Daily Reading, Monday 8/5/13 Ezra 1:1-11; 2:1-70 I Corinthians 1:18-35; 2:1-5 Psalms 27:7-14 Proverbs 20:22-23 Have a blessed day in the Lord. Ezra 1:1–2:70 1In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia,* the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom: 2“This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you! 4Wherever this Jewish remnant is found, let their neighbors contribute toward their expenses by giving them silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a voluntary offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.” 5Then God stirred the hearts of the priests and Levites and the leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of the Lord. 6And all their neighbors assisted by giving them articles of silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock. They gave them many valuable gifts in addition to all the voluntary offerings. 7King Cyrus himself brought out the articles that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his own gods. 8Cyrus directed Mithredath, the treasurer of Persia, to count these items and present them to Sheshbazzar, the leader of the exiles returning to Judah. 9This is a list of the items that were returned: gold basins.......................................... 30 silver basins.................................. 1,000 silver incense burners*..................... 29 10 gold bowls........................................... 30 silver bowls....................................... 410 other items..................................... 1,000 11In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and silver. Sheshbazzar brought all of these along when the exiles went from Babylon to Jerusalem. Chapter 2 1Here is the list of the Jewish exiles of the provinces who returned from their captivity. King Nebuchadnezzar had deported them to Babylon, but now they returned to Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah where they originally lived. 2Their leaders were Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the number of the men of Israel who returned from exile: 3 The family of Parosh................... 2,172 4 The family of Shephatiah.............. 372 5 The family of Arah........................... 775 6 The family of Pahath-moab (descendants of Jeshua and Joab) 2,812 7 The family of Elam...................... 1,254 8 The family of Zattu.......................... 945 9 The family of Zaccai....................... 760 10 The family of Bani........................... 642 11 The family of Bebai......................... 623 12 The family of Azgad.................... 1,222 13 The family of Adonikam................. 666 14 The family of Bigvai..................... 2,056 15 The family of Adin........................... 454 16 The family of Ater (descendants of Hezekiah)......... 98 17 The family of Bezai......................... 323 18 The family of Jorah......................... 112 19 The family of Hashum.................... 223 20 The family of Gibbar......................... 95 21 The people of Bethlehem.............. 123 22 The people of Netophah.................. 56 23 The people of Anathoth.................. 128 24 The people of Beth-azmaveth....... 42 25 The people of Kiriath-jearim, Kephirah, and Beeroth............... 743 26 The people of Ramah and Geba.. 621 27 The people of Micmash................. 122 28 The people of Bethel and Ai.......... 223 29 The citizens of Nebo......................... 52 30 The citizens of Magbish................. 156 31 The citizens of West Elam........ 1,254 32 The citizens of Harim...................... 320 33 The citizens of Lod, Hadid, and Ono 725 34 The citizens of Jericho.................... 345 35 The citizens of Senaah............... 3,630 36 These are the priests who returned from exile: The family of Jedaiah (through the line of Jeshua)...... 973 37 The family of Immer.................... 1,052 38 The family of Pashhur................. 1,247 39 The family of Harim..................... 1,017 40 These are the Levites who returned from exile: The families of Jeshua and Kadmiel (descendants of Hodaviah)......... 74 41 The singers of the family of Asaph 128 42 The gatekeepers of the families of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai 139 43 The descendants of the following Temple servants returned from exile: Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth, 44 Keros, Siaha, Padon, 45 Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub, 46 Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan, 47 Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah, 48 Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, 49 Uzza, Paseah, Besai, 50 Asnah, Meunim, Nephusim, 51 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, 52 Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha, 53 Barkos, Sisera, Temah, 54 Neziah, and Hatipha. 55 The descendants of these servants of King Solomon returned from exile: Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda, 56 Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel, 57 Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-hazzebaim, and Ami. 58In all, the Temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants numbered 392. 59Another group returned at this time from the towns of Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Kerub, Addan, and Immer. However, they could not prove that they or their families were descendants of Israel. 60This group included the families of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda—a total of 652 people. 61Three families of priests—Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai—also returned. (This Barzillai had married a woman who was a descendant of Barzillai of Gilead, and he had taken her family name.) 62They searched for their names in the genealogical records, but they were not found, so they were disqualified from serving as priests. 63The governor told them not to eat the priests’ share of food from the sacrifices until a priest could consult the Lord about the matter by using the Urim and Thummim—the sacred lots. 64So a total of 42,360 people returned to Judah, 65in addition to 7,337 servants and 200 singers, both men and women. 66They took with them 736 horses, 245 mules, 67435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys. 68When they arrived at the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the family leaders made voluntary offerings toward the rebuilding of God’s Temple on its original site, 69and each leader gave as much as he could. The total of their gifts came to 61,000 gold coins, 6,250 pounds of silver, and 100 robes for the priests. 70So the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, the Temple servants, and some of the common people settled in villages near Jerusalem. The rest of the people returned to their own towns throughout Israel. 1 Corinthians 1:18–2:5 18The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” 20So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 24But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles,* Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. 26Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy* when God called you. 27Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. 30God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. 31Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” Chapter 2 1When I [Paul] first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. 2For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. Psalm 27:7-14 7 Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! 8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” 9 Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation! 10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. 11 Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me. 12 Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence. 13 Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. 14 Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Proverbs 20:22-23 22 Don’t say, “I will get even for this wrong.” Wait for the Lord to handle the matter. 23 The Lord detests double standards; he is not pleased by dishonest scales
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 10:39:57 +0000
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