Luke 14:25-35
[25]
Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, [26]
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and
wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple. [27] Whoever does not bear his own cross and
come after me cannot be my disciple. [28] For which of you, desiring to
build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he
has enough to complete it? [29] Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation
and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, [30]
saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ [31] Or
what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down
first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him
who comes against him with twenty thousand? [32] And if not, while the
other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms
of peace. [33] So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all
that he has cannot be my disciple.
[34]
“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness
be restored? [35] It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure
pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
1 Timothy 4
[1]
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from
the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of
demons, [2] through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are
seared, [3] who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that
God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and
know the truth. [4] For everything created by God is good, and nothing
is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, [5] for it is
made holy by the word of God and prayer.
[6]
If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant
of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the
good doctrine that you have followed. [7] Have nothing to do with
irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; [8] for
while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every
way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to
come. [9] The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.
[10] For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on
the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those
who believe.
[11]
Command and teach these things. [12] Let no one despise you for your
youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love,
in faith, in purity. [13] Until I come, devote yourself to the public
reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. [14] Do not neglect
the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of
elders laid their hands on you. [15] Practice these things, immerse
yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. [16] Keep a close
watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing
you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Proverbs 6
[1] My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
have given your pledge for a stranger,
[2] if you are snared in the words of your mouth,
caught in the words of your mouth,
[3] then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.
[4] Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
[5] save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
[6] Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
[7] Without having any chief,
officer, or ruler,
[8] she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest.
[9] How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
[10] A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
[11] and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
[12] A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with crooked speech,
[13] winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,
points with his finger,
[14] with perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing discord;
[15] therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
[16] There are six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
[17] haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
[18] a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
[19] a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.
[20] My son, keep your father’s commandment,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
[21] Bind them on your heart always;
tie them around your neck.
[22] When you walk, they will lead you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
and when you awake, they will talk with you.
[23] For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
[24] to preserve you from the evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
[25] Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
[26] for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,
but a married woman hunts down a precious life.
[27] Can a man carry fire next to his chest
and his clothes not be burned?
[28] Or can one walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
[29] So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
none who touches her will go unpunished.
[30] People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
[31] but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
[32] He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
[33] He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
[34] For jealousy makes a man furious,
and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
[35] He will accept no compensation;
he will refuse though you multiply gifts.
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.
