His Mission, Our Marriage: Building a Christ-Centered Marriage

Restoring Eden: How to Grow Spiritually Without Growing Weary

12 Basic Christian Doctrines

Stepping Into God's Promises

Hebrews Part 2: Selfish Christianity

Shine Bright: 3 Days of Optimism

God's Great Story

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Nebuchadnezzar's Statue: Sunday Head, Monday Feet

HABITS: Becoming Who God Made You to Be

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkNEH">
 <div class="chapter ch12" data-usfm="NEH.12">
 <div class="label">12</div><div class="s1">Priests and Levites</div><div class="p"> 1These were the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Joshua:</div><div class="li1">Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,</div><div class="li1"> 2Amariah, Malluk, Hattush,</div><div class="li1"> 3Shekaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,</div><div class="li1"> 4Iddo, Ginnethon,#12:4 Many Hebrew manuscripts and Vulgate (see also verse 16); most Hebrew manuscripts Ginnethoi Abijah,</div><div class="li1"> 5Mijamin,#12:5 A variant of Miniamin Moadiah, Bilgah,</div><div class="li1"> 6Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,</div><div class="li1"> 7Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah and Jedaiah.</div><div class="m">These were the leaders of the priests and their associates in the days of Joshua.</div><div class="p"> 8The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and also Mattaniah, who, together with his associates, was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. 9Bakbukiah and Unni, their associates, stood opposite them in the services.</div><div class="p"> 10Joshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada, 11Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua.</div><div class="p"> 12In the days of Joiakim, these were the heads of the priestly families:</div><div class="li1">of Seraiah&#8217;s family, Meraiah;</div><div class="li1">of Jeremiah&#8217;s, Hananiah;</div><div class="li1"> 13of Ezra&#8217;s, Meshullam;</div><div class="li1">of Amariah&#8217;s, Jehohanan;</div><div class="li1"> 14of Malluk&#8217;s, Jonathan;</div><div class="li1">of Shekaniah&#8217;s,#12:14 Very many Hebrew manuscripts, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also verse 3); most Hebrew manuscripts Shebaniah&#8217;s Joseph;</div><div class="li1"> 15of Harim&#8217;s, Adna;</div><div class="li1">of Meremoth&#8217;s,#12:15 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also verse 3); Hebrew Meraioth&#8217;s Helkai;</div><div class="li1"> 16of Iddo&#8217;s, Zechariah;</div><div class="li1">of Ginnethon&#8217;s, Meshullam;</div><div class="li1"> 17of Abijah&#8217;s, Zikri;</div><div class="li1">of Miniamin&#8217;s and of Moadiah&#8217;s, Piltai;</div><div class="li1"> 18of Bilgah&#8217;s, Shammua;</div><div class="li1">of Shemaiah&#8217;s, Jehonathan;</div><div class="li1"> 19of Joiarib&#8217;s, Mattenai;</div><div class="li1">of Jedaiah&#8217;s, Uzzi;</div><div class="li1"> 20of Sallu&#8217;s, Kallai;</div><div class="li1">of Amok&#8217;s, Eber;</div><div class="li1"> 21of Hilkiah&#8217;s, Hashabiah;</div><div class="li1">of Jedaiah&#8217;s, Nethanel.</div><div class="p"> 22The family heads of the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan and Jaddua, as well as those of the priests, were recorded in the reign of Darius the Persian. 23The family heads among the descendants of Levi up to the time of Johanan son of Eliashib were recorded in the book of the annals. 24And the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their associates, who stood opposite them to give praise and thanksgiving, one section responding to the other, as prescribed by David the man of God.</div><div class="p"> 25Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates. 26They served in the days of Joiakim son of Joshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest, the teacher of the Law.</div><div class="s1">Dedication of the Wall of Jerusalem</div><div class="p"> 27At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. 28The musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem&#8212;from the villages of the Netophathites, 29from Beth Gilgal, and from the area of Geba and Azmaveth, for the musicians had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. 30When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall.</div><div class="p"> 31I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of#12:31 Or go alongside the wall. I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed on top of#12:31 Or proceed alongside the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate. 32Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed them, 33along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, 35as well as some priests with trumpets, and also Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zakkur, the son of Asaph, 36and his associates&#8212;Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani&#8212;with musical instruments prescribed by David the man of God. Ezra the teacher of the Law led the procession. 37At the Fountain Gate they continued directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the site of David&#8217;s palace to the Water Gate on the east.</div><div class="p"> 38The second choir proceeded in the opposite direction. I followed them on top of#12:38 Or them alongside the wall, together with half the people&#8212;past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, 39over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah#12:39 Or Old Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. At the Gate of the Guard they stopped.</div><div class="p"> 40The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God; so did I, together with half the officials, 41as well as the priests&#8212;Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah with their trumpets&#8212; 42and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam and Ezer. The choirs sang under the direction of Jezrahiah. 43And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.</div><div class="p"> 44At that time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes. From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites, for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites. 45They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did also the musicians and gatekeepers, according to the commands of David and his son Solomon. 46For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the musicians and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the musicians and the gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkNEH">
