Report from Jerusalem

1 The words of ^(A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in the month of ^(B)Chislev, ^(C)in the twentieth year, as I was in ^(D)Susa the citadel, ² that ^(E)Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. ³ And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and ^(F)shame. ^(G)The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, ^(H)and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

Nehemiah's Prayer

⁴ As soon as I heard these words I ^(I)sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the ^(J)God of heaven. ⁵ And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, ^(K)the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ^6 (L)let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, ^(M)confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even ^(N)I and my father's house have sinned. ^7 (O)We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules ^(P)that you commanded your servant Moses. ⁸ Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, ^(Q)I will scatter you among the peoples, ^9 (R)but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, ^(S)though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them ^(T)to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ ^10 (U)They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, ^(V)let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

Now I was ^(W)cupbearer to the king.

Nehemiah Sent to Judah

2 In the month of Nisan, ^(A)in the twentieth year of King ^(B)Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, ^(C)I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. ² And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but ^(D)sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. ³ I said to the king, ^(E)“Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, ^(F)when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” ⁴ Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed ^(G)to the God of heaven. ⁵ And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it.” ⁶ And the king said to me (^(H)the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me ^(I)when I had given him a time. ⁷ And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me ^(J)to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, ⁸ and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of ^(K)the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, ^(L)for the good hand of my God was upon me.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem's Walls

⁹ Then I came to ^(M)the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. ¹⁰ But when ^(N)Sanballat the Horonite and ^(O)Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

^11 (P)So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. ¹² Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. ¹³ I went out by night by ^(Q)the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to ^(R)the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem ^(S)that were broken down ^(T)and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. ¹⁴ Then I went on to ^(U)the Fountain Gate and to ^(V)the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. ¹⁵ Then I went up in the night ^(W)by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. ¹⁶ And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, ^(X)how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer ^(Y)suffer derision.” ¹⁸ And I told them ^(Z)of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” ^(AA)So they strengthened their hands for the good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and ^(AB)Geshem the Arab heard of it, ^(AC)they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? ^(AD)Are you rebelling against the king?” ²⁰ Then I replied to them, ^(AE)“The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim^[a] in Jerusalem.”

Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

10 After this the Lord appointed ^(A)seventy-two^[a] others and ^(B)sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. ^2 (C)And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ^(D)Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ³ Go your way; ^(E)behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. ^4 (F)Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and ^(G)greet no one on the road. ⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, ^(H)‘Peace be to this house!’ ⁶ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, ^(I)it will return to you. ⁷ And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for ^(J)the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. ⁸ Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. ⁹ Heal the sick in it and say to them, ^(K)‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ^11 (L)‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that ^(M)the kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹² I tell you, ^(N)it will be more bearable on ^(O)that day for Sodom than for that town.

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

^13 (P)“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in ^(Q)Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ^14 (R)But it will be more bearable in the judgment for ^(S)Tyre and Sidon than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, ^(T)will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to ^(U)Hades.

^16 (V)“The one who hears you hears me, and ^(W)the one who rejects you rejects me, and ^(X)the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The Return of the Seventy-Two

^17 (Y)The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, ^(Z)even the demons are subject to us in your name!” ¹⁸ And he said to them, ^(AA)“I saw Satan ^(AB)fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority ^(AC)to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of ^(AD)the enemy, and ^(AE)nothing shall hurt you. ^20 (AF)Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that ^(AG)your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus Rejoices in the Father's Will

^21 (AH)In that same hour ^(AI)he rejoiced ^(AJ)in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, ^(AK)Lord of heaven and earth, that ^(AL)you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and ^(AM)revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for ^(AN)such was your gracious will.^{[b] 22 (AO)}All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is ^(AP)except the Father, or who the Father is ^(AQ)except the Son and anyone ^(AR)to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

²³ Then turning to the disciples he said privately, ^(AS)“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! ²⁴ For I tell you ^(AT)that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

^25 (AU)And behold, a ^(AV)lawyer stood up to ^(AW)put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to ^(AX)inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷ And he answered, ^(AY)“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and ^(AZ)your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; ^(BA)do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But he, ^(BB)desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man ^(BC)was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a ^(BD)priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise ^(BE)a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a ^(BF)Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ He went to him and ^(BG)bound up his wounds, pouring on ^(BH)oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ And the next day he took out two ^(BI)denarii^[c] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Martha and Mary

³⁸ Now as they went on their way, Jesus^[d] entered a village. And a woman named ^(BJ)Martha ^(BK)welcomed him into her house. ³⁹ And she had a sister called ^(BL)Mary, who ^(BM)sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are ^(BN)anxious and troubled about many things, ⁴² but one thing is necessary.^[e] Mary has chosen ^(BO)the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”