Daniel Serves Darius

6 ^[a]It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom, to be in charge of the whole kingdom, ² and over them, three commissioners (of whom ^(A)Daniel was one), so that these satraps would be accountable to them, and that the king would not ^[b]suffer ^(B)loss. ³ Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself ^[c]among the commissioners and satraps because ^[d]he possessed an ^(C)extraordinary spirit, and the king intended to appoint him over the ^(D)entire kingdom. ⁴ Then the commissioners and satraps began ^(E)trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel regarding ^[e]government affairs; but they could find ^(F)no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. ⁵ Then these men said, “We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him regarding the ^(G)law of his God.”

⁶ Then these commissioners and satraps came ^[f]by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows: “King Darius, ^(H)live forever! ⁷ All the ^(I)commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors, have ^(J)consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who offers a prayer to any god or person besides you, O king, for thirty days, shall ^(K)be thrown into the lions’ ^[g]den. ⁸ Now, O king, ^(L)establish the injunction and sign the document so that it will not be changed, according to the ^(M)law of the Medes and Persians, which ^[h]may not be revoked.” ⁹ Thereupon, King Darius ^(N)signed the document, that is, the injunction.

¹⁰ Now when Daniel learned that the document was signed, he entered his house (and in his roof chamber he had windows open ^(O)toward Jerusalem); and he continued ^(P)kneeling on his knees three times a day, ^(Q)praying and ^(R)offering praise before his God, just as he had been doing previously. ¹¹ Then these men came ^[i](S)by agreement and found Daniel offering a prayer and imploring favor before his God. ¹² Then they approached and ^(T)spoke before the king about the king’s injunction: “Did you not sign an injunction that any person who offers a prayer to any god or person besides you, O king, for thirty days, is to be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king replied, “The statement is true, according to the ^(U)law of the Medes and Persians, which ^[j]may not be revoked.” ¹³ Then they responded and spoke before the king, “^(V)Daniel, who is one of the ^[k]exiles from Judah, pays ^(W)no attention to you, O king, or to the injunction which you signed, but keeps offering his prayer three times a day.”

¹⁴ Then, as soon as the king heard this statement, he was deeply ^(X)distressed, and set his mind on rescuing Daniel; and until sunset he kept exerting himself to save him. ¹⁵ Then these men came ^[l]by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Recognize, O king, that it is a ^(Y)law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

¹⁶ Then the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and ^(Z)thrown into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “^[m](AA)Your God whom you continually serve will Himself rescue you.” ¹⁷ And a ^(AB)stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing would be changed regarding Daniel. ¹⁸ Then the king went to his palace and spent the night ^(AC)fasting, and no entertainment was brought before him; and his ^(AD)sleep fled from him.

¹⁹ Then the king got up at dawn, at the break of day, and went in a hurry to the lions’ den. ²⁰ And when he had come near the den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice. The king began speaking and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has ^(AE)your God, whom you continually serve, been ^(AF)able to rescue you from the lions?” ²¹ Then Daniel spoke ^[n]to the king, “^(AG)O king, live forever! ²² My God ^(AH)sent His angel and ^(AI)shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, since ^[o]I was found innocent before Him; and also ^[p]toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.” ²³ Then the king was very glad and gave orders for Daniel to be lifted up out of the den. So Daniel was lifted up out of the den, and ^(AJ)no injury whatever was found on him, because he had ^(AK)trusted in his God.

Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered

2 And it came about in the month Nisan, ^(A)in the twentieth year of King ^(B)Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and ^(C)I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. ² So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? ^(D)This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. ³ And I said to the king, “^(E)May the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad ^(F)when the city, the ^[a]site of my fathers’ tombs, is desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” ⁴ Then the king said to me, “^[b]What would you request?” ^(G)So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, I request that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” ⁶ Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and ^(H)I gave him a definite time. ⁷ And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me ^(I)for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, so that they will allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, ⁸ and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s ^(J)forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of ^(K)the citadel which is by the ^[c]temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because ^(L)the good hand of my God was on me.

⁹ Then I came to ^(M)the governors of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River and gave them the king’s letters. Now ^(N)the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. ¹⁰ And when ^(O)Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[d]official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls

¹¹ So I ^(P)came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. ¹² And I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my ^[e]mind to do for Jerusalem, and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. ¹³ So I went out at night by ^(Q)the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Spring and on to the Dung Gate, and I was inspecting the walls of Jerusalem ^(R)which were broken down and its ^(S)gates which had been consumed by fire. ¹⁴ Then I passed on to ^(T)the Fountain Gate and ^(U)the King’s Pool, but there was no place for ^[f]my mount to pass. ¹⁵ So I was going up at night by the ^(V)ravine and inspecting the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned. ¹⁶ However, the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who were doing the work.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that ^(W)Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” ¹⁸ And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let’s arise and build.” ^(X)So they put their hands to the good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[g]official, and ^(Y)Geshem the Arab heard about it, ^(Z)they mocked us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? ^(AA)Are you rebelling against the king?” ²⁰ So I answered them and said to them, “^(AB)The God of heaven will make us successful; therefore we His servants will arise and build, ^(AC)but you have no part, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”

A Tree and Its Fruit

¹⁵ “Beware of the ^(A)false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ^(B)ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will ^[a](C)know them by their fruits. ^[b]Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? ¹⁷ So ^(D)every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ^19 (E)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ So then, you will ^[c]know them ^(F)by their fruits.

²¹ “^(G)Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ^22 (H)Many will say to Me on ^(I)that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many ^[d]miracles?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; ^(J)leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

The Two Foundations

²⁴ “Therefore, ^(K)everyone who hears these words of Mine, and ^[e]acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell and the ^[f]floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not ^[g]act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ And the rain fell and the ^[h]floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.”

^28 [i](L)When Jesus had finished these words, ^(M)the crowds were amazed at His teaching; ²⁹ for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

The Excellence of Love

13 If I speak with the ^(A)tongues of mankind and of ^(B)angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a ^(C)clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of ^(D)prophecy and know all ^(E)mysteries and all ^(F)knowledge, and if I have ^(G)all faith so as to ^(H)remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ And if I ^(I)give away all my possessions to charity, and if I ^(J)surrender my body so that I may ^[a]glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.

⁴ Love ^(K)is patient, love is kind, it ^(L)is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not ^(M)arrogant. ⁵ It does not act disgracefully, it ^(N)does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, ^(O)does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, ^6 (P)it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but ^(Q)rejoices with the truth; ⁷ it ^[b](R)keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never fails; but if there are gifts of ^[c](S)prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are ^(T)tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with. ⁹ For we ^(U)know in part and prophesy in part; ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with. ¹¹ When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I ^[d]became a man, I did away with childish things. ¹² For now we ^(V)see in a mirror ^[e]dimly, but then ^(W)face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also ^(X)have been fully known. ¹³ But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the ^[f]greatest of these is ^(Y)love.