1 The words of Nehemiah^(A) son of Hacaliah:

News from Jerusalem

During the month of Chislev^[a](B) in the twentieth year,^[b](C) when I was in the fortress city of Susa,^{(D) 2} Hanani,^(E) one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah, and I questioned them about Jerusalem and the Jewish remnant^(F) that had survived the exile.^{(G) 3} They said to me, “The remnant in the province,^(H) who survived the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem’s wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned down.”^(I)

Nehemiah’s Prayer

⁴ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying^(J) before the God of heaven.^{(K) 5} I said,^(L)

At the time, I was the king’s cupbearer.^(Y)

Nehemiah Sent to Jerusalem

2 During the month of Nisan^[f] in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,^(Z) when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence, ² so the king said to me, “Why are you^[g] sad, when you aren’t sick? This is nothing but depression.”^[h](AA)

I was overwhelmed with fear ³ and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I^[i] not be sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”^(AB)

⁴ Then the king asked me, “What is your request?”

So I prayed to the God of heaven^{(AC) 5} and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah and to the city where my ancestors are buried,^[j](AD) so that I may rebuild it.”^(AE)

⁶ The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So I gave him a definite time,^(AF) and it pleased the king to send me.

⁷ I also said to the king: “If it pleases the king, let me have letters written to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates River,^(AG) so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah.^{(AH) 8} And let me have a letter written to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to rebuild the gates of the temple’s fortress,^(AI) the city wall, and the home where I will live.”^[k](AJ) The king granted my requests, for I was graciously strengthened by my God.^[l](AK)

⁹ I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters.^(AL) The king had also sent officers of the infantry and cavalry with me. ¹⁰ When Sanballat the Horonite^(AM) and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites, they were greatly displeased.^(AN)

Preparing to Rebuild the Walls

¹¹ After I arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days,^{(AO) 12} I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took^[m] was the one I was riding. ¹³ I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Serpent’s^[n] Well and the Dung Gate,^(AP) and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire.^{(AQ) 14} I went on to the Fountain Gate^(AR) and the King’s Pool,^(AS) but farther down it became too narrow for my animal to go through. ¹⁵ So I went up at night by way of the valley and inspected the wall. Then heading back, I entered through the Valley Gate^(AT) and returned. ¹⁶ The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work. ¹⁷ So I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned down.^(AU) Come, let’s rebuild Jerusalem’s wall,^(AV) so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” ¹⁸ I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me,^(AW) and what the king had said to me.

They said, “Let’s start rebuilding,” and they were encouraged^[o] to do this good work.

¹⁹ When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official,^(AX) and Geshem the Arab^(AY) heard about this, they mocked and despised us, and said, “What is this you’re doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

²⁰ I gave them this reply, “The God of heaven is the One who will grant us success. We, His servants, will start building, but you have no share, right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”^(AZ)

Paul Selects Timothy

16 Then he went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy,^(A) the son of a believing Jewish woman,^(B) but his father was a Greek. ² The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him.^{(C) 3} Paul wanted Timothy^[a] to go with him, so he took him and circumcised^(D) him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴ As they traveled through the towns, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem for them to observe.^{(E) 5} So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily.^(F)

Evangelization of Europe

⁶ They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia and were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia.^{(G) 7} When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus^(H) did not allow them. ⁸ So, bypassing Mysia, they came down to Troas.^{(I) 9} During the night a vision appeared to Paul: A Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!”^{(J) 10} After^(K) he had seen the vision, we^[b] immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to evangelize them.

Lydia’s Conversion

¹¹ Then, setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis, ¹² and from there to Philippi,^(L) a Roman colony, which is a leading city of that district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for a number of days. ¹³ On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there. ¹⁴ A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul.^{(M) 15} After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.”^(N) And she persuaded us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit of prediction.^[c](O) She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you^[d] the way of salvation, are the slaves of the Most High God.” ¹⁸ And she did this for many days.

But Paul was greatly aggravated and turning to the spirit, said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.^[e](P)

¹⁹ When her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas^(Q) and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. ²⁰ Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews ²¹ and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”^(R)

²² Then the mob joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.^{(S) 23} After they had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to keep them securely guarded. ²⁴ Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.^(T)

A Midnight Deliverance

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose.^{(U) 27} When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸ But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself, because all of us are here!”

²⁹ Then the jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”^(V)

³¹ So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”^{(W) 32} Then they spoke the message of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house. ³³ He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴ He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had believed God with his entire household.^(X)

An Official Apology

³⁵ When daylight came, the chief magistrates sent the police to say, “Release those men!”

³⁶ The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for you to be released. So come out now and go in peace.”^(Y)

³⁷ But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to smuggle us out secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out!”^(Z)

³⁸ Then the police reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. ³⁹ So they came and apologized to them, and escorting them out, they urged them to leave town. ⁴⁰ After leaving the jail, they came to Lydia’s house where they saw and encouraged the brothers, and departed.^(AA)

Psalm 66

Praise for God’s Mighty Acts

For the choir director. A song. A psalm.