Ezra Reads the Law

8 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before ^(A)the Water Gate. And they told ^(B)Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. ² So Ezra the priest ^(C)brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, ^(D)on the first day of the seventh month. ^3 (E)And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴ And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. ⁵ And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. ⁶ And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ^(F)“Amen, Amen,” ^(G)lifting up their hands. ^(H)And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. ^7 (I)Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites,^{[a] (J)}helped the people to understand the Law, ^(K)while the people remained in their places. ⁸ They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly,^[b] and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

This Day Is Holy

⁹ And Nehemiah, who was ^(L)the governor, and Ezra ^(M)the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ^(N)“This day is holy to the Lord your God; ^(O)do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and ^(P)send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” ¹¹ So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” ¹² And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because ^(Q)they had understood the words that were declared to them.

Feast of Booths Celebrated

¹³ On the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. ¹⁴ And they found it written in the Law that the Lord had commanded by Moses ^(R)that the people of Israel should dwell in booths^[c] during the feast of the seventh month, ¹⁵ and that they should proclaim it and ^(S)publish it in all their towns and ^(T)in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring ^(U)branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” ¹⁶ So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each ^(V)on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at ^(W)the Water Gate and in the square at ^(X)the Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷ And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day ^(Y)the people of Israel had not done so. And there was ^(Z)very great rejoicing. ¹⁸ And day by day, from the first day to the last day, ^(AA)he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and ^(AB)on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.

The People of Israel Confess Their Sin

9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of ^(AC)this month the people of Israel were assembled ^(AD)with fasting ^(AE)and in sackcloth, ^(AF)and with earth on their heads. ^2 (AG)And the Israelites^[d] separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. ^3 (AH)And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God. ⁴ On the stairs of the Levites stood ^(AI)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. ^(AJ)Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

^{6 [e] (AK)}“You are the Lord, you alone. ^(AL)You have made heaven, ^(AM)the heaven of heavens, ^(AN)with all their host, ^(AO)the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; ^(AP)and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. ⁷ You are the Lord, the God ^(AQ)who chose Abram and brought him out of ^(AR)Ur of the Chaldeans ^(AS)and gave him the name Abraham. ^8 (AT)You found his heart faithful before you, ^(AU)and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring ^(AV)the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. ^(AW)And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

^9 (AX)“And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard ^(AY)their cry at the Red Sea, ^10 (AZ)and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that ^(BA)they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And ^(BB)you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. ^11 (BC)And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, ^(BD)as a stone into mighty waters. ¹² By ^(BE)a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. ^13 (BF)You came down on Mount Sinai ^(BG)and spoke with them from heaven and gave them ^(BH)right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, ^14 (BI)and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. ^15 (BJ)You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and ^(BK)brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you ^(BL)told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.

¹⁶ “But they and our fathers ^(BM)acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. ¹⁷ They refused to obey ^(BN)and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.^[f] But you are a God ready to forgive, ^(BO)gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. ¹⁸ Even ^(BP)when they had made for themselves a golden^[g] calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ ^(BQ)and had committed great blasphemies, ¹⁹ you ^(BR)in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. ^(BS)The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, ^(BT)nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. ^20 (BU)You gave your good Spirit to instruct them ^(BV)and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. ^21 (BW)Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

²² “And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. ^(BX)So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon ^(BY)and the land of Og king of Bashan. ²³ You multiplied their children ^(BZ)as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. ^24 (CA)So the descendants went in and possessed the land, ^(CB)and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. ²⁵ And they captured ^(CC)fortified cities and ^(CD)a rich land, and took possession of ^(CE)houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled ^(CF)and became fat and delighted themselves in ^(CG)your great goodness.

^26 (CH)“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you ^(CI)and cast your law behind their back ^(CJ)and killed your prophets, who ^(CK)had warned them in order to turn them back to you, ^(CL)and they committed great blasphemies. ^27 (CM)Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. ^(CN)And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them ^(CO)saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. ^28 (CP)But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, ^(CQ)and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. ^29 (CR)And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet ^(CS)they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, ^(CT)which if a person does them, he shall live by them, ^(CU)and they turned a stubborn shoulder ^(CV)and stiffened their neck and would not obey. ³⁰ Many years ^(CW)you bore with them ^(CX)and warned them ^(CY)by your Spirit through your prophets. ^(CZ)Yet they would not give ear. ^(DA)Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. ³¹ Nevertheless, ^(DB)in your great mercies ^(DC)you did not make an end of them or forsake them, ^(DD)for you are a gracious and merciful God.

³² “Now, therefore, our God, ^(DE)the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, ^(DF)since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. ^33 (DG)Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully ^(DH)and we have acted wickedly. ³⁴ Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. ³⁵ Even in their own kingdom, ^(DI)and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and ^(DJ)rich land that you set before them, ^(DK)they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. ³⁶ Behold, ^(DL)we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. ^37 (DM)And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.

^38 [h] “Because of all this ^(DN)we make a firm covenant in writing; on ^(DO)the sealed document are the names of^[i] our princes, our Levites, and our priests.

Healing of a Man on the Sabbath

14 One Sabbath, ^(A)when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were ^(B)watching him carefully. ² And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. ³ And Jesus responded to ^(C)the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, ^(D)“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” ⁴ But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. ⁵ And he said to them, ^(E)“Which of you, having a son^[a] or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” ^6 (F)And they could not reply to these things.

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

⁷ Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed ^(G)how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, ⁹ and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, ^(H)so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. ¹¹ For ^(I)everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Parable of the Great Banquet

¹² He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give ^(J)a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers^[b] or your relatives or rich neighbors, ^(K)lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a feast, ^(L)invite ^(M)the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid ^(N)at ^(O)the resurrection of the just.”

¹⁵ When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, ^(P)“Blessed is everyone who will ^(Q)eat bread in the kingdom of God!” ¹⁶ But he said to him, ^(R)“A man once ^(S)gave a great banquet and invited many. ¹⁷ And at the time for the banquet he ^(T)sent his servant^[c] to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ ¹⁸ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ ¹⁹ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ ²⁰ And another said, ^(U)‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ ²¹ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in ^(V)the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ ²² And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ ²³ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. ²⁴ For I tell you,^{[d] (W)}none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

The Cost of Discipleship

²⁵ Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ^26 (X)“If anyone comes to me and ^(Y)does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, ^(Z)yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ^27 (AA)Whoever does not ^(AB)bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not ^(AC)first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not ^(AD)sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ^33 (AE)So therefore, any one of you who ^(AF)does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Salt Without Taste Is Worthless

^34 (AG)“Salt is good, ^(AH)but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? ³⁵ It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. ^(AI)He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”