] remember me for good and imprint me [on Your heart]!

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / September​

September 24.
The Book of Malachi

CHAPTER 1

THE BURDEN or oracle (the thing to be lifted up) of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi [My messenger].
2 I have loved you, says the Lord. Yet you say, How and in what way have You loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? says the Lord; yet I loved Jacob (Israel),
3 But [in comparison with the degree of love I have for Jacob] I have hated Esau [Edom] and have laid waste his mountains, and his heritage I have given to the jackals of the wilderness. [Rom. 9:13, 16.]
4 Though [impoverished] Edom should say, We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places—thus says the Lord of hosts: They may build, but I will tear and throw down; and men will call them the Wicked Country, the people against whom the Lord has indignation forever.
5 Your own eyes shall see this and you shall say, The Lord is great and will be magnified over and beyond the border of Israel! [Isa. 34; 63:1-6; Jer. 49:7-22; Ezek. 25:12-14; Obad. 1.]
6 A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is the [reverent] fear due Me? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise My name. You say, How and in what way have we despised Your name?
7 By offering polluted food upon My altar. And you ask, How have we polluted it and profaned You? By thinking that the table of the Lord is contemptible and may be despised.
8 When you [priests] offer blind [animals] for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Present such a thing [a blind or lame or sick animal] now to your governor [in payment of your taxes, and see what will happen]. Will he be pleased with you? Or will he receive you graciously? says the Lord of hosts.
9 Now then, I [Malachi] beg [you priests], entreat God [earnestly] that He will be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand [as a defective animal for sacrifice], will He accept it or show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts.
10 Oh, that there were even one among you [whose duty it is to minister to Me] who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on My altar to no purpose [an empty, futile, fruitless pretense]! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, nor will I accept an offering from your hand.
11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting My name shall be great among the nations, and in every place incense shall be offered to My name, and indeed a pure offering; for My name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.
12 But you [priests] profane it when [by your actions] you say, The table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit of it, its food, is contemptible and may be despised.
13 You say also, Behold, what a drudgery and weariness this is! And you have sniffed at it, says the Lord of hosts. And you have brought that which was taken by violence, or the lame or the sick; this you bring as an offering! Shall I accept this from your hand? says the Lord. [Lev. 1:3; Deut. 15:21.]
14 But cursed is the [cheating] deceiver who has a male in his flock and vows to offer it, yet sacrifices to the [sovereign] Lord a blemished or diseased thing! For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and My name is terrible and to be [reverently] feared among the nations.

CHAPTER 2

AND NOW, O you priests, this commandment is for you.
2 If you will not hear and if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to My name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yes, I have already turned them to curses because you do not lay it to heart.
3 Behold, I will rebuke your seed [grain—which will prevent due harvest], and I will spread the dung from the festival offerings upon your faces, and you shall be taken away with it.
4 And you shall know, recognize, and understand that I have sent this [new] decree to you priests, to be My [new] covenant with Levi [the priestly tribe], says the Lord of hosts.
5 My covenant [on My part with Levi] was to give him life and peace, because [on his part] of the [reverent and worshipful] fear with which [the priests] would revere Me and stand in awe of My name.
6 The law of truth was in [Levi’s] mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness and turned many away from iniquity.
7 For the priest’s lips should guard and keep pure the knowledge [of My law], and the people should seek (inquire for and require) instruction at his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
8 But you have turned aside out of the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction [in the law]; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi [with Me], says the Lord of hosts.
9 Therefore have I also made you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you have not kept My ways but have shown favoritism to persons in your administration of the law [of God].
10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then do we deal faithlessly and treacherously each against his brother, profaning the covenant of [God with] our fathers?
11 Judah has been faithless and dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah [that is, Jewish men] has profaned the holy sanctuary of the Lord which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god [having divorced his Jewish wife]. [Ezra 9:2; Jer. 2:3.]
12 The Lord will cast out of the tents of Jacob to the last man those who do this [evil thing], the master and the servant [or the pupil] alike, even him who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts.
13 And this you do with double guilt; you cover the altar of the Lord with tears [shed by your unoffending wives, divorced by you that you might take heathen wives], and with [your own] weeping and crying out because the Lord does not regard your offering any more or accept it with favor at your hand.
14 Yet you ask, Why does He reject it? Because the Lord was witness [to the covenant made at your marriage] between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously and to whom you were faithless. Yet she is your companion and the wife of your covenant [made by your marriage vows].
15 And did not God make [you and your wife] one [flesh]? Did not One make you and preserve your spirit alive? And why [did God make you two] one? Because He sought a godly offspring [from your union]. Therefore take heed to yourselves, and let no one deal treacherously and be faithless to the wife of his youth.
16 For the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I hate divorce and marital separation and him who covers his garment [his wife] with violence. Therefore keep a watch upon your spirit [that it may be controlled by My Spirit], that you deal not treacherously and faithlessly [with your marriage mate].
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, In what way have we wearied Him? [You do it when by your actions] you say, Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord and He delights in them. Or [by asking], Where is the God of justice?

CHAPTER 3

BEHOLD, I send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me. And the Lord [the Messiah], Whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; the Messenger or Angel of the covenant, Whom you desire, behold, He shall come, says the Lord of hosts. [Matt. 11:10; Luke 1:13–17, 76.]
2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; [Rev. 6:12-17.]
3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the priests, the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness.
4 Then will the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in ancient years.
5 Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against the false swearers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and who turn aside the temporary resident from his right and fear not Me, says the Lord of hosts.
6 For I am the Lord, I do not change; that is why you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
7 Even from the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, How shall we return?
8 Will a man rob or defraud God? Yet you rob and defraud Me. But you say, In what way do we rob or defraud You? [You have withheld your] tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with the curse, for you are robbing Me, even this whole nation. [Lev. 26:14-17.]
10 Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. [Mal. 2:2.]
11 And I will rebuke the devourer [insects and plagues] for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine drop its fruit before the time in the field, says the Lord of hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you happy and blessed, for you shall be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
13 Your words have been strong and hard against Me, says the Lord. Yet you say, What have we spoken against You?
14 You have said, It is useless to serve God, and what profit is it if we keep His ordinances and walk gloomily and as if in mourning apparel before the Lord of hosts?
15 And now we consider the proud and arrogant to be happy and favored; evildoers are exalted and prosper; yes, and when they test God, they escape [unpunished].
16 Then those who feared the Lord talked often one to another; and the Lord listened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who reverenced and worshipfully feared the Lord and who thought on His name.
17 And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I publicly recognize and openly declare them to be My jewels (My special possession, My peculiar treasure). And I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.
18 Then shall you return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who does not serve Him.

CHAPTER 4

FOR BEHOLD, the day comes that shall burn like an oven, and all the proud and arrogant, yes, and all that do wickedly and are lawless, shall be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. [Isa. 5:21-25; Matt. 3:12.]
2 But unto you who revere and worshipfully fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings and His beams, and you shall go forth and gambol like calves [released] from the stall and leap for joy.
3 And you shall tread down the lawless and wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the Lord of hosts.
4 [Earnestly] remember the law of Moses, My servant, the statutes and the ordinances which I commanded him on [Mount] Horeb [to give] to all Israel.
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. [Matt. 11:14; 17:10-13.]
6 And he shall turn and reconcile the hearts of the [estranged] fathers to the [ungodly] children, and the hearts of the [rebellious] children to [the piety of] their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance of the ungodly], lest I come and smite the land with a curse and a ban of utter destruction. [Luke 1:17.]

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / September​

September 25.
1 Chronicles 1–2

CHAPTER 1

ADAM [his genealogical line], Seth, Enosh,
2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared,
3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech,
4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
5 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
6 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Diphath, and Togarmah.
7 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.
8 The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim (Egypt), Put, and Canaan.
9 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
10 Cush was the father of Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one upon the earth.
11 Mizraim (Egypt) was the father of the Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim,
12 Pathrusim, Casluhim, from whom came the Philistines, and the Caphtorim.
13 Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,
14 The Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites,
15 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites,
16 Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites.
17 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.
18 Arpachshad was the father of Shelah, Shelah of Eber.
19 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, because in his days [the population of] the earth was divided [according to its languages], and his brother’s name was Joktan.
20 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
21 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
22 Ebal, Abimael, Sheba,
23 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.
24 Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah,
25 Eber, Peleg, Reu,
26 Serug, Nahor, Terah,
27 Abram, the same as Abraham.
28 The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael.
29 These are their descendants: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
30 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema,
31 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.
32 Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.
33 The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these are the sons [and grandsons] of Keturah.
34 Abraham was the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.
35 The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
36 The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna, and Amalek.
37 The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
38 The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
39 The sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam; and Timna was Lotan’s sister.
40 The sons of Shobal: Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah.
41 The son of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hamran, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
42 The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, [and] Jaakan. The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
43 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites: Bela son of Beor; the name of his city was Dinhabah.
44 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.
45 When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead.
46 When Husham died, Hadad [I of Edom] son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead; his city was Avith.
47 When Hadad died, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.
48 When Samlah died, Shaul of Rehoboth on the River [Euphrates] reigned in his stead.
49 When Shaul died, Baal-hanan son of Achbor reigned in his stead.
50 When Baal-hanan died, Hadad [II] reigned in his stead; his city was Pai; his wife was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
51 Hadad died also. The chiefs of Edom were: chiefs Timna, Aliah, Jetheth,
52 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,
53 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,
54 Magdiel, and Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom.


