Leaving All to Follow Christ^(A)

²⁵ Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, ^26 (B)“If anyone comes to Me ^(C)and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, ^(D)yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ And ^(E)whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For ^(F)which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— ²⁹ lest, after he has laid the 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 to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. ³³ So likewise, whoever of you ^(G)does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

Tasteless Salt Is Worthless^(H)

^34 (I)“Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? ³⁵ It is neither fit for the land nor for the ^[a]dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Great Apostasy

4 Now the Spirit ^[a]expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed ^(A)to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, ^2 (B)speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience ^(C)seared with a hot iron, ³ forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; ⁵ for it is ^[b]sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

A Good Servant of Jesus Christ

⁶ If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, ^(D)nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. ⁷ But ^(E)reject profane and old wives’ fables, and ^(F)exercise yourself toward godliness. ⁸ For ^(G)bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, ^(H)having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. ⁹ This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. ¹⁰ For to this end ^[c]we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, ^(I)who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. ¹¹ These things command and teach.

Take Heed to Your Ministry

¹² Let no one ^[d]despise your youth, but be an ^(J)example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, ^[e]in spirit, in faith, in purity. ¹³ Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to ^[f]doctrine. ^14 (K)Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy ^(L)with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. ¹⁵ Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. ¹⁶ Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

Dangerous Promises

The Folly of Indolence

The Wicked Man

Beware of Adultery

Heads of Families Who Returned with Ezra

8 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of King Artaxerxes: ² of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, ^(A)Hattush; ³ of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of ^(B)Parosh, Zechariah; and registered with him were one hundred and fifty males; ⁴ of the sons of ^(C)Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males; ⁵ of ^[a]the sons of Shechaniah, Ben-Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males; ⁶ of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males; ⁷ of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males; ⁸ of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him eighty males; ⁹ of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males; ¹⁰ of ^[b]the sons of Shelomith, Ben-Josiphiah, and with him one hundred and sixty males; ¹¹ of the sons of ^(D)Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males; ¹² of the sons of Azgad, Johanan ^[c]the son of Hakkatan, and with him one hundred and ten males; ¹³ of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these—Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah—and with them sixty males; ¹⁴ also of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and ^[d]Zabbud, and with them seventy males.

Servants for the Temple

¹⁵ Now I gathered them by the river that flows to Ahava, and we camped there three days. And I looked among the people and the priests, and found none of the ^(E)sons of Levi there. ¹⁶ Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and ^(F)Meshullam, leaders; also for Joiarib and Elnathan, men of understanding. ¹⁷ And I gave them a command for Iddo the chief man at the place Casiphia, and ^[e]I told them what they should say to ^[f]Iddo and his brethren the Nethinim at the place Casiphia—that they should bring us servants for the house of our God. ¹⁸ Then, by the good hand of our God upon us, they ^(G)brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and brothers, eighteen men; ¹⁹ and ^(H)Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty men; ^20 (I)also of the Nethinim, whom David and the leaders had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim. All of them were designated by name.

Fasting and Prayer for Protection

²¹ Then I ^(J)proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might ^(K)humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the ^(L)right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. ²² For ^(M)I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, ^(N)“The hand of our God is upon all those for ^(O)good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are ^(P)against all those who ^(Q)forsake Him.” ²³ So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He ^(R)answered our prayer.

Gifts for the Temple

²⁴ And I separated twelve of the leaders of the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them— ²⁵ and weighed out to them ^(S)the silver, the gold, and the articles, the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes, and all Israel who were present, had offered. ²⁶ I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, silver articles weighing one hundred talents, one hundred talents of gold, ²⁷ twenty gold basins worth a thousand drachmas, and two vessels of fine polished bronze, precious as gold. ²⁸ And I said to them, “You are ^(T)holy^[g] to the Lord; the articles are ^(U)holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers. ²⁹ Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the leaders of the priests and the Levites and ^(V)heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the priests and the Levites received the silver and the gold and the articles by weight, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

The Return to Jerusalem

³¹ Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And ^(W)the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road. ³² So we ^(X)came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days.

³³ Now on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the articles were ^(Y)weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; with them were the Levites, ^(Z)Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui, ³⁴ with the number and weight of everything. All the weight was written down at that time.

³⁵ The children of those who had been ^(AA)carried away captive, who had come from the captivity, ^(AB)offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord.

³⁶ And they delivered the king’s ^(AC)orders to the king’s satraps and the governors in the region beyond ^[h]the River. So they gave support to the people and the ^[i]house of God.