The Message to Ephesus

Revelation 2 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
"This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven gold lampstands. ²I know what you have done; I know how hard you have worked and how patient you have been. I know that you cannot tolerate evil people and that you have tested those who say they are apostles but are not, and have found out that they are liars. ³You are patient, you have suffered for my sake, and you have not given up. ⁴But this is what I have against you: you do not love me now as you did at first. ⁵Think how far you have fallen! Turn from your sins and do what you did at first. If you don't turn from your sins, I will come to you and take your lampstand from its place. ⁶But this is what you have in your favor: you hate what the Nicolaitans do, as much as I do.
⁷"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!
"To those who win the victory I will give the right to eat the fruit of the tree of life that grows in the Garden of God.

The Message to Smyrna

⁸"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
"This is the message from the one who is the first and the last, who died and lived again. ⁹I know your troubles; I know that you are poor--but really you are rich! I know the evil things said against you by those who claim to be Jews but are not; they are a group that belongs to Satan! ¹⁰Don't be afraid of anything you are about to suffer. Listen! The Devil will put you to the test by having some of you thrown into prison, and your troubles will last ten days. Be faithful to me, even if it means death, and I will give you life as your prize of victory.
¹¹"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!
"Those who win the victory will not be hurt by the second death.

The Message to Pergamum

¹²"To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
"This is the message from the one who has the sharp two-edged sword. ¹³I know where you live, there where Satan has his throne. You are true to me, and you did not abandon your faith in me even during the time when Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed there where Satan lives. ¹⁴But there are a few things I have against you: there are some among you who follow the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak how to lead the people of Israel into sin by persuading them to eat food that had been offered to idols and to practice sexual immorality. ¹⁵In the same way you have people among you who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Now turn from your sins! If you don't, I will come to you soon and fight against those people with the sword that comes out of my mouth.
¹⁷"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!
"To those who win the victory I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give each of them a white stone on which is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.

The Message to Thyatira

¹⁸"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
"This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes blaze like fire, whose feet shine like polished brass. ¹⁹I know what you do. I know your love, your faithfulness, your service, and your patience. I know that you are doing more now than you did at first. ²⁰But this is what I have against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a messenger of God. By her teaching she misleads my servants into practicing sexual immorality and eating food that has been offered to idols. ²¹I have given her time to repent of her sins, but she does not want to turn from her immorality. ²²And so I will throw her on a bed where she and those who committed adultery with her will suffer terribly. I will do this now unless they repent of the wicked things they did with her. ²³I will also kill her followers, and then all the churches will know that I am the one who knows everyone's thoughts and wishes. I will repay each of you according to what you have done.
²⁴"But the rest of you in Thyatira have not followed this evil teaching; you have not learned what the others call 'the deep secrets of Satan.' I say to you that I will not put any other burden on you. ²⁵But until I come, you must hold firmly to what you have. ^26-28To those who win the victory, who continue to the end to do what I want, I will give the same authority that I received from my Father: I will give them authority over the nations, to rule them with an iron rod and to break them to pieces like clay pots. I will also give them the morning star.
²⁹"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!