CHAPTER 2

THESE ARE the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,
2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
3 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah, whom Shua’s daughter the Canaanitess bore him. Er, Judah’s eldest, was evil in the Lord’s sight, and He slew him.
4 Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, bore him Pharez and Zerah. All Judah’s sons were five.
5 The sons of Pharez: Hezron and Hamul.
6 The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara—five in all. [I Kings 4:31.]
7 The son of Carmi: Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the matter of the devoted things. [Josh. 7:1.]
8 The son of Ethan: Azariah.
9 The sons of Hezron who were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai (that is, Caleb).
10 Ram was the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab of Nahshon, prince of the sons of Judah.
11 Nahshon was the father of Salma, Salma of Boaz,
12 Boaz of Obed, and Obed of Jesse.
13 Jesse was the father of Eliab his firstborn, Abinadab second, Shimea third,
14 Nethanel fourth, Raddai fifth,
15 Ozem sixth, David seventh.
16 Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three.
17 Abigail bore Amasa, and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.
18 And Caleb son of Hezron had sons by his wife Azubah and by Jerioth. [Azubah’s] sons were: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon.
19 Azubah died, and Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur.
20 Hur was the father of Uri, and Uri of Bezalel [the skillful craftsman who made the furnishings of the tabernacle]. [Exod. 31:2-5.]
21 Later, when Hezron was sixty years old, he married the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, and she bore him Segub.
22 Segub was the father of Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead.
23 But Geshur and Aram took from them Havvoth-jair, with Kenath and its villages, sixty towns. All these were the descendants of Machir the father of Gilead.
24 After Hezron died in Caleb-ephrathah, Abiah, Hezron’s wife, bore to him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.
25 The sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron: Ram the firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah.
26 Jerahmeel had another wife, named Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.
27 The sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel were: Maaz, Jamin, and Eker.
28 The sons of Onam: Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur.
29 Abishur’s wife was Abihail; she bore him Ahban and Molid.
30 The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim. Seled died childless.
31 The son of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Ahlai.
32 The sons of Jada the brother of Shammai: Jether and Jonathan. Jether died childless.
33 The sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel.
34 Sheshan had no sons—only daughters. But Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha.
35 Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant as wife; she bore him Attai.
36 Attai was the father of Nathan, and Nathan of Zabad.
37 Zabad was the father of Ephlal, and Ephlal of Obed.
38 Obed was the father of Jehu, and Jehu of Azariah.
39 Azariah was the father of Helez, and Helez of Eleasah.
40 Eleasah was the father of Sismai, and Sismai of Shallum.
41 Shallum was the father of Jekamiah, and Jekamiah of Elishama.
42 The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel: Mesha his firstborn was the father of Ziph; and his son Mareshah [he was] the father of Hebron.
43 The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema.
44 Shema was the father of Raham, the father of Jorkeam. And Rekem was the father of Shammai.
45 The son of Shammai was Maon; Maon’s son was Beth-zur.
46 Ephah, Caleb’s concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; Haran was the father of Gazez.
47 The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph.
48 Maacah, Caleb’s concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah, and also
49 Shaaph the father of Madmannah and Sheva the father of Machbenah and of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.
50 These were the descendants of Caleb. The sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim,
51 Salma the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth-gader.
52 Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had [other] descendants: Haroeh, half [of the inhabitants] of Menuhoth [in Judah],
53 And the families of Kiriath-jearim: the Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites, and Mishraites. From these came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites.

54 The descendants of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, and half of the Manahathites, [and] the Zorites,
55 And the families of scribes who dwelt at Jabez: the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / September​

September 26.
1 Chronicles 3–5

CHAPTER 3

THESE SONS of David were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; second, Daniel (Chileab), of Abigail the Carmelitess;
2 Third, Absalom the son of Maacah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; fourth, Adonijah, of Haggith;
3 Fifth, Shephatiah, of Abital; sixth, Ithream, of his wife Eglah.
4 These six were born to David in Hebron; there he reigned seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years.
5 These were born to [David] in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon—four of Bathshua (Bathsheba) daughter of Ammiel (Eliam);
6 Then Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet,
7 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia,
8 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet—nine in all.
9 These were all the sons of David, besides the sons of the concubines. And Tamar was their sister.
10 Solomon’s descendants [omitting nonreigning offspring] were: his son Rehoboam. Abijah was his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,
11 Jehoram (Joram) his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,
12 Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
13 Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,
14 Amon his son, Josiah his son.
15 The descendants of Josiah: firstborn, Johanan; second, Jehoiakim; third, Zedekiah; fourth, Shallum.
16 The descendants of Jehoiakim: Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) his son, Zedekiah his son.
17 The descendants of Jehoiachin the captive: Shealtiel his son,
18 Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.
19 The sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei. The sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam, Hananiah. And Shelomith was their sister;
20 And Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, [and] Jushab-hesed—five [the sons of Meshullam?].
21 The sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jeshaiah, whose son was Rephaiah, his son Arnan, his son Obadiah, his son Shecaniah.
22 The son of Shecaniah: Shemaiah. The sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat—six in all.
23 The sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam—three in all.
24 The sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani—seven in all.


