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Dedication of the wall
27 When it was time for the dedication of Jerusalem’s wall, they sought out the Levites in all the places where they lived in order to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with joy, with thanks and singing, and with cymbals, harps, and lyres.
28 The singers also gathered together both from the region around Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites, 29 also from Beth-hagilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, because the singers had built themselves villages around Jerusalem. 30 After the priests and the Levites purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.
31 Then I[a] brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and organized two large groups to give thanks. The first group went in procession on the wall toward the right, in the direction of the Dung Gate. 32 Following them went Hoshaiah and half the officials of Judah, 33 along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah. 35 There were also some young priests with trumpets—Zechariah son of Jonathan son of Shemaiah son of Mattaniah son of Micaiah son of Zaccur son of Asaph— 36 along with his associates Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani. They brought[b] the musical instruments of David the man of God. Ezra the scribe went in front of them.
37 When they reached the Fountain Gate they went straight up by the stairs of David’s City, on the ascent to the wall, past the house of David to the Water Gate on the east. 38 The second group went in procession to the left.[c] I followed them with half of the people along the wall past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, 39 past the Gate of Ephraim and over the Mishneh Gate,[d] the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred as far as the Sheep Gate. They came to a stop at the Gate of the Guard.
In God’s house
40 Then both groups of those who gave thanks stood in God’s house. I was there too along with the half of the officials who were with me. 41 Also there were the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah with trumpets. 42 Also there were Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader.
43 They offered great sacrifices on that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy. The women and children also rejoiced, and the sound of the joy in Jerusalem could be heard from far away.
44 On that day, people were appointed over the rooms for the things to be stored, the contributions, the early produce, and the tenth-part gifts. They were to gather into them the portions required by the Instruction for the priests and for the Levites from the fields belonging to the towns, for the people of Judah were delighted with the ministry of the priests and the Levites.
45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon.
46 Long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there was a leader of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanks to God.
47 In the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah all Israel gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the Aaronites.
Restoring the temple
13 On that day, when the scroll from Moses was being read to the people, they found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter God’s assembly. 2 This is because they hadn’t met the Israelites with food and water but instead hired Balaam against them to curse them. Yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 When the people heard this law, they separated out from Israel all those of mixed descent.
4 Now before this, however, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed to be in charge of the storerooms of our God’s house and who was related to Tobiah, 5 prepared a large room for Tobiah to use. This was the room where they had previously kept the grain offering, the incense, and the equipment, together with the tenth-part gifts of grain, wine, and oil. These items were for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers as well as the portions for the priests.
6 I wasn’t in Jerusalem while this was happening because I had gone to Babylon’s King Artaxerxes in the thirty-second year of the king. After some time, I asked the king’s permission 7 and returned to Jerusalem. That was when I saw the wrong that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by preparing him a room in the courtyards of God’s house. 8 I was very angry and threw all of Tobiah’s household furniture out of the room. 9 Then I gave orders that the rooms be purified, and I put back the temple equipment, along with the grain offering and the incense.
10 I also found out that the Levites hadn’t been given their portions, so they and the singers who did the work had gone back to their fields. 11 So I scolded the officials, asking, “Why is God’s house being neglected?” I gathered them together and set them in their stations.
12 Then all Judah brought the tenth-part gifts of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13 I appointed the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites to be in charge over the storehouses. I also appointed Hanan, Zaccur’s son and Mattaniah’s grandson, as their assistant. These men were considered trustworthy, and their task was to hand out shares to their colleagues.
14 Remember me, my God, concerning this. Don’t erase my good deeds that I have done for my God’s house and for its services.
Keeping the Sabbath
15 In those days I saw people in Judah using the winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also collecting piles of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs, and every kind of load, and then bringing them to Jerusalem on the Sabbath. I warned them at that time against selling food.
16 In addition, people from Tyre who lived in the city were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them to the people of Judah on the Sabbath. This happened in Jerusalem itself!
17 So I scolded the officials of Judah: “What is this evil thing that you are doing?” I asked. “You are making the Sabbath impure! 18 This is just what your ancestors did, and God brought all this evil upon us and upon this city. And now you are bringing more wrath upon Israel by making the Sabbath impure!”
