¹² But Moses’ hands became ^[a]heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

¹⁷ So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. ¹⁸ Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; ^(A)you are not able to perform it by yourself. ¹⁹ Listen now to my voice; I will give you ^[a]counsel, and God will be with you: Stand ^(B)before God for the people, so that you may ^(C)bring the difficulties to God. ²⁰ And you shall ^(D)teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and ^(E)the work they must do. ²¹ Moreover you shall select from all the people ^(F)able men, such as ^(G)fear God, ^(H)men of truth, ^(I)hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ²² And let them judge the people at all times. ^(J)Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for ^(K)they will bear the burden with you. ²³ If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their ^(L)place in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ²⁵ And ^(M)Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ²⁶ So they judged the people at all times; the ^(N)hard^[b] cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

²⁷ Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and ^(O)he went his way to his own land.

²¹ And ^(A)every man stood in his place all around the camp; ^(B)and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.

^68 (A)Some of the heads of the fathers’ houses, when they came to the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God, to erect it in its place: ⁶⁹ According to their ability, they gave to the ^(B)treasury for the work sixty-one thousand gold drachmas, five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priestly garments.

The Wall Defended Against Enemies

4 But it so happened, ^(A)when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. ² And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?”

³ Now ^(B)Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”

^4 (C)Hear, O our God, for we are despised; ^(D)turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! ^5 (E)Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.

⁶ So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

⁷ Now it happened, ^(F)when Sanballat, Tobiah, ^(G)the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the ^[a]gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, ⁸ and all of them ^(H)conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. ⁹ Nevertheless ^(I)we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.

¹⁰ Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.”

¹¹ And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.”

¹² So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, “From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.”

¹³ Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. ¹⁴ And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, ^(J)“Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, ^(K)great and awesome, and ^(L)fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

¹⁵ And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and ^(M)that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. ¹⁶ So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders ^[b]were behind all the house of Judah. ¹⁷ Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. ¹⁸ Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

¹⁹ Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. ²⁰ Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. ^(N)Our God will fight for us.”

²¹ So we labored in the work, and half of ^[c]the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. ²² At the same time I also said to the people, “Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day.” ²³ So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.

Ezra Reads and Explains the Law

8 Now all ^(A)the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was ^(B)in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the ^(C)scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. ² So Ezra the priest brought ^(D)the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding ^(E)on the first day of the seventh month. ³ Then he ^(F)read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate ^[a]from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

⁴ So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose; and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. ⁵ And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people ^(G)stood up.

Sending Out the Twelve^(A)

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: ^(B)“Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of ^(C)the Samaritans. ^6 (D)But go rather to the ^(E)lost sheep of the house of Israel. ^7 (F)And as you go, preach, saying, ^(G)‘The kingdom of heaven ^[a]is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, ^[b]cleanse the lepers, ^[c]raise the dead, cast out demons. ^(H)Freely you have received, freely give. ^9 (I)Provide neither gold nor silver nor ^(J)copper in your money belts, ¹⁰ nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; ^(K)for a worker is worthy of his food.

^11 (L)“Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. ¹² And when you go into a household, greet it. ^13 (M)If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. ^(N)But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ^14 (O)And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, ^(P)shake off the dust from your feet. ¹⁵ Assuredly, I say to you, ^(Q)it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!