Bible Reading
August 6
The World English Bible
Aug.
6
Ezra
7-8
Ezr
7:1 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of
Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of
Hilkiah,
Ezr
7:2 the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
Ezr
7:3 the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
Ezr
7:4 the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
Ezr
7:5 the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the
son of Aaron the chief priest;
Ezr
7:6 this Ezra went up from Babylon: and he was a ready scribe in the
law of Moses, which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given; and the
king granted him all his request, according to the hand of Yahweh his
God on him.
Ezr
7:7 There went up some of the children of Israel, and of the
priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the
Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
Ezr
7:8 He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the
seventh year of the king.
Ezr
7:9 For on the first day
of the first month began he to go up from Babylon; and on the first
day of the
fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his
God on him.
Ezr
7:10 For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of Yahweh, and to do
it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.
Ezr
7:11 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes
gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of
the commandments of Yahweh, and of his statutes to Israel:
Ezr
7:12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of
the law of the God of heaven, perfect and so forth.
Ezr
7:13 I make a decree, that all those of the people of Israel, and
their priests and the Levites, in my realm, who are minded of their
own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with you.
Ezr
7:14 Because you are sent of the king and his seven counselors, to
inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your
God which is in your hand,
Ezr
7:15 and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his
counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation
is in Jerusalem,
Ezr
7:16 and all the silver and gold that you shall find in all the
province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of
the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is
in Jerusalem;
Ezr
7:17 therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money
bulls, rams, lambs, with their meal offerings and their drink
offerings, and shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God
which is in Jerusalem.
Ezr
7:18 Whatever shall seem good to you and to your brothers to do with
the rest of the silver and the gold, do that after the will of your
God.
Ezr
7:19 The vessels that are given to you for the service of the house
of your God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem.
Ezr
7:20 Whatever more shall be needful for the house of your God, which
you shall have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's
treasure house.
Ezr
7:21 I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the
treasurers who are beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest,
the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it
be done with all diligence,
Ezr
7:22 to one hundred talents of silver, and to one hundred measures
of wheat, and to one hundred baths of wine, and to one hundred baths
of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
Ezr
7:23 Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done
exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be
wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
Ezr
7:24 Also we inform you, that touching any of the priests and
Levites, the singers, porters, Nethinim, or servants of this house of
God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll, on
them.
Ezr
7:25 You, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God who is in your hand,
appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people who are
beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach
him who doesn't know them.
Ezr
7:26 Whoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the
king, let judgment be executed on him with all diligence, whether it
be to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to
imprisonment.
Ezr
7:27 Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, who has put such a
thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of Yahweh
which is in Jerusalem;
Ezr
7:28 and has extended loving kindness to me before the king, and his
counselors, and before all the king's mighty princes. I was
strengthened according to the hand of Yahweh my God on me, and I
gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.
Ezr
8:1 Now these are the heads of their fathers' houses,
and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon,
in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:
Ezr
8:2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar,
Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.
Ezr
8:3 Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and
with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males one hundred fifty.
Ezr
8:4 Of the sons of Pahathmoab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and
with him two hundred males.
Ezr
8:5 Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him
three hundred males.
Ezr
8:6 Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him
fifty males.
Ezr
8:7 Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him
seventy males.
Ezr
8:8 Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with
him eighty males.
Ezr
8:9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two
hundred and eighteen males.
Ezr
8:10 Of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him
one hundred sixty males.
Ezr
8:11 Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him
twenty-eight males.
Ezr
8:12 Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him
one hundred ten males.
Ezr
8:13 Of the sons of Adonikam, who were
the last; and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah;
and with them sixty males.
Ezr
8:14 Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy
males.
Ezr
8:15 I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava; and
there we encamped three days: and I viewed the people, and the
priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.
Ezr
8:16 Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for
Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for
Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for
Elnathan, who were teachers.
Ezr
8:17 I sent them forth to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and
I told them what they should tell Iddo, and
his brothers the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should
bring to us ministers for the house of our God.
Ezr
8:18 According to the good hand of our God on us they brought us a
man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of
Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen;
Ezr
8:19 and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his
brothers and their sons, twenty;
Ezr
8:20 and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for
the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all of
them were mentioned by name.
Ezr
8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we
might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way
for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
Ezr
8:22 For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and
horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had
spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God is on all those who
seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those
who forsake him.
Ezr
8:23 So we fasted and begged our God for this: and he was entreated
of us.
Ezr
8:24 Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even
Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,
Ezr
8:25 and weighed to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels,
even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his
counselors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had
offered:
Ezr
8:26 I weighed into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver,
and silver vessels one hundred talents; of gold one hundred talents;
Ezr
8:27 and twenty bowls of gold, of one thousand darics; and two
vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold.
Ezr
8:28 I said to them, You are holy to Yahweh, and the vessels are
holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh,
the God of your fathers.
