Luke 16:1-9
[1]
He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager,
and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his
possessions. [2] And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I
hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no
longer be manager.’ [3] And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I
do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not
strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. [4] I have decided what
to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me
into their houses.’ [5] So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one,
he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ [6] He said, ‘A
hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down
quickly and write fifty.’ [7] Then he said to another, ‘And how much do
you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take
your bill, and write eighty.’ [8] The master commended the dishonest
manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd
in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. [9] And I
tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so
that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
1 Timothy 6:1-10
[1]
Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters
as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not
be reviled. [2] Those who have believing masters must not be
disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must
serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are
believers and beloved.
Teach
and urge these things. [3] If anyone teaches a different doctrine and
does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the
teaching that accords with godliness, [4] he is puffed up with conceit
and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and
for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil
suspicions, [5] and constant friction among people who are depraved in
mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of
gain. [6] But godliness with contentment is great gain, [7] for we
brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the
world. [8] But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be
content. [9] But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a
snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into
ruin and destruction. [10] For the love of money is a root of all kinds
of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from
the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Proverbs 9
[1] Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn her seven pillars.
[2] She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
[3] She has sent out her young women to call
from the highest places in the town,
[4] “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks sense she says,
[5] “Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
[6] Leave your simple ways, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”
[7] Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,
and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.
[8] Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;
reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
[9] Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
[10] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
[11] For by me your days will be multiplied,
and years will be added to your life.
[12] If you are wise, you are wise for yourself;
if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
[13] The woman Folly is loud;
she is seductive and knows nothing.
[14] She sits at the door of her house;
she takes a seat on the highest places of the town,
[15] calling to those who pass by,
who are going straight on their way,
[16] “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
And to him who lacks sense she says,
[17] “Stolen water is sweet,
and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
[18] But he does not know that the dead are there,
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
Nehemiah 1
[1] The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now
it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in
Susa the citadel, [2] that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with
certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who
escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. [3] And
they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the
exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken
down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
[4]
As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for
days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. [5]
And I said, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps
covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his
commandments, [6] let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear
the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for
the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of
Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house
have sinned. [7] We have acted very corruptly against you and have not
kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded
your servant Moses. [8] Remember the word that you commanded your
servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among
the peoples, [9] but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do
them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from
there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen,
to make my name dwell there.’ [10] They are your servants and your
people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong
hand. [11] O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your
servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your
name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the
sight of this man.”
Now I was cupbearer to the king.
Nehemiah 2
[1]
In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when
wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I
had not been sad in his presence. [2] And the king said to me, “Why is
your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of
the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. [3] I said to the king, “Let
the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the
place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been
destroyed by fire?” [4] Then the king said to me, “What are you
requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. [5] And I said to the
king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in
your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’
graves, that I may rebuild it.” [6] And the king said to me (the queen
sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you
return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time.
[7] And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be
given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they
may let me pass through until I come to Judah, [8] and a letter to
Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to
make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall
of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king
granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
[9]
Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave
them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the
army and horsemen. [10] But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the
Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had
come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.
[11]
So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. [12] Then I arose in
the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had
put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but
the one on which I rode. [13] I went out by night by the Valley Gate to
the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of
Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by
fire. [14] Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool,
but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. [15]
Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I
turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. [16] And
the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I
had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and
the rest who were to do the work.
[17]
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies
in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of
Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” [18] And I told them
of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the
words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and
build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. [19] But
when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem
the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What
is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
[20] Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper,
and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or
right or claim in Jerusalem.”
