Day 144 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Nehemiah 3

1 Then Eliasub the high priest, and his brethren the priests, rose up, and built the sheep-gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even to the tower of the hundred they sanctified [it], to the tower of Anameel. 2 And [they builded] by the side of the men of Jericho, and by the side of the sons of Zacchur, the son of Amari. 3 And the sons of Asana built the fish-gate; they roofed it, and covered in its doors, and bolts, and bars. 4 And next to them [the order] reached to Ramoth the son of Uria, the son of Accos, and next to them Mosollam son of Barachias the son of Mazebel took [his] place: and next to them Sadoc the son of Baana took [his] place. 5 And next to them the Thecoim took [their] place; but the Adorim applied not their neck to their service. 6 And Joida the son of Phasec, and Mesulam son of Basodia, repaired the old gate; they covered it in, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its bars. 6a And next to them repaired Maltias the Gabaonite, and Evaron the Meronothite, the men of Gabaon and Maspha, to the throne of the governor on this side the river. 8 And next to him Oziel the son of Arachias of the smiths, carried on the repairs: and next to them Ananias the son of one of the apothecaries repaired, and they finished Jerusalem to the broad wall. 9 And next to them repaired Raphæa the son of Sur, the ruler of half the district round about Jerusalem. 10 And next to them repaired Jedaia the son of Eromaph, and [that] in front of his house: and next to him repaired Attuth son of Asabania. 11 And next [to him] repaired Melchias son of Heram, and Asub son of Phaat Moab, even to the tower of the furnaces. 12 And next to him repaired Sallum the son of Alloes, the ruler of half the district round about Jerusalem, he and his daughters. 13 Anun and the inhabitants of Zano repaired the gate of the valley: they built it, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the dung-gate. 14 And Melchia the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district round about Bethaccharim, repaired the dung-gate, he and his sons; and they covered it, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its bars. 15 But Solomon the son of Choleze repaired the gate of the fountain, the ruler of part of Maspha; he built it, and covered it, and set up its doors and its bars, and the wall of the pool of the skins by the meadow of the king, and as far as the steps that lead down from the city of David. 16 After him repaired Neemias son of Azabuch, ruler of half the district round about Bethsur, as far as the garden of David's sepulchre, and as far as the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men. 17 After him repaired the Levites, [even] Raum the son of Bani: next to him repaired Asabia, ruler of half the district round about Keila, in his district. 18 And after him repaired his brethren, Benei son of Enadad, ruler of half the district round about Keila. 19 And next to him repaired Azur the son of Joshua, ruler of Masphai, another portion of the tower of ascent, where it meets the corner. 20 After him repaired Baruch the son of Zabu, a second portion, from the corner as far as the door of the house of Eliasub the high priest. 21 After him repaired Meramoth the son of Uria the son of Accos, a second part from the door of the house of Eliasub to the end of the house of Eliasub. 22 And after him repaired the priests, the men of Ecchechar. 23 And after him repaired Benjamin and Asub over against their house: and after him repaired Azarias son of Maasias the son of Ananias, [the parts] near to his house. 24 After him repaired Bani the son of Adad, another portion from the house of Azaria as far as the corner and to the turning, 25 of Phalach the son of Uzai, opposite the corner, and [where is] also the tower that projects from the king's house, even the upper one of the prison-house: and after him [repaired] Phadæa the son of Phoros. 26 And the Nathinim dwelt in Ophal, as far as the garden of the water-gate eastward, and [there is] the projecting tower. 27 And after them the Thecoim repaired, another portion opposite the great projecting tower, even as far as the wall of Ophla. 28 The priests repaired above the horse-gate, [every] man over against his own house. 29 And after him Sadduc the son of Emmer repaired opposite his own house: and after him repaired Samæa son of Sechenia, guard of the east-gate. 30 After him repaired Anania son of Selemia, and Anom, the sixth son of Seleph, another portion: after him Mesulam the son of Barachia repaired over against his treasury. 31 After him repaired Melchia the son of Sarephi as far as the house of the Nathinim, and the chapmen over against the gate of Maphecad, and as far as the steps of the corner. 32 And between [that and] the sheep-gate the smiths and chapmen repaired. 33 Now it came to pass, when Sanaballat heard that we were building the wall, that it was grievous to him, and he was very angry, and railed against the Jews. 34 And he said before his brethren (that [is] the army of the Samaritans) [Is it true] that these Jews are building their city? do they indeed offer sacrifices? will they prevail? and will they this day restore the stones, after they have been burnt and made a heap of rubbish? 35 And Tobias the Ammanite came near to him, and said to them, Do they sacrifice or eat in their place? shall not a fox go up and pull down their wall of stones? 36 Hear, O our God, for we have become a scorn; and return thou their reproach upon their head, and make them a scorn in a land of captivity, 37 and do not cover [their] iniquity.

Nehemiah 4

1 But it came to pass, when Sanaballat and Tobia, and the Arabians, and the Ammanites, heard that the building of the walls of Jerusalem was advancing, [and] that the breaches began to be stopped, that it appeared very grievous to them. 2 And all of them assembled together, to come to fight against Jerusalem, and to destroy it utterly. 3 So we prayed to our God and set watchmen against them day and night, because of them. 4 And Juda said, The strength of the enemies is broken, yet [there is] much rubbish, and we shall not be able to build the wall. 5 And they that afflicted us said, They shall not know, and they shall not see, until we come into the midst of them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. 6 And it came to pass, when the Jews who lived near them came, that they said to us, They are coming up against us from every quarter. 7 So I set [men] in the lowest part of the place behind the wall in the lurking-places, I even set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 8 And I looked, and arose, and said to the nobles, and to the captains, and to the rest of the people, Be not afraid of them: remember our great and terrible God, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. 9 And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was made known to us, and God had frustrated their counsel, that we all returned to the wall, [every] man to his work. 10 And it came to pass from that day [that] half of them that had been driven forth, wrought the work, and half of them kept guard; and [there were] spears, and shields, and bows, and breast-plates, and rulers behind the whole house of Juda, 11 even of them that were building the wall:—and those who carried the burdens [were] under arms: [each] with one hand wrought his work, and with the other held his dart. 12 And the builders [wrought] each man having his sword girt upon his loins, and so they built: and the trumpeter with his trumpet next to him. 13 And I said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work [is] great and abundant, and we are dispersed upon the wall, each at a great distance from his brother. 14 In whatsoever place ye shall hear the sound of the cornet, thither gather yourselves together to us; and our God shall fight for us. 15 So we [continued] labouring at the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared. 16 And at that time I said to the people, Lodge ye every man with his servant in the midst of Jerusalem, and let the night be a watch-time to you, and the day a work-time. 17 And I was [there], and the watchmen behind me, and there was not a man of us that put off his garments.

Nehemiah 5

1 And the cry of the people and their wives [was] great against their brethren the Jews. 2 And some said, We [are] numerous with our sons and our daughters; so we will take corn, and eat, and live. 3 And some said, [As to] our fields and vineyards and houses, let us pledge [them], and we will take corn, and eat. 4 And some said, We have borrowed money for the king's tributes:—our fields, and our vineyards, and houses [are pledged]. 5 And now our flesh [is] as the flesh of our brethren, our children [are] as their children: yet, behold, we are reducing our sons and our daughters to slavery, and some of our daughters are enslaved: and there is no power of our hands, for our fields and our vineyards [belong] to the nobles. 6 And I was much grieved as I heard their cry and these words. 7 And my heart took counsel within me, and I contended against the nobles, and the princes, and I said to them, Should every man demand of his brother what ye demand? And I appointed against them a great assembly, 8 and I said to them, We of our free-will have redeemed our brethren the Jews that were sold to the Gentiles; and do ye sell your brethren? and shall they be delivered to us? And they were silent, and found no answer. 9 And I said, The thing which ye do [is] not good; ye will not so walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the Gentiles our enemies. 10 Both my brethren, and my acquaintances, and I, have lent them money and corn: let us now leave off this exaction. 11 Restore to them, I pray, as at this day, their fields, and their vineyards, and their olive-yards, and their houses, and bring forth to them corn and wine and oil of the money. 12 And they said, We will restore, and we will not exact of them; we will do thus as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and bound them by oath to do according to this word. 13 And I shook out my garment, and said, So may God shake out every man who shall not keep to this word, from his house, and from his labours, he shall be even thus shaken out, as an outcast and empty. And all the congregation said, Amen, and they praised the Lord: and the people did this thing. 14 From the day that he charged me to be their ruler in the land of Juda, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of Arthasastha, twelve years, I and my brethren ate not [provision] extorted from them. 15 But as for the former acts of extortion wherein [those who were] before me oppressed them, they even took of them their last money, forty didrachms for bread and wine; and the [very] outcasts of them exercised authority over the people: but I did not so, because of the fear of God. 16 Also in the work of the wall I treated them not with rigour, I bought not land: and all that were gathered together [came] thither to the work. 17 And the Jews, to [the number of] a hundred and fifty men, besides those coming to us from the nations round about, [were] at my table. 18 And there came [to me] for one day one calf, and I had six choice sheep and a goat; and every ten days wine in abundance of all sorts: yet with these I required not the bread of extortion, because the bondage was heavy upon this people. 19 Remember me, O God, for good, [in] all that I have done to this people.

Acts 14

1 In Iconium, they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of Jews and of Greeks believed. 2 But the disbelieving Jews stirred up and embittered the souls of the Gentiles against the brothers. 3 Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 But the multitude of the city was divided. Part sided with the Jews and part with the apostles. 5 When some of both the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers, made a violent attempt to mistreat and stone them, 6 they became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, Derbe, and the surrounding region. 7 There they preached the Good News. 8 At Lystra a certain man sat, impotent in his feet, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked. 9 He was listening to Paul speaking, who, fastening eyes on him and seeing that he had faith to be made whole, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” He leaped up and walked. 11 When the multitude saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying in the language of Lycaonia, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12 They called Barnabas “Jupiter”, and Paul “Mercury”, because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Jupiter, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and would have made a sacrifice along with the multitudes. 14 But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their clothes and sprang into the multitude, crying out, 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men of the same nature as you, and bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them; 16 who in the generations gone by allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Yet he didn’t leave himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you rains from the sky and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” 18 Even saying these things, they hardly stopped the multitudes from making a sacrifice to them. 19 But some Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But as the disciples stood around him, he rose up, and entered into the city. On the next day he went out with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 When they had preached the Good News to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into God’s Kingdom. 23 When they had appointed elders for them in every assembly, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they had believed. 24 They passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled. 27 When they had arrived and had gathered the assembly together, they reported all the things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the nations. 28 They stayed there with the disciples for a long time.