CHAPTER 4

THE SONS of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal.
2 Reaiah son of Shobal was the father of Jahath, and Jahath of Ahumai and Lahad. These were the families of the Zorathites.
3 These were the sons of [Hur] the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. And their sister was Hazzelelponi.
4 And Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the eldest of Ephrathah (Ephrath), the father of Bethlehem.
5 Ashur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
6 Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were Naarah’s sons.
7 The sons of Helah: Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan.
8 Koz was the father of Anub, Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel son of Harum.
9 Jabez was honorable above his brothers; but his mother named him Jabez [sorrow maker], saying, Because I bore him in pain.
10 Jabez cried to the God of Israel, saying, Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and You would keep me from evil so it might not hurt me! And God granted his request.
11 Chelub the brother of Shuhah was the father of Mehir, the father of Eshton.
12 Eshton was the father of Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir-nahash. These are the men of Recah.
13 The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel: Hathath [and Meonothai].
14 Meonothai was father of Ophrah, and Seraiah of Joab the father of Ge-harashim [the Valley of Craftsmen], so named because they were craftsmen.
15 The sons of Caleb [Joshua’s companion] son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah: Kenaz.
16 The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.
17 The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. These are the sons of Bithiah daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered married: she bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.
18 And Mered’s Jewish wife bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.
19 The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were: the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.
20 The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. The sons of Ishi: Zoheth and Ben-zoheth.
21 The sons of Shelah son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of the linen workers at Beth-ashbea,
22 And Jokim, the men of Cozeba, Joash, and Saraph, who ruled in Moab, and returned to [Bethlehem]. These are ancient matters.
23 These were the potters and those who dwelt among plantations and hedges at Netaim and Gederah; there they dwelt with the king for his work.
24 The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul;
25 Shallum was his [Shaul’s] son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son.
26 The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son.
27 Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children; neither did all their family multiply like the children of Judah.
28 They dwelt at Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual,
29 Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad,
30 Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag,
31 Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their towns [and villages] until the reign of David.
32 There were also Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five towns—
33 And all their villages that were round about these towns, as far as Baal[-ath-beer]. These were their settlements, and they had their genealogical record.
34 Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah,
35 Joel, Jehu son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel,
36 Also Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah,
37 Ziza son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah.
38 These mentioned by name were princes in their families; and their fathers’ houses increased greatly [so they needed more room].
39 And they journeyed to the entrance of Gedor to the east side of the valley to seek pasture for their flocks.
40 And they found rich, good pasture, and the [cleared] land was wide, quiet, and peaceful, because people of Ham had dwelt there of old [and had left it a better place for those who came after them].
41 And these registered by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and destroyed their tents and the Meunim [foreigners] who were found there and exterminated them to this day, and they settled in their stead, because there was pasture for their flocks.
42 And some of them from the sons of Simeon, 500 men, went to Mount Seir, having for their leaders Pelatiah, and Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.
43 They destroyed the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped, and they have dwelt there to this day.


CHAPTER 5

NOW [we come to] the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. For [Reuben] was the eldest, but because he polluted his father’s couch [with Bilhah his father’s concubine] his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph [favorite] son of Israel; so the genealogy is not to be reckoned according to the birthright. [Gen. 35:22; 48:15-22; 49:3, 4.]
2 Judah prevailed above his brethren, and from him came the prince and leader [and eventually the Messiah]; yet the birthright was Joseph’s. [Gen. 49:10; Mic. 5:2.]

3 The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
4 The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son,
5 Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son,
6 Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria carried away captive; he was a prince of the Reubenites.
7 And his brethren by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned: the chief Jeiel, and Zechariah,
8 Bela son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who dwelt in Aroer as far as Nebo and Baal-meon.
9 Eastward [Bela] inhabited the land as far as the entrance into the desert this [west] side of the river Euphrates, because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead.
10 In the days of [King] Saul they made war with the Hagrites or Ishmaelites, who fell by their hands; they dwelt in their tents in all the land east of Gilead.
11 The children of Gad who dwelt opposite them in the land of Bashan, as far as Salecah:
12 Joel the chief, Shapham the next, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan.
13 Their kinsmen of the houses of their fathers: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber—seven in all.
14 These were the sons of Abihail son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz.
15 Ahi son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was chief in their fathers’ houses.
16 They dwelt in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the suburbs and pasturelands of Sharon to their limits.
17 All these were enrolled by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam [II] king of Israel.

18 The sons of Reuben, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh—valiant men able to bear buckler and sword and to shoot with bow and skillful in war—were 44,760 able and ready to go forth to war.

19 And [these Israelites, on the east side of the Jordan River] made war with the Hagrites [a tribe of northern Arabia], Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab.
20 They were given help against them, and the Hagrites or Ishmaelites were delivered into their hands, and all who were allied with them, for they cried to God in the battle; and He granted their entreaty, because they relied on, clung to, and trusted in Him.

21 And [these Israelites] took away their adversaries’ herds: of their camels 50,000, and of sheep 250,000, and of donkeys 2,000, and of the lives of men 100,000.

22 For a great number fell mortally wounded, because the battle was God’s. And [these Israelites] dwelt in their territory until the captivity [by Assyria more than five centuries later]. [II Kings 15:29.]
23 And the people of the half-tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land; their settlements spread from Bashan to Baal-hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon.

