THE REVELATION
to John

Revelation 1 This book is the record of the events that Jesus Christ revealed. God gave him this revelation in order to show to his servants what must happen very soon. Christ made these things known to his servant John by sending his angel to him, ²and John has told all that he has seen. This is his report concerning the message from God and the truth revealed by Jesus Christ. ³Happy is the one who reads this book, and happy are those who listen to the words of this prophetic message and obey what is written in this book! For the time is near when all these things will happen.

Greetings to the Seven Churches

⁴From John to the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace be yours from God, who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits in front of his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first to be raised from death and who is also the ruler of the kings of the world.
He loves us, and by his sacrificial death he has freed us from our sins ⁶and made us a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father. To Jesus Christ be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
⁷Look, he is coming on the clouds! Everyone will see him, including those who pierced him. All peoples on earth will mourn over him. So shall it be!
⁸"I am the first and the last," says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who was, and who is to come.

A Vision of Christ

⁹I am John, your brother, and as a follower of Jesus I am your partner in patiently enduring the suffering that comes to those who belong to his Kingdom. I was put on the island of Patmos because I had proclaimed God's word and the truth that Jesus revealed. ¹⁰On the Lord's day the Spirit took control of me, and I heard a loud voice, that sounded like a trumpet, speaking behind me. ¹¹It said, "Write down what you see, and send the book to the churches in these seven cities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."
¹²I turned around to see who was talking to me, and I saw seven gold lampstands, ¹³and among them there was what looked like a human being, wearing a robe that reached to his feet, and a gold band around his chest. ¹⁴His hair was white as wool, or as snow, and his eyes blazed like fire; ¹⁵his feet shone like brass that has been refined and polished, and his voice sounded like a roaring waterfall. ¹⁶He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth. His face was as bright as the midday sun. ¹⁷When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the first and the last. ¹⁸I am the living one! I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I have authority over death and the world of the dead. ¹⁹Write, then, the things you see, both the things that are now and the things that will happen afterward. ