Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away. So David^[a] left.

Learning about God’s Deliverance

Introduction

1 In this document, I,^[a] Hacaliah’s son Nehemiah, recount^[b] what occurred during the twentieth year of Artaxerxes.^[c]

Background

In the month of Chislev,^[d] while I was in Shushan at the palace, ² Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped, about those who had survived the Babylonian^[e] captivity, and about Jerusalem.

³ They told me, “The survivors of the captivity there in the province are living in great distress and shame. Furthermore, the Jerusalem wall remains broken down and its gates have been burned by fire.”

Nehemiah’s Prayer

⁴ When I heard this, I sat down and cried, mourning for a number of days while I fasted and prayed in the presence of the God of Heaven. ⁵ I said, “Please, Lord, God of Heaven, the great and fearsome God who keeps the covenant, showing^[f] gracious love to those who love you and keep your commands, ⁶ please turn your attention to observe carefully and listen to the prayer of your servant today that I am presenting to you day and night on behalf of your servants, the Israelis.

“I confess the sins that we Israelis have committed against you. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷ We have abandoned you by not keeping your commands, your ceremonies, and your judgments that you proscribed to your servant Moses. ⁸ Please remember what you spoke in commanding your servant Moses. You said,

¹⁰ These are your servants as well as your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.

¹¹ “And now, Lord, I ask you to listen to the prayer of your servant—and to the prayers of your servants who delight in revering your Name. I ask you, please prosper your servant today by granting him to receive favor from this man.”^[i]

Now I was the king’s senior security advisor.^[j]

¹¹ Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—for on this basis the people received the Law—what further need would there be to speak of appointing another kind of priest according to the order of Melchizedek, not one according to the order of Aaron? ¹² When a change in the priesthood takes place, there must also be a change in the Law. ¹³ For the person we are talking about belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served^[a] at the altar. ¹⁴ Furthermore, it is obvious that our Lord was a descendant of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests coming from that tribe. ¹⁵ This point is even more obvious in that another priest who is like Melchizedek has appeared ¹⁶ who was appointed to be a priest,^[b] not on the basis of a genealogical registry, but rather on the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷ For it is declared about him,

¹⁸ Indeed, because it was weak and ineffective, the former commandment has been annulled, ¹⁹ since the Law made nothing perfect, and a better hope is presented, by which we approach God.

²⁰ Now none of this happened without an oath. Others became priests without any oath, ²¹ but Jesus^[d] became a priest^[e] with an oath when God^[f] told him,

²² In this way, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.