24 And these were the heads of their fathers’ houses: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of strength of mind and spirit [enabling them to encounter danger with firmness and personal bravery], famous men, and heads of the houses of their fathers.

25 They transgressed against the God of their fathers and played the harlot [by unfaithfulness to their own God and running] after the gods of the native peoples, whom God had destroyed before them.

26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, [that is,] the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / September​

September 27.
1 Chronicles 6

THE SONS of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
2 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
3 The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons also of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
4 Eleazar was the father of Phinehas, Phinehas of Abishua.
5 Abishua was the father of Bukki, and Bukki of Uzzi,
6 Uzzi of Zerahiah, and Zerahiah of Meraioth,
7 Meraioth of Amariah, and Amariah of Ahitub,
8 Ahitub of Zadok, and Zadok of Ahimaaz,
9 Ahimaaz of Azariah, and Azariah of Johanan,
10 Johanan of Azariah, who was priest in the temple Solomon built in Jerusalem,
11 Azariah of Amariah, and Amariah of Ahitub,
12 Ahitub of Zadok, and Zadok of Shallum,
13 Shallum of Hilkiah, and Hilkiah of Azariah,
14 Azariah of Seraiah, and Seraiah of Jehozadak;
15 Jehozadak went into captivity when the Lord sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
16 The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
17 These are the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei.
18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers:
20 Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son,
21 Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai his son.
22 The sons of Kohath: Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son,
23 Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son,
24 Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son.
25 And the sons of Elkanah: Amasai, Ahimoth,
26 Elkanah his son, Zophai his son, Nahath his son,
27 Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah [Samuel’s father] his son.
28 The sons of Samuel: the firstborn [Joel] and Abijah.
29 The sons of Merari: Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzza his son,
30 Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.
31 These David put over the service of song in the house of the Lord after the ark of the covenant rested there [after being taken by the Philistines and later placed in the house of Abinadab, where it remained for nearly 100 years during the rest of Samuel’s judgeship and Saul’s entire reign and into David’s reign].
32 They ministered before the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting with singing until Solomon had built the Lord’s house in Jerusalem, performing their service in due order.
33 These and their sons served of the Kohathites: Heman, the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel [the great prophet and judge],
34 The son of Elkanah [III], the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah,
35 The son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah [II], the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai,
36 The son of Elkanah , the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah,
37 The son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah,
38 The son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel (Jacob).
39 Heman’s [tribal] brother Asaph stood at his right hand: Asaph son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea,
40 The son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchijah,
41 The son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah,
42 The son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei,
43 The son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi.
44 Their kinsmen the sons of Merari stood at the left hand: Ethan son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,
45 The son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah,
46 The son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shemer,
47 The son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.
48 And their brethren the Levites [who were not descended from Aaron] were appointed for all other kinds of service of the tabernacle of the house of God.
49 But [the line of] Aaron and his sons offered upon the altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense, ministering for all the work of the Holy of Holies, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses, God’s servant, had commanded.
50 The sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son,
51 Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son,
52 Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son,
53 Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son.
54 Their dwelling places are according to their settlements within their borders: to the sons of Aaron of the families of the Kohathites, for theirs was the [first] lot—[Josh. 21:10.]
55 To them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding suburbs.
56 But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh.
57 To the sons of Aaron they gave the city of refuge, Hebron; also Libnah with its pasturelands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, [Josh. 21:13.]
58 Hilen with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands,
59 Ashan with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands.
60 And out of the tribe of Benjamin: Geba, Alemeth, and Anathoth, with their pasturelands. All their cities according to their families were thirteen.
61 And to the rest of the Kohathites ten cities were given by lot out of the family of the tribe [of Ephraim and of Dan and], of the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh. [Josh. 21:5.]
62 To the Gershomites, according to their families, [were allotted] thirteen cities out of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh in Bashan.
63 To the Merarites were given by lot, according to their families, twelve cities out of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
64 And the Israelites gave to the Levites these cities with their pasturelands.
65 They gave by lot out of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin these cities whose names are mentioned.
66 Some of the families of the Kohathites had cities in the allotted territory out of the tribe of Ephraim.
67 And [the Ephraimites] gave to [the Levites] the city of refuge, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim; also Gezer, [both] with their suburbs and pasturelands;
68 Jokmeam, Beth-horon,
69 Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon, with their suburbs and pasturelands;
70 And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh [these cities], with their suburbs and pasturelands: Aner and Bileam, for the rest of the families of the sons of Kohath.
71 To the Gershomites were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan and Ashtaroth, with their suburbs and pasturelands;
72 Out of the tribe of Issachar, with their suburbs and pasturelands: Kedesh, Daberath,
73 Ramoth, and Anem;
74 Out of the tribe of Asher, with their suburbs and pasturelands: Mashal, Abdon,
75 Hukok, and Rehob;
76 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, with their suburbs and pasturelands: Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim.
77 To the rest of the Merarites were given from the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono and Tabor, with their suburbs and pasturelands;
78 On the other side of the Jordan, on the east side by Jericho, the Levites were given out of the tribe of Reuben [these cities], with their suburbs and pasturelands: Bezer in the wilderness, Jahzah,
79 Kedemoth, and Mephaath;
80 Out of the tribe of Gad [these cities], with their suburbs and pasturelands: Ramoth in Gilead, Mahanaim,
81 Heshbon, and Jazer.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / September​