 <div class="chapter ch13" data-usfm="NEH.13">
 <div class="label">13</div><div class="s1">Nehemiah&#8217;s Final Reforms</div><div class="p"> 1On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, 2because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) 3When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent.</div><div class="p"> 4Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah, 5and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil prescribed for the Levites, musicians and gatekeepers, as well as the contributions for the priests.</div><div class="p"> 6But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission 7and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God. 8I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah&#8217;s household goods out of the room. 9I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.</div><div class="p"> 10I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. 11So I rebuked the officials and asked them, &#8220;Why is the house of God neglected?&#8221; Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.</div><div class="p"> 12All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil into the storerooms. 13I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms and made Hanan son of Zakkur, the son of Mattaniah, their assistant, because they were considered trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 14Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 15In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. 16People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. 17I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, &#8220;What is this wicked thing you are doing&#8212;desecrating the Sabbath day? 18Didn&#8217;t your ancestors do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity on us and on this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. 21But I warned them and said, &#8220;Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.&#8221; From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. 22Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 23Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. 24Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. 25I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God&#8217;s name and said: &#8220;You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. 26Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. 27Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 28One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 29Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 30So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task. 31I also made provision for contributions of wood at designated times, and for the firstfruits.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">Remember me with favor, my God.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkPSA">
 <div class="chapter ch115" data-usfm="PSA.115">
 <div class="label">115</div><div class="cl">Psalm 115</div><div class="q1"> 1Not to us, Lord, not to us</div><div class="q2">but to your name be the glory,</div><div class="q2">because of your love and faithfulness.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 2Why do the nations say,</div><div class="q2">&#8220;Where is their God?&#8221;</div><div class="q1"> 3Our God is in heaven;</div><div class="q2">he does whatever pleases him.</div><div class="q1"> 4But their idols are silver and gold,</div><div class="q2">made by human hands.</div><div class="q1"> 5They have mouths, but cannot speak,</div><div class="q2">eyes, but cannot see.</div><div class="q1"> 6They have ears, but cannot hear,</div><div class="q2">noses, but cannot smell.</div><div class="q1"> 7They have hands, but cannot feel,</div><div class="q2">feet, but cannot walk,</div><div class="q2">nor can they utter a sound with their throats.</div><div class="q1"> 8Those who make them will be like them,</div><div class="q2">and so will all who trust in them.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 9All you Israelites, trust in the Lord&#8212;</div><div class="q2">he is their help and shield.</div><div class="q1"> 10House of Aaron, trust in the Lord&#8212;</div><div class="q2">he is their help and shield.</div><div class="q1"> 11You who fear him, trust in the Lord&#8212;</div><div class="q2">he is their help and shield.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 12The Lord remembers us and will bless us:</div><div class="q2">He will bless his people Israel,</div><div class="q2">he will bless the house of Aaron,</div><div class="q1"> 13he will bless those who fear the Lord&#8212;</div><div class="q2">small and great alike.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 14May the Lord cause you to flourish,</div><div class="q2">both you and your children.</div><div class="q1"> 15May you be blessed by the Lord,</div><div class="q2">the Maker of heaven and earth.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 16The highest heavens belong to the Lord,</div><div class="q2">but the earth he has given to mankind.</div><div class="q1"> 17It is not the dead who praise the Lord,</div><div class="q2">those who go down to the place of silence;</div><div class="q1"> 18it is we who extol the Lord,</div><div class="q2">both now and forevermore.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1">Praise the Lord.#115:18 Hebrew Hallelu Yah</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkROM">
 <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="ROM.9">