Rebuilding the Wall of Jerusalem

Nehemiah 3 This is how the city wall was rebuilt. The High Priest Eliashib and his fellow priests rebuilt the Sheep Gate, dedicated it, and put the gates in place. They dedicated the wall as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel.
²The men of Jericho built the next section.
Zaccur son of Imri built the next section.
³The clan of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They put the beams and the gates in place, and put in the bolts and bars for locking the gate.
⁴Meremoth, the son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz, built the next section.
Meshullam, the son of Berechiah and grandson of Meshezabel, built the next section.
Zadok son of Baana built the next section.
⁵The men of Tekoa built the next section, but the leading men of the town refused to do the manual labor assigned them by the supervisors.
⁶Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah rebuilt Jeshanah Gate. They put the beams and the gates in place, and put in the bolts and bars for locking the gate.
⁷Melatiah from Gibeon, Jadon from Meronoth, and the men of Gibeon and Mizpah built the next section, as far as the residence of the governor of West-of-Euphrates.
⁸Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a goldsmith, built the next section.
Hananiah, a maker of perfumes, built the next section, as far as Broad Wall.
⁹Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of half of the Jerusalem District, built the next section.
¹⁰Jedaiah son of Harumaph built the next section, which was near his own house.
Hattush son of Hashabneiah built the next section.
¹¹Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath Moab built both the next section and the Tower of the Ovens.
¹²Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of the other half of the Jerusalem District, built the next section. (His daughters helped with the work.)
¹³Hanun and the inhabitants of the city of Zanoah rebuilt the Valley Gate. They put the gates in place, put in the bolts and the bars for locking the gate, and repaired the wall for fifteen hundred feet, as far as the Rubbish Gate.
¹⁴Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the Beth Haccherem District, rebuilt the Rubbish Gate. He put the gates in place, and put in the bolts and the bars for locking the gate.
¹⁵Shallum son of Colhozeh, ruler of the Mizpah District, rebuilt the Fountain Gate. He covered the gateway, put the gates in place, and put in the bolts and the bars. At the Pool of Shelah he built the wall next to the royal garden, as far as the stairs leading down from David's City.
¹⁶Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of half of the Bethzur District, built the next section, as far as David's tomb, the pool, and the barracks.

Levites Who Worked on the Wall

¹⁷The following Levites rebuilt the next several sections of the wall:
Rehum son of Bani built the next section;
Hashabiah, ruler of half of the Keilah District, built the next section on behalf of his district;
¹⁸Bavvai son of Henadad, ruler of the other half of the Keilah District, built the next section;
¹⁹Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, built the next section in front of the armory, as far as the place where the wall turns;
²⁰Baruch son of Zabbai built the next section, as far as the entrance to the house of the High Priest Eliashib;
²¹Meremoth, the son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz, built the next section, up to the far end of Eliashib's house.

Priests Who Worked on the Wall

²²The following priests rebuilt the next several sections of the wall:
Priests from the area around Jerusalem built the next section;
²³Benjamin and Hasshub built the next section, which was in front of their houses;
Azariah, the son of Maaseiah and grandson of Ananiah, built the next section, which was in front of his house;
²⁴Binnui son of Henadad built the next section, from Azariah's house to the corner of the wall;
^25-26Palal son of Uzai built the next section, beginning at the corner of the wall and the tower of the upper palace near the court of the guard;
Pedaiah son of Parosh built the next section, to a point on the east near the Water Gate and the tower guarding the Temple. (This was near that part of the city called Ophel, where the Temple workers lived.)

Other Builders

²⁷The men of Tekoa built the next section, their second one, from a point opposite the large tower guarding the Temple as far as the wall near Ophel.
²⁸A group of priests built the next section, going north from the Horse Gate, each one building in front of his own house.
²⁹Zadok son of Immer built the next section, which was in front of his house.
Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, keeper of the East Gate, built the next section.
³⁰Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, built the next section, their second one.
Meshullam son of Berechiah built the next section, which was in front of his house.
³¹Malchijah, a goldsmith, built the next section, as far as the building used by the Temple workers and the merchants, which was by the Miphkad Gate to the Temple, near the room on top of the northeast corner of the wall.
³²The goldsmiths and the merchants built the last section, from the room at the corner as far as the Sheep Gate.

God the Supreme Ruler

Psalm 97 The LORD is king! Earth, be glad!
Rejoice, you islands of the seas!
²Clouds and darkness surround him;
he rules with righteousness and justice.
³Fire goes in front of him
and burns up his enemies around him.
⁴His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees it and trembles.
⁵The hills melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
⁶The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the nations see his glory.

⁷Everyone who worships idols is put to shame;
all the gods bow down before the LORD.
⁸The people of Zion are glad,
and the cities of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments, O LORD.
⁹LORD Almighty, you are ruler of all the earth;
you are much greater than all the gods.

¹⁰The LORD loves those who hate evil;
he protects the lives of his people;
he rescues them from the power of the wicked.
¹¹Light shines on the righteous,
and gladness on the good.
¹²All you that are righteous be glad
because of what the LORD has done!
Remember what the holy God has done,
and give thanks to him.