September 28.
1 Chronicles 7:1–8:27


CHAPTER 7

THE SONS of Issachar were: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron—four in all.
2 The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, Shemuel (Samuel)—heads of their fathers’ houses, descendants of Tola. They were mighty men of valor in their generations; their number in David’s days was 22,600.
3 The son of Uzzi: Izrahiah. The sons of Izrahiah: Michael, Obadiah, Joel, Isshiah—five, all of them chief men.
4 And with them by their generations according to their fathers’ houses were units of the army for war, 36,000, for they had many wives and children [with them].
5 Their kinsmen from all the families of Issachar, mighty men of valor, registered by genealogies, were in all 87,000.
6 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, and Jediael—three in all.
7 The sons of Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri—five, heads of the houses of their fathers, mighty men of valor. By their genealogies they numbered 22,034.
8 The sons of Becher: Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth, all sons of Becher.
9 The number of them by their genealogies by generations, as heads of their fathers’ houses, mighty warriors, was 20,200.
10 The son of Jediael: Bilhan. The sons of Bilhan: Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar.
11 All these were the sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers’ houses, mighty men of valor, 17,200, able and fit for service in war.
12 Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir, and Hushim the son of Aher.
13 The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum, whose [grandmother] was Bilhah.
14 The sons of Manasseh: Ashriel, whom his concubine the Aramitess bore; she bore Machir the father of Gilead.
15 And Machir took as wife the sister of Huppim and Shuppim; her name was Maacah. The name of a second [and later descendant, the first being Gilead], was Zelophehad; and Zelophehad had daughters [only]. [Num. 27:1-7.]
16 Maacah the wife of Machir bore a son; she called his name Peresh. The name of his brother was Sheresh; his sons were Ulam and Rakem.
17 The son of Ulam: Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.
18 His sister Hammolecheth bore Ishbod, Abiezer, and Mahlah.
19 The sons of Shemida were: Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.
20 The sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath [II] his son,
21 Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son. [During Ephraim’s lifetime, his sons] Ezer and Elead were slain by men of Gath born in the land, who had come down to steal the cattle [of the Ephraimites, probably before the Israelites left Egypt].
22 And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him.
23 Then his wife conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Beriah [in evil], because calamity had befallen his house.
24 [Beriah’s] daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and also Uzzen-sheerah.
25 Rephah was his son, and Resheph [his son]; Resheph’s son was Telah, Tahan his son,
26 Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,
27 Nun his son, Joshua [Moses’ successor] his son.
28 And their possessions and settlements were Bethel and its towns, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, and Shechem, and as far as Azzah (Gaza) with all their towns,
29 And along the borders of the Manassites, Beth-shean, Taanach, Megiddo, Dor, with all their towns. In these dwelt the sons of Joseph son of Israel.
30 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah; and Serah their sister.
31 The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith.
32 Heber was the father of Japhlet, Shomer, Hotham, and Shua their sister.
33 The sons of Japhlet: Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These were the sons of Japhlet.
34 The sons of Shemer (Shomer) his brother: Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram.
35 The sons of his brother Helem (Hotham): Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal.
36 The sons of Zophah: Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah,
37 Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera.
38 The sons of Jether: Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara.
39 The sons of Ulla: Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia.
40 All these were offspring of Asher, heads of their fathers’ houses, approved men, mighty warriors, chief of the princes. Their number enrolled by genealogies for service in war, was 26,000 men.


CHAPTER 8

BENJAMIN WAS the father of Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third,
2 Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.
3 Bela’s sons were: Addar, Gera, Abihud,
4 Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,
5 Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram.
6 The sons of Ehud: These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the inhabitants of Geba; they were exiled to Manahath:
7 Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera, that is, Heglam, who was the father of Uzza and Ahihud.
8 Shaharaim had sons in the country of Moab after he had [divorced and] sent away Hushim and Baara his wives.
9 And by Hodesh his [Moabitish] wife he was the father of Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam,
10 Jeuz, Sachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers’ houses.
11 By Hushim [divorced] he had had sons: Abitub and Elpaal.
12 The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod with its towns,
13 And Beriah and Shema, who were heads of fathers’ houses of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who put to flight the inhabitants of Gath,
14 And Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth.
15 The sons of Beriah: Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,
16 Michael, Ishpah, and Joha.
17 Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber,
18 Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal.
19 Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi,
20 Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel,
21 Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei.
22 Ishpan, Eber, Eliel,
23 Abdon, Zichri, Hanan,
24 Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah,
25 Iphdeiah, and Penuel were the sons of Shashak.
26 Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah,
27 Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / September​

