Book of Common Prayer

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

For the director of music. To be played on stringed instruments. A maskil of David when the men from Ziph had gone to Saul. They had said, “Isn’t David hiding among us?”

For the director of music. A psalm of David when the prophet Nathan came to him. Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Artaxerxes Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem

2 Wine was brought in for King Artaxerxes. It was the month of Nisan in the 20th year of his rule. I got the wine and gave it to him. I hadn’t been sad in front of him before. But now I was. ² So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You aren’t sick. You must be feeling very sad.”

I was really afraid. ³ But I said to the king, “May you live forever! Why shouldn’t I look sad? The city where my people of long ago are buried has been destroyed. And fire has burned up its gates.”

⁴ The king said to me, “What do you want?”

I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I answered the king, “Are you pleased with me, King Artaxerxes? If it pleases you, send me to Judah. Let me go to the city of Jerusalem. That’s where my people are buried. I want to rebuild it.”

⁶ The queen was sitting beside the king. He turned and asked me, “How long will your journey take? When will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me. So I chose a certain time.

⁷ I also said to him, “If it pleases you, may I take some letters with me? I want to give them to the governors of the land west of the Euphrates River. Then they’ll help me travel safely through their territory until I arrive in Judah. ⁸ May I also have a letter to Asaph? He takes care of the royal park. I want him to give me some logs so I can make beams out of them. I want to use them for the gates of the fort that is by the temple. Some of the logs will also be used in the city wall. And I’ll need some for the house I’m going to live in.” God was kind to me and helped me. So the king gave me what I asked for. ⁹ Then I went to the governors of the land west of the Euphrates River. I gave them the king’s letters. He had also sent army officers and horsemen along with me.

¹⁰ Sanballat and Tobiah heard about what was happening. Sanballat was a Horonite. Tobiah was an official from Ammon. They were very upset that someone had come to help the Israelites.

Nehemiah Checks Out the Walls of Jerusalem

¹¹ I went to Jerusalem and stayed there for three days. ¹² Then at night I took a few other people with me to check out the walls. I hadn’t told anyone what my God wanted me to do for Jerusalem. There weren’t any donkeys with me except the one I was riding on.

¹³ That night I went out through the Valley Gate. I went toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate. I checked out the walls of Jerusalem. They had been broken down. I also checked the city gates. Fire had burned them up. ¹⁴ I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool. But there wasn’t enough room for my donkey to get through. ¹⁵ It was still night. I went up the Kidron Valley. I kept checking the wall. Finally, I turned back. I went back in through the Valley Gate. ¹⁶ The officials didn’t know where I had gone or what I had done. That’s because I hadn’t said anything to anyone yet. I hadn’t told the priests or nobles or officials. And I hadn’t spoken to any other Jews who would be rebuilding the wall.

¹⁷ I said to them, “You can see the trouble we’re in. Jerusalem has been destroyed. Fire has burned up its gates. Come on. Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Then people won’t be ashamed anymore.” ¹⁸ I also told them how my gracious God was helping me. And I told them what the king had said to me.

They replied, “Let’s start rebuilding.” So they began that good work.

¹⁹ But Sanballat, the Horonite, heard about it. So did Tobiah, the official from Ammon. Geshem, the Arab, heard about it too. All of them laughed at us. They made fun of us. “What do you think you are doing?” they asked. “Are you turning against the king?”

²⁰ I answered, “The God of heaven will give us success. We serve him. So we’ll start rebuilding the walls. But you don’t have any share in Jerusalem. You don’t have any claim to it. You don’t have any right to worship here.”

¹² I watched as the Lamb broke open the sixth seal. There was a powerful earthquake. The sun turned black like the clothes people wear when they’re sad. Those clothes are made out of goat’s hair. The whole moon turned as red as blood. ¹³ The stars in the sky fell to earth. They dropped like figs from a tree shaken by a strong wind. ¹⁴ The sky rolled back like a scroll. Every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

¹⁵ Everyone hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. This included the kings of the earth, the princes and the generals. It included rich people and powerful people. It also included everyone else, both slaves and people who were free. ¹⁶ They called out to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us! Hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne! Hide us from the anger of the Lamb! ¹⁷ The great day of their anger has come. Who can live through it?”

144,000 People Are Marked With the Seal of the Living God

7 After this I saw four angels. They were standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth. This kept the winds from blowing on the land or the sea or on any tree. ² Then I saw another angel coming up from the east. He brought the official seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels. They had been allowed to harm the land and the sea. ³ “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees,” he said. “Wait until we mark with this seal the foreheads of those who serve our God.” ⁴ Then I heard how many people were marked with the seal. There were 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

The Story of the Weeds

²⁴ Jesus told the crowd another story. “Here is what the kingdom of heaven is like,” he said. “A man planted good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came. The enemy planted weeds among the wheat and then went away. ²⁶ The wheat began to grow and form grain. At the same time, weeds appeared.

²⁷ “The owner’s slaves came to him. They said, ‘Sir, didn’t you plant good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’

²⁸ “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The slaves asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’

²⁹ “ ‘No,’ the owner answered. ‘While you are pulling up the weeds, you might pull up the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the workers what to do. Here is what I will say to them. First collect the weeds. Tie them in bundles to be burned. Then gather the wheat. Bring it into my storeroom.’ ”