Prayer for Mercy, with Meditation on the Excellencies of the Lord

A Prayer of David.

The Gold Calf^(A)

32 Now when the people saw that Moses ^(B)delayed coming down from the mountain, the people ^(C)gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, ^(D)“Come, make us ^[a]gods that shall ^(E)go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who ^(F)brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

² And Aaron said to them, “Break off the ^(G)golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. ^4 (H)And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.

Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that ^(I)brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

⁵ So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a ^(J)proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” ⁶ Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people ^(K)sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(L)“Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt ^(M)have corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way which ^(N)I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ^(O)‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ” ⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(P)“I have seen this people, and indeed it is a ^[b]stiff-necked people! ¹⁰ Now therefore, ^(Q)let Me alone, that ^(R)My wrath may burn hot against them and I may ^[c]consume them. And ^(S)I will make of you a great nation.”

^11 (T)Then Moses pleaded with ^[d]the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ^12 (U)Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and ^(V)relent from this harm to Your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You ^(W)swore by Your own self, and said to them, ^(X)‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” ¹⁴ So the Lord ^(Y)relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

¹⁵ And ^(Z)Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. ¹⁶ Now the ^(AA)tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.

¹⁷ And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”

¹⁸ But he said:

¹⁹ So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that ^(AB)he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. ^20 (AC)Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. ²¹ And Moses said to Aaron, ^(AD)“What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”

²² So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. ^(AE)You know the people, that they are set on evil. ²³ For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ²⁴ And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”

²⁵ Now when Moses saw that the people were ^(AF)unrestrained (for Aaron ^(AG)had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), ²⁶ then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. ²⁷ And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and ^(AH)let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’ ” ²⁸ So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. ^29 (AI)Then Moses said, ^[e]“Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.”

³⁰ Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, ^(AJ)“You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; ^(AK)perhaps I can ^(AL)make atonement for your sin.” ³¹ Then Moses ^(AM)returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have ^(AN)made for themselves a god of gold! ³² Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, ^(AO)blot me ^(AP)out of Your book which You have written.”

³³ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(AQ)“Whoever has sinned against Me, I will ^(AR)blot him out of My book. ³⁴ Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have ^(AS)spoken to you. ^(AT)Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, ^(AU)in the day when I ^(AV)visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.”

³⁵ So the Lord plagued the people because of ^(AW)what they did with the calf which Aaron made.

Nehemiah Dedicates the Wall

²⁷ Now at ^(A)the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, ^(B)both with thanksgivings and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps. ²⁸ And the sons of the singers gathered together from the countryside around Jerusalem, from the ^(C)villages of the Netophathites, ²⁹ from the house of Gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem. ³⁰ Then the priests and Levites ^(D)purified themselves, and purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

³¹ So I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs. ^(E)One went to the right hand on the wall ^(F)toward the Refuse Gate. ³² After them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, ³³ and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴ Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, ³⁵ and some of the priests’ sons ^(G)with trumpets—Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, ³⁶ and his brethren, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with ^(H)the musical ^(I)instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. ^37 (J)By the Fountain Gate, in front of them, they went up ^(K)the stairs of the ^(L)City of David, on the stairway of the wall, beyond the house of David, as far as ^(M)the Water Gate eastward.

^38 (N)The other thanksgiving choir went the opposite way, and I was behind them with half of the people on the wall, going past the ^(O)Tower of the Ovens as far as ^(P)the Broad Wall, ^39 (Q)and above the Gate of Ephraim, above ^(R)the Old Gate, above ^(S)the Fish Gate, ^(T)the Tower of Hananel, the Tower of ^[a]the Hundred, as far as ^(U)the Sheep Gate; and they stopped by ^(V)the Gate of the Prison.

⁴⁰ So the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God, likewise I and the half of the rulers with me; ⁴¹ and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, ^[b]Minjamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; ⁴² also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers ^[c]sang loudly with Jezrahiah the director.

⁴³ Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard ^(W)afar off.

Temple Responsibilities

^44 (X)And at the same time some were appointed over the rooms of the storehouse for the offerings, the firstfruits, and the ^(Y)tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who ^[d]ministered. ⁴⁵ Both the singers and the gatekeepers kept the charge of their God and the charge of the purification, ^(Z)according to the command of David and Solomon his son. ⁴⁶ For in the days of David ^(AA)and Asaph of old there were chiefs of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷ In the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah all Israel gave the portions for the singers and the gatekeepers, a portion for ^(AB)each day. ^(AC)They also ^[e]consecrated holy things for the Levites, ^(AD)and the Levites consecrated them for the children of Aaron.

Stewards of the Mysteries of God

4 Let a man so consider us, as ^(A)servants of Christ ^(B)and stewards of the mysteries of God. ² Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. ³ But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human ^[a]court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. ^5 (C)Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to ^(D)light the hidden things of darkness and ^(E)reveal the ^[b]counsels of the hearts. ^(F)Then each one’s praise will come from God.

Fools for Christ’s Sake

⁶ Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be ^[c]puffed up on behalf of one against the other. ⁷ For who ^[d]makes you differ from another? And ^(G)what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

⁸ You are already full! ^(H)You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a ^(I)spectacle ^[e]to the world, both to angels and to men. ¹⁰ We are ^(J)fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! ^(K)We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! ¹¹ To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. ^12 (L)And we labor, working with our own hands. ^(M)Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; ¹³ being defamed, we ^[f]entreat. ^(N)We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

Paul’s Paternal Care

¹⁴ I do not write these things to shame you, but ^(O)as my beloved children I warn you. ¹⁵ For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for ^(P)in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. ¹⁶ Therefore I urge you, ^(Q)imitate me. ¹⁷ For this reason I have sent ^(R)Timothy to you, ^(S)who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will ^(T)remind you of my ways in Christ, as I ^(U)teach everywhere ^(V)in every church.

^18 (W)Now some are ^[g]puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. ^19 (X)But I will come to you shortly, ^(Y)if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. ²⁰ For ^(Z)the kingdom of God is not in word but in ^(AA)power. ²¹ What do you want? ^(AB)Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?