Luke 17:20-37
[20]
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he
answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be
observed, [21] nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for
behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
[22]
And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire
to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. [23]
And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out
or follow them. [24] For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky
from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. [25]
But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
[26] Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of
the Son of Man. [27] They were eating and drinking and marrying and
being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and
the flood came and destroyed them all. [28] Likewise, just as it was in
the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling,
planting and building, [29] but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom,
fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—[30] so will
it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. [31] On that day, let
the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come
down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not
turn back. [32] Remember Lot’s wife. [33] Whoever seeks to preserve his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. [34] I tell
you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and
the other left. [35] There will be two women grinding together. One will
be taken and the other left.” [37] And they said to him, “Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
2 Timothy 2:14-26
[14]
Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel
about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. [15] Do
your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has
no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. [16] But
avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more
ungodliness, [17] and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them
are Hymenaeus and Philetus, [18] who have swerved from the truth, saying
that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the
faith of some. [19] But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal:
“The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the
name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
[20]
Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but
also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable.
[21] Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he
will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the
master of the house, ready for every good work.
[22]
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and
peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. [23]
Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that
they breed quarrels. [24] And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome
but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, [25]
correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them
repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, [26] and they may come
to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being
captured by him to do his will.
Proverbs 12:1-14
[1] Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but he who hates reproof is stupid.
[2]
A good man obtains favor from the LORD,
but a man of evil devices he condemns.
[3]
No one is established by wickedness,
but the root of the righteous will never be moved.
[4]
An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.
[5]
The thoughts of the righteous are just;
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
[6]
The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the mouth of the upright delivers them.
[7]
The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
but the house of the righteous will stand.
[8]
A man is commended according to his good sense,
but one of twisted mind is despised.
[9]
Better to be lowly and have a servant
than to play the great man and lack bread.
[10]
Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast,
but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
[11]
Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,
but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.
[12]
Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers,
but the root of the righteous bears fruit.
[13]
An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,
but the righteous escapes from trouble.
[14]
From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good,
and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him.
Ezra 8
[1]
These are the heads of their fathers’ houses, and this is the genealogy
of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes
the king: [2] Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar,
Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush. [3] Of the sons of Shecaniah,
who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered 150
men. [4] Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and
with him 200 men. [5] Of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah the son of
Jahaziel, and with him 300 men. [6] Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of
Jonathan, and with him 50 men. [7] Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the
son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men. [8] Of the sons of Shephatiah,
Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men. [9] Of the sons of
Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men. [10] Of the sons
of Bani, Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men. [11] Of
the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and with him 28 men.
[12] Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110
men. [13] Of the sons of Adonikam, those who came later, their names
being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men. [14] Of the
sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.
[15]
I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped
three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none
of the sons of Levi. [16] Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah,
Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading
men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight, [17] and
sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them
what to say to Iddo and his brothers and the temple servants at the
place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God.
[18] And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of
discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely
Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18; [19] also Hashabiah, and with
him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20;
[20] besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials
had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.
[21]
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might
humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for
ourselves, our children, and all our goods. [22] For I was ashamed to
ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against
the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God
is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against
all who forsake him.” [23] So we fasted and implored our God for this,
and he listened to our entreaty.
[24]
Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah,
and ten of their kinsmen with them. [25] And I weighed out to them the
silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our
God that the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there
present had offered. [26] I weighed out into their hand 650 talents of
silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents, and 100 talents of gold,
[27] 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright
bronze as precious as gold. [28] And I said to them, “You are holy to
the LORD, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a
freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers. [29] Guard them
and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the
Levites and the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within
the chambers of the house of the LORD.” [30] So the priests and the
Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels,
to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.
[31]
Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first
month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he
delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way.
[32] We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. [33] On the
fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and
the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of
Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were
the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui.
[34] The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was
recorded.
[35]
At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles,
offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all
Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering
twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD. [36] They
also delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s satraps and to the
governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people
and the house of God.