 <div class="label">9</div><div class="s1">Paul&#8217;s Anguish Over Israel</div><div class="p"> 1I speak the truth in Christ&#8212;I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit&#8212; 2I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!#9:5 Or Messiah, who is over all. God be forever praised! Or Messiah. God who is over all be forever praised! Amen.</div><div class="s1">God&#8217;s Sovereign Choice</div><div class="p"> 6It is not as though God&#8217;s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham&#8217;s children. On the contrary, &#8220;It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.&#8221;#9:7 Gen. 21:12 8In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God&#8217;s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham&#8217;s offspring. 9For this was how the promise was stated: &#8220;At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.&#8221;#9:9 Gen. 18:10,14</div><div class="p"> 10Not only that, but Rebekah&#8217;s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. 11Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad&#8212;in order that God&#8217;s purpose in election might stand: 12not by works but by him who calls&#8212;she was told, &#8220;The older will serve the younger.&#8221;#9:12 Gen. 25:23 13Just as it is written: &#8220;Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.&#8221;#9:13 Mal. 1:2,3</div><div class="p"> 14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15For he says to Moses,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,</div><div class="q2">and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.&#8221;#9:15 Exodus 33:19</div><div class="m"> 16It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God&#8217;s mercy. 17For Scripture says to Pharaoh: &#8220;I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.&#8221;#9:17 Exodus 9:16 18Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.</div><div class="p"> 19One of you will say to me: &#8220;Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?&#8221; 20But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? &#8220;Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, &#8216;Why did you make me like this?&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;#9:20 Isaiah 29:16; 45:9 21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?</div><div class="p"> 22What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath&#8212;prepared for destruction? 23What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory&#8212; 24even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25As he says in Hosea:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;I will call them &#8216;my people&#8217; who are not my people;</div><div class="q2">and I will call her &#8216;my loved one&#8217; who is not my loved one,&#8221;#9:25 Hosea 2:23</div><div class="m"> 26and,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;In the very place where it was said to them,</div><div class="q2">&#8216;You are not my people,&#8217;</div><div class="q2">there they will be called &#8216;children of the living God.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;#9:26 Hosea 1:10</div><div class="m"> 27Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,</div><div class="q2">only the remnant will be saved.</div><div class="q1"> 28For the Lord will carry out</div><div class="q2">his sentence on earth with speed and finality.&#8221;#9:28 Isaiah 10:22,23 (see Septuagint)</div><div class="m"> 29It is just as Isaiah said previously:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Unless the Lord Almighty</div><div class="q2">had left us descendants,</div><div class="q1">we would have become like Sodom,</div><div class="q2">we would have been like Gomorrah.&#8221;#9:29 Isaiah 1:9</div><div class="s1">Israel&#8217;s Unbelief</div><div class="p"> 30What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33As it is written:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble</div><div class="q2">and a rock that makes them fall,</div><div class="q2">and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.&#8221;#9:33 Isaiah 8:14; 28:16</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkROM">
 <div class="chapter ch10" data-usfm="ROM.10">
 <div class="label">10</div><div class="p"> 1Brothers and sisters, my heart&#8217;s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God&#8217;s righteousness. 4Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.</div><div class="p"> 5Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: &#8220;The person who does these things will live by them.&#8221;#10:5 Lev. 18:5 6But the righteousness that is by faith says: &#8220;Do not say in your heart, &#8216;Who will ascend into heaven?&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;#10:6 Deut. 30:12 (that is, to bring Christ down) 7&#8220;or &#8216;Who will descend into the deep?&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;#10:7 Deut. 30:13 (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? &#8220;The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,&#8221;#10:8 Deut. 30:14 that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9If you declare with your mouth, &#8220;Jesus is Lord,&#8221; and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11As Scripture says, &#8220;Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.&#8221;#10:11 Isaiah 28:16 (see Septuagint) 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile&#8212;the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, &#8220;Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.&#8221;#10:13 Joel 2:32</div><div class="p"> 14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: &#8220;How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!&#8221;#10:15 Isaiah 52:7</div><div class="p"> 16But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, &#8220;Lord, who has believed our message?&#8221;#10:16 Isaiah 53:1 17Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 18But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Their voice has gone out into all the earth,</div><div class="q2">their words to the ends of the world.&#8221;#10:18 Psalm 19:4</div><div class="m"> 19Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;</div><div class="q2">I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.&#8221;#10:19 Deut. 32:21</div><div class="m"> 20And Isaiah boldly says,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;I was found by those who did not seek me;</div><div class="q2">I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.&#8221;#10:20 Isaiah 65:1</div><div class="m"> 21But concerning Israel he says,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;All day long I have held out my hands</div><div class="q2">to a disobedient and obstinate people.&#8221;#10:21 Isaiah 65:2</div>
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