September 29.
1 Chronicles 8:28–9:44

28 These were heads of the fathers’ houses, according to their generations, chief men. These dwelt in Jerusalem.
29 At Gibeon dwelt [Jeiel] the father of Gibeon, whose wife’s name was Maacah.
30 His firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab,
31 Gedor, Ahio, Zecher,
32 And Mikloth the father of Shimeah. These dwelt together opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem.
33 Ner was the father of Kish, and Kish of [King] Saul the father of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal (Ish-bosheth).
34 The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal (Mephibosheth) the father of Micah.
35 The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz.
36 Ahaz was the father of Jehoaddah, and Jehoaddah of Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; Zimri was the father of Moza.
37 Moza was the father of Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.
38 Azel had six sons: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.
39 The sons of Eshek his brother: Ulam his firstborn, Jehush the second, Eliphelet the third.
40 The sons of Ulam were mighty warriors, archers, with many sons and grandsons—150 in all. All these were Benjamites.

CHAPTER 9

SO ALL Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was carried away captive to Babylon for their unfaithfulness to God.
2 Now the first [of the returned exiles] to dwell again in their possessions in the cities of Israel were the priests, Levites, and the Nethinim [the temple servants].
3 In Jerusalem dwelt some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh:
4 Uthai son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the sons of Pharez son of Judah.
5 Of the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons.
6 Of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their kinsmen, 690.
7 Of the Benjamites: Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah;
8 Ibneiah son of Jeroham; Elah son of Uzzi, the son of Michri; and Meshullam son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;
9 And their kinsmen, according to their generations, 956. All these were heads of fathers’ houses according to their fathers’ houses.
10 Of the priests: Jedaiah; Jehoiarib; Jachin;
11 Azariah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief officer of God’s house;
12 And Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah; Massai son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;
13 And their kinsmen, heads of their fathers’ houses, 1,760—very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.
14 Of the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;
15 And Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph;
16 Obadiah son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who dwelt in the villages of the Netophathites [near Jerusalem].
17 The gatekeepers were: Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their kinsmen, Shallum being the chief
18 Who hitherto was assigned to the king’s east side gate. They were the gatekeepers of the camp of the Levites.
19 Shallum son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his kinsmen of his father’s house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the Tent, as their fathers had been in charge of the camp of the Lord, keepers of the entrance.
20 Phinehas son of Eleazar was ruler over them in times past, and the Lord was with him.
21 Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
22 All these chosen to be keepers at the thresholds were 212. These were enrolled by their genealogies in their villages [around Jerusalem], these men [whose grandfathers] David and Samuel the seer had established to their office of trust.
23 So they and their sons had oversight of the gates of the Lord’s house, that is, the house of the tabernacle, by wards.
24 The gatekeepers were stationed on the four sides [of the house of the Lord]—on the east, west, north, and south.
25 Their brethren in their villages were to come in every seven days to be with them.
26 But these Levites, the four chief gatekeepers, were in charge of the chambers and treasuries of the house of God.
27 They lodged round about God’s house, for the duty [of watching] was theirs, as well as the opening of the house every morning.
28 Some of them had charge of the serving utensils, being required to count them when they brought them in or took them out.
29 Some of them also were appointed over the furniture and over all the sacred utensils, as well as over the fine flour, wine, oil, frankincense, and spices.
30 Other sons of the priests prepared the ointment of spices.
31 Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, was responsible for the things baked in pans.
32 Of their Kohathite kinsmen, some were to prepare the showbread every Sabbath.
33 These are the singers, heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites, dwelling in the temple chambers, free from other service because they were on duty day and night.
34 These were heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites, according to their generations, chief men, who lived in Jerusalem.
35 In Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, whose wife’s name was Maacah,
36 His firstborn son Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,
37 Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth.
38 Mikloth was the father of Shimeam. They also dwelt beside their brethren, opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem.
39 Ner was the father of Kish, Kish of [King] Saul, Saul of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal.
40 The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal (Mephibosheth); Merib-baal was the father of Micah.
41 The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz.
42 Ahaz was the father of Jarah, and Jarah of Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; Zimri was the father of Moza,
43 Moza of Binea; Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.
44 Azel had six sons: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / September​

September 30.
John 1:1–18; Mark 1:1; Luke 1:1–4; Luke 2:23–38; Matt. 1:1–17

John 1:1–18
IN THE beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. [Isa. 9:6.]
2 He was present originally with God.
3 All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being.
4 In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.
5 And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it].
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. [Mal. 3:1.]
7 This man came to witness, that he might testify of the Light, that all men might believe in it [adhere to it, trust it, and rely upon it] through him.
8 He was not the Light himself, but came that he might bear witness regarding the Light.
9 There it was—the true Light [was then] coming into the world [the genuine, perfect, steadfast Light] that illumines every person. [Isa. 49:6.]
10 He came into the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him [did not know Him].
11 He came to that which belonged to Him [to His own—His domain, creation, things, world], and they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him.
12 But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name—[Isa. 56:5.]
13 Who owe their birth neither to bloods nor to the will of the flesh [that of physical impulse] nor to the will of man [that of a natural father], but to God. [They are born of God!]
14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth. [Isa. 40:5.]
15 John testified about Him and cried out, This was He of Whom I said, He Who comes after me has priority over me, for He was before me. [He takes rank above me, for He existed before I did. He has advanced before me, because He is my Chief.]
16 For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift.
17 For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (unearned, undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ. [Exod. 20:1.]
18 No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, or the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known]. [Prov. 8:30.]


