August 6

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.

The Victory of Confession

PRAY OVER THIS

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

 

PONDER THIS

The victorious life is not living without any temptation, fault, or failure. We all sin; that's what John is telling us. But here’s the victorious life: we get on a higher plane, we get right with God, we’re walking in the light. And when we’re walking in the light, the minute we sin the Holy Spirit says, “You did wrong.”

Now here’s the Spirit-filled life: the moment you sin, at that time, that moment, that same moment, you immediately confess your sin. Do it! Immediately! Nobody else may even know you’ve done it. You may be at the dinner table and have said something or done something, and you can say, “Oh, God, in the name of Jesus forgive me.” He will and He does. Don’t wait.

What are some reasons you might delay in confessing sin before God?

In what ways do you think confessing sins immediately might boost your spiritual growth? In what ways would failure to confess sin immediately hinder your spiritual growth?

PRACTICE THIS

Stop right now and reflect on sin in your life that needs to be confessed. Confess it to God now, trusting that He will forgive you because of Jesus.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

10 Things “Yahweh” Means

God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” (Exodus 3:15)

God’s name is almost always translated LORD (all caps) in the English Bible. But the Hebrew would be pronounced something like “Yahweh,” and is built on the word for “I am.”

So every time we hear the word Yahweh, or every time you see LORD in the English Bible, you should think: this is a proper name (like Peter or John) built out of the word for “I am” and reminding us each time that God absolutely is.

There are at least 10 things the name Yahweh, “I AM,” says about God:

1. He never had a beginning. Every child asks, “Who made God?” And every wise parent says, “Nobody made God. God simply is. And always was. No beginning.”

2. God will never end. If he did not come into being he cannot go out of being, because he is being.

3. God is absolute reality. There is no reality before him. There is no reality outside of him unless he wills it and makes it. He is all that was eternally. No space, no universe, no emptiness. Only God.

4. God is utterly independent. He depends on nothing to bring him into being or support him or counsel him or make him what he is.

5. Everything that is not God depends totally on God. The entire universe is utterly secondary. It came into being by God and stays in being moment by moment on God’s decision to keep it in being.

6. All the universe is by comparison to God as nothing. Contingent, dependent reality is to absolute, independent reality as a shadow to substance. As an echo to a thunderclap. All that we are amazed by in the world and in the galaxies is, compared to God, as nothing.

7. God is constant. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He cannot be improved. He is not becoming anything. He is who he is.

8. God is the absolute standard of truth and goodness and beauty. There is no law-book to which he looks to know what is right. No almanac to establish facts. No guild to determine what is excellent or beautiful. He himself is the standard of what is right, what is true, what is beautiful.

9. God does whatever he pleases and it is always right and always beautiful and always in accord with truth. All reality that is outside of him he created and designed and governs as the absolute reality. So he is utterly free from any constraints that don’t originate from the counsel of his own will.

10. God is the most important and most valuable reality and person in the universe. He is more worthy of interest and attention and admiration and enjoyment than all other realities, including the entire universe.

John Piper 

August 5

Luke 14:15-24

[15] When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” [16] But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. [17] And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ [18] But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ [19] And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ [20] And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ [21] So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ [22] And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ [23] And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. [24] For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

1 Timothy 3:11-16

[11] Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. [12] Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. [13] For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

[14] I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, [15] if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. [16] Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: 

    He was manifested in the flesh,

        vindicated by the Spirit,

    seen by angels,

    proclaimed among the nations,

        believed on in the world,

    taken up in glory.

Proverbs 5

    [1] My son, be attentive to my wisdom;

        incline your ear to my understanding, 

    [2] that you may keep discretion,

        and your lips may guard knowledge. 

    [3] For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,

        and her speech is smoother than oil, 

    [4] but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

        sharp as a two-edged sword. 

    [5] Her feet go down to death;

        her steps follow the path to Sheol; 

    [6] she does not ponder the path of life;

        her ways wander, and she does not know it.

    [7] And now, O sons, listen to me,

        and do not depart from the words of my mouth. 

    [8] Keep your way far from her,

        and do not go near the door of her house, 

    [9] lest you give your honor to others

        and your years to the merciless, 

    [10] lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

        and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, 

    [11] and at the end of your life you groan,

        when your flesh and body are consumed, 

    [12] and you say, “How I hated discipline,

        and my heart despised reproof! 

    [13] I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

        or incline my ear to my instructors. 

    [14] I am at the brink of utter ruin

        in the assembled congregation.”

    [15] Drink water from your own cistern,

        flowing water from your own well. 

    [16] Should your springs be scattered abroad,

        streams of water in the streets? 

    [17] Let them be for yourself alone,

        and not for strangers with you. 

    [18] Let your fountain be blessed,

        and rejoice in the wife of your youth, 

    [19]     a lovely deer, a graceful doe.

    Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;

        be intoxicated always in her love. 

    [20] Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman

        and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? 

    [21] For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD,

        and he ponders all his paths. 

    [22] The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,

        and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. 

    [23] He dies for lack of discipline,

        and because of his great folly he is led astray.

Ezra 7

[1] Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, [2] son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, [3] son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, [4] son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, [5] son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest—[6] this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him.

[7] And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants. [8] And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. [9] For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him. [10] For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

[11] This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the LORD and his statutes for Israel: [12] “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace. And now [13] I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. [14] For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand, [15] and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, [16] with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem. [17] With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem. [18] Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God. [19] The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. [20] And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king’s treasury.

[21] “And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence, [22] up to 100 talents of silver, 100 cors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. [23] Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons. [24] We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

[25] “And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach. [26] Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”

[27] Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem, [28] and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

The Difference Between Conviction and Accusation

PRAY OVER THIS

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

 

PONDER THIS

Many people do not know the difference between Holy Spirit conviction and satanic accusation. The devil is very clever. Before you sin, do you know what the devil tells you? The devil says, “Go ahead and do it. You can get away with it.” And after you sin, you know what the devil tells you? “You’ll never get away with it.” He will entice you to sin and then condemn you because you sinned.

When the Holy Spirit of God shines the light of conviction upon you, you will come under conviction as a child of God. If you will turn to the light and face up to the light, He will pull the veil of darkness from behind those lies that you’ve been telling others, telling yourself, and telling God. He will expose your sin and, as you respond in confession and repentance, He will restore you to Himself.

Think about times when you have recognized the difference between godly conviction and satanic accusation.

If you belong to Jesus, what response can you give to the devil when he accuses you?

PRACTICE THIS

Make a list of the differences between godly conviction and satanic accusation. Keep this list close to reflect on regularly.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

As Secure as God Is Faithful

Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:30)

Between eternity past in God’s predestination, and eternity future in God’s glorification, none is lost.

No one who is predestined for sonship fails to be called. And no one who is called fails to be justified. And no one who is justified fails to be glorified. This is an unbreakable steel chain of divine covenant faithfulness.

And so Paul says,

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

[He] will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:8–9)

These are the promises of our God who cannot lie. Those who are born again are as secure as God is faithful.

John Piper 

August 4

Luke 14:1-14

[1] One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. [2] And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. [3] And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” [4] But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. [5] And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” [6] And they could not reply to these things.

[7] Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, [8] “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, [9] and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. [10] But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. [11] For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

[12] He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. [13] But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, [14] and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

1 Timothy 3:1-10

[1] The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. [2] Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, [3] not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. [4] He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, [5] for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? [6] He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. [7] Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

[8] Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. [9] They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. [10] And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.

Proverbs 4

    [1] Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction,

        and be attentive, that you may gain insight, 

    [2] for I give you good precepts;

        do not forsake my teaching. 

    [3] When I was a son with my father,

        tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, 

    [4] he taught me and said to me,

    “Let your heart hold fast my words;

        keep my commandments, and live. 

    [5] Get wisdom; get insight;

        do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 

    [6] Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;

        love her, and she will guard you. 

    [7] The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,

        and whatever you get, get insight. 

    [8] Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;

        she will honor you if you embrace her. 

    [9] She will place on your head a graceful garland;

        she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

    [10] Hear, my son, and accept my words,

        that the years of your life may be many. 

    [11] I have taught you the way of wisdom;

        I have led you in the paths of uprightness. 

    [12] When you walk, your step will not be hampered,

        and if you run, you will not stumble. 

    [13] Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;

        guard her, for she is your life. 

    [14] Do not enter the path of the wicked,

        and do not walk in the way of the evil. 

    [15] Avoid it; do not go on it;

        turn away from it and pass on. 

    [16] For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;

        they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. 

    [17] For they eat the bread of wickedness

        and drink the wine of violence. 

    [18] But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

        which shines brighter and brighter until full day. 

    [19] The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;

        they do not know over what they stumble.

    [20] My son, be attentive to my words;

        incline your ear to my sayings. 

    [21] Let them not escape from your sight;

        keep them within your heart. 

    [22] For they are life to those who find them,

        and healing to all their flesh. 

    [23] Keep your heart with all vigilance,

        for from it flow the springs of life. 

    [24] Put away from you crooked speech,

        and put devious talk far from you. 

    [25] Let your eyes look directly forward,

        and your gaze be straight before you. 

    [26] Ponder the path of your feet;

        then all your ways will be sure. 

    [27] Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

        turn your foot away from evil.

Ezra 6

[1] Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. [2] And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. [3] In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits, [4] with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. [5] And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God.”

[6] “Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. [7] Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. [8] Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. [9] And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, [10] that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. [11] Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. [12] May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”

[13] Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. [14] And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; [15] and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

[16] And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. [17] They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. [18] And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.

[19] On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover. [20] For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. [21] It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by every one who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the LORD, the God of Israel. [22] And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.