19 So when it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I gave orders that the doors should be shut. I also ordered that they shouldn’t be reopened until after the Sabbath. To make sure that no load would come into the city[e] on the Sabbath, I stationed some of my own men at the gates. 20 Once or twice the traders and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem. 21 But I warned them: “Why are you spending the night by the wall? If you do that again, I will lay hands on you!” At that point, they stopped coming on the Sabbath. 22 I also commanded the Levites to purify themselves and to come and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Remember this also in my favor, my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your mercy.
Marrying foreign women
23 Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of various peoples; they couldn’t speak the language of Judah.
25 So I scolded them and cursed them, and beat some of them, and pulled out their hair. I also made them swear a solemn pledge in the name of God, saying, “You won’t give your daughters to their sons in marriage, or take their daughters in marriage for your sons or yourselves. 26 Didn’t Israel’s King Solomon sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was well loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Yet foreign wives led even him into sin! 27 Should we then listen to you and do all this great evil, acting unfaithfully toward our God by marrying foreign women?”
28 Now one of the sons of Joiada son of the high priest Eliashib was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. So I chased him away from me.
29 Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priests and the Levites!
30 So I purified them of everything foreign and established the services of the priests and Levites with specific duties for each person. 31 I also provided for the wood offering at appointed times as well as for the early produce.
Remember me, my God, for good.
11 1 Follow my example, just like I follow Christ’s.
Appropriate dress in worship
2 I praise you because you remember all my instructions, and you hold on to the traditions exactly as I handed them on to you. 3 Now I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered shames his head. 5 Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head. It is the same thing as having her head shaved. 6 If a woman doesn’t cover her head, then she should have her hair cut off. If it is disgraceful for a woman to have short hair or to be shaved, then she should keep her head covered. 7 A man shouldn’t have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is man’s glory. 8 Man didn’t have his origin from woman, but woman from man; 9 and man wasn’t created for the sake of the woman, but the woman for the sake of the man. 10 Because of this a woman should have authority over her head, because of the angels. 11 However, woman isn’t independent from man, and man isn’t independent from woman in the Lord. 12 As woman came from man so also man comes from woman. But everything comes from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: Is it appropriate for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Doesn’t nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him; 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? This is because her long hair is given to her for a covering. 16 But if someone wants to argue about this, we don’t have such a custom, nor do God’s churches.
Psalm 35
Of David.
35 Lord, argue with those who argue with me;
fight with those who fight against me!
2 Grab a shield and armor;
stand up and help me!
3 Use your spear and ax[a]
against those who are out to get me!
Say to me:[b] “I’m your salvation!”
4 Let those who want me dead
be humiliated and put to shame.
Let those who intend to hurt me
be thoroughly frustrated and disgraced.
5 Let them be like dust on the wind—
and let the Lord’s messenger be the one who does the blowing!
6 Let their path be dark and slippery—
and let the Lord’s messenger be the one who does the chasing!
7 Because they hid their net for me for no reason,
they dug a pit for me for no reason.
8 Let disaster come to them when they don’t suspect it.
Let the net they hid catch them instead!
Let them fall into it—to their disaster!
9 But I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will celebrate his salvation.
10 All my bones will say, “Lord, who could compare to you?
You rescue the weak from those who overpower them;
you rescue the weak and the needy from those who plunder them.”
11 Violent witnesses stand up.
They question me about things I know nothing about.
12 They pay me back evil for good,
leaving me stricken with grief.
13 But when they were sick, I wore clothes for grieving,
and I kept a strict fast.
When my prayer came back unanswered,[c]
14 I would wander around like I was grieving a friend or a brother.
I was weighed down, sad, like I was a mother in mourning.
15 But when I stumbled, they celebrated and gathered together—
they gathered together against me!
Strangers[d] I didn’t know tore me to pieces and wouldn’t quit.
16 They ridiculed me over and over again,
like godless people would do,
grinding their teeth at me.
17 Those who love pleasure end up poor;
lovers of wine and oil won’t get rich.
18 The wicked are a ransom for the righteous;
the treacherous will be punished[a] in the place of the virtuous.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible