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.
|