Mark 1:1
THE BEGINNING [of the facts] of the good news (the Gospel) of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.


SINCE [as is well known] many have undertaken to put in order and draw up a [thorough] narrative of the surely established deeds which have been accomplished and fulfilled in and among us,
2 Exactly as they were handed down to us by those who from the [official] beginning [of Jesus’ ministry] were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word [that is, of the doctrine concerning the attainment through Christ of salvation in the kingdom of God],
3 It seemed good and desirable to me, [and so I have determined] also after having searched out diligently and followed all things closely and traced accurately the course from the highest to the minutest detail from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, [Acts 1:1.]
4 [My purpose is] that you may know the full truth and understand with certainty and security against error the accounts (histories) and doctrines of the faith of which you have been informed and in which you have been orally instructed.

Luke1:1–4
SINCE [as is well known] many have undertaken to put in order and draw up a [thorough] narrative of the surely established deeds which have been accomplished and fulfilled in and among us,
2 Exactly as they were handed down to us by those who from the [official] beginning [of Jesus’ ministry] were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word [that is, of the doctrine concerning the attainment through Christ of salvation in the kingdom of God],
3 It seemed good and desirable to me, [and so I have determined] also after having searched out diligently and followed all things closely and traced accurately the course from the highest to the minutest detail from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, [Acts 1:1.]
4 [My purpose is] that you may know the full truth and understand with certainty and security against error the accounts (histories) and doctrines of the faith of which you have been informed and in which you have been orally instructed.

Luke 2:23–38
23 As it is written in the Law of the Lord, Every [firstborn] male that opens the womb shall be set apart and dedicated and called holy to the Lord—[Exod. 13:1, 2, 12; Num. 8:17.]
24 And [they came also] to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. [Lev. 12:6-8.]
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout [cautiously and carefully observing the divine Law], and looking for the Consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 And it had been divinely revealed (communicated) to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
27 And prompted by the [Holy] Spirit, he came into the temple [enclosure]; and when the parents brought in the little child Jesus to do for Him what was customary according to the Law,
28 [Simeon] took Him up in his arms and praised and thanked God and said,
29 And now, Lord, You are releasing Your servant to depart (leave this world) in peace, according to Your word.
30 For with my [own] eyes I have seen Your Salvation, [Isa. 52:10.]
31 Which You have ordained and prepared before (in the presence of) all peoples,
32 A Light for revelation to the Gentiles [to disclose what was before unknown] and [to bring] praise and honor and glory to Your people Israel. [Isa. 42:6; 49:6.]
33 And His [legal] father and [His] mother were marveling at what was said about Him.
34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, Behold, this Child is appointed and destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against—[Isa. 8:14, 15.]
35 And a sword will pierce through your own soul also—that the secret thoughts and purposes of many hearts may be brought out and disclosed.
36 And there was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, having lived with her husband seven years from her maidenhood, [Josh. 19:24.]
37 And as a widow even for eighty-four years. She did not go out from the temple enclosure, but was worshiping night and day with fasting and prayer.
38 And she too came up at that same hour, and she returned thanks to God and talked of [Jesus] to all who were looking for the redemption (deliverance) of Jerusalem.


Matthew 1:1–17
THE BOOK of the ancestry (genealogy) of Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the son (descendant) of David, the son (descendant) of Abraham. [Ps. 132:11; Isa. 11:1.]
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Aram,
4 Aram the father of Aminadab, Aminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,
6 Jesse the father of King David, King David the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah, [Ruth 4:18-22; I Chron. 2:13-15.]
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram [Jehoram], Joram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,
11 And Josiah became the father of Jeconiah [also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] and his brothers about the time of the removal (deportation) to Babylon. [II Kings 24:14; I Chron. 3:15, 16.]
12 After the exile to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel [Salathiel], Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Sadoc, Sadoc the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud,
15 Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, Who is called the Christ. (the Messiah, the Anointed)
17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen, from David to the Babylonian exile (deportation) fourteen generations, from the Babylonian exile to the Christ fourteen generations.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October is up and ready to read

Post in thread 'Read Through the Bible in a Year / October'

Sep 30, 2025

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 1.
Luke 1:5–80

5 In the days when Herod was king of Judea there was a certain priest whose name was Zachariah, of the daily service (the division) of Abia; and his wife was also a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 And they both were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.
7 But they had no child, for Elizabeth was barren; and both were far advanced in years.
8 Now while on duty, serving as priest before God in the order of...

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