Ezr
8:29 Watch, and keep them, until you weigh them before the chiefs of
the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers' houses
of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Yahweh.
Ezr
8:30 So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the
silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to
the house of our God.
Ezr
8:31 Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day
of the first month, to go to Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was
on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the bandit
by the way.
Ezr
8:32 We came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
Ezr
8:33 On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were
weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of
Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and
with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of
Binnui, the Levite;
Ezr
8:34 the whole by number and by weight: and all the weight was
written at that time.
Ezr
8:35 The children of the captivity, who had come out of exile,
offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all
Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats
for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering to Yahweh.
Ezr
8:36 They delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps,
and to the governors beyond the River: and they furthered the people
and the house of God.
Aug.
5, 6
Acts
21
Act
21:1 When it happened that we had parted from them and had set sail,
we came with a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes,
and from there to Patara.
Act
21:2 Having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard,
and set sail.
Act
21:3 When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left
hand, we sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was
to unload her cargo.
Act
21:4 Having found disciples, we stayed there seven days. These said
to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.
Act
21:5 When it happened that we had accomplished the days, we departed
and went on our journey. They all, with wives and children, brought
us on our way until we were out of the city. Kneeling down on the
beach, we prayed.
Act
21:6 After saying goodbye to each other, we went on board the ship,
and they returned home again.
Act
21:7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at
Ptolemais. We greeted the brothers, and stayed with them one day.
Act
21:8 On the next day, we, who were Paul's companions, departed, and
came to Caesarea. We entered into the house of Philip the evangelist,
who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.
Act
21:9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.
Act
21:10 As we stayed there some days, a certain prophet named Agabus
came down from Judea.
Act
21:11 Coming to us, and taking Paul's belt, he bound his own feet
and hands, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit: 'So will the
Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and will deliver
him into the hands of the Gentiles.' "
Act
21:12 When we heard these things, both we and they of that place
begged him not to go up to Jerusalem.
Act
21:13 Then Paul answered, "What are you doing, weeping and
breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to
die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."
Act
21:14 When he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "The
Lord's will be done."
Act
21:15 After these days we took up our baggage and went up to
Jerusalem.
Act
21:16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us,
bringing one Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we would
stay.
Act
21:17 When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us
gladly.
Act
21:18 The day following, Paul went in with us to James; and all the
elders were present.
Act
21:19 When he had greeted them, he reported one by one the things
which God had worked among the Gentiles through his ministry.
Act
21:20 They, when they heard it, glorified God. They said to him,
"You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews
of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.
Act
21:21 They have been informed about you, that you teach all the Jews
who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to
circumcise their children neither to walk after the customs.
Act
21:22 What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will
hear that you have come.
Act
21:23 Therefore do what we tell you. We have four men who have taken
a vow.
Act
21:24 Take them, and purify yourself with them, and pay their
expenses for them, that they may shave their heads. Then all will
know that there is no truth in the things that they have been
informed about you, but that you yourself also walk keeping the law.
Act
21:25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written our
decision that they should observe no such thing, except that they
should keep themselves from food offered to idols, from blood, from
strangled things, and from sexual immorality."
Act
21:26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purified himself and
went with them into the temple, declaring the fulfillment of the days
of purification, until the offering was offered for every one of
them.
Act
21:27 When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia,
when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the multitude and
laid hands on him,
Act
21:28 crying out, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who
teaches all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this
place. Moreover, he also brought Greeks into the temple, and has
defiled this holy place!"
Act
21:29 For they had seen Trophimus, the Ephesian, with him in the
city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.
Act
21:30 All the city was moved, and the people ran together. They
seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple. Immediately the doors
were shut.
Act
21:31 As they were trying to kill him, news came up to the
commanding officer of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in an
uproar.
Act
21:32 Immediately he took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to
them. They, when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, stopped
beating Paul.
Act
21:33 Then the commanding officer came near, arrested him, commanded
him to be bound with two chains, and inquired who he was and what he
had done.
Act
21:34 Some shouted one thing, and some another, among the crowd.
When he couldn't find out the truth because of the noise, he
commanded him to be brought into the barracks.
Act
21:35 When he came to the stairs, it happened that he was carried by
the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd;
Act
21:36 for the multitude of the people followed after, crying out,
"Away with him!"
Act
21:37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he asked
the commanding officer, "May I speak to you?" He said, "Do
you know Greek?
Act
21:38 Aren't you then the Egyptian, who before these days stirred up
to sedition and led out into the wilderness the four thousand men of
the Assassins?"
Act
21:39 But Paul said, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a
citizen of no insignificant city. I beg you, allow me to speak to the
people."
Act
21:40 When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the
stairs, beckoned with his hand to the people. When there was a great
silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying,
