Psalm 125

A song of ascents.

⁴ Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms^(A) of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah,^{(B) 5} and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes^(C) of grain, new wine and olive oil prescribed for the Levites, musicians and gatekeepers, as well as the contributions for the priests.

⁶ But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes^(D) king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission ⁷ and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib^(E) had done in providing Tobiah^(F) a room in the courts of the house of God. ⁸ I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room.^{(G) 9} I gave orders to purify the rooms,^(H) and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.^(I)

¹⁰ I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them,^(J) and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields.^{(K) 11} So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “Why is the house of God neglected?”^(L) Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.

¹² All Judah brought the tithes^(M) of grain, new wine and olive oil into the storerooms.^{(N) 13} I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms and made Hanan son of Zakkur, the son of Mattaniah, their assistant, because they were considered trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.^(O)

¹⁴ Remember^(P) me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.

¹⁵ In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath.^(Q) Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. ¹⁶ People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath^(R) to the people of Judah. ¹⁷ I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day? ¹⁸ Didn’t your ancestors do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity on us and on this city?^(S) Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.”^(T)

¹⁹ When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath,^(U) I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. ²¹ But I warned them and said, “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. ²² Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Remember^(V) me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.

The Woman and the Dragon

12 A great sign^(A) appeared in heaven:^(B) a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars^(C) on her head. ² She was pregnant and cried out in pain^(D) as she was about to give birth. ³ Then another sign appeared in heaven:^(E) an enormous red dragon^(F) with seven heads^(G) and ten horns^(H) and seven crowns^(I) on its heads. ⁴ Its tail swept a third^(J) of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.^(K) The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child^(L) the moment he was born. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”^[a](M) And her child was snatched up^(N) to God and to his throne. ⁶ The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.^(O)

⁷ Then war broke out in heaven. Michael^(P) and his angels fought against the dragon,^(Q) and the dragon and his angels^(R) fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent^(S) called the devil,^(T) or Satan,^(U) who leads the whole world astray.^(V) He was hurled to the earth,^(W) and his angels with him.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven^(X) say:

A Prophet Without Honor^(A)

⁵³ When Jesus had finished these parables,^(B) he moved on from there. ⁵⁴ Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue,^(C) and they were amazed.^(D) “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. ⁵⁵ “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?^(E) Isn’t his mother’s^(F) name Mary, and aren’t his brothers^(G) James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they took offense^(H) at him.

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”^(I)

⁵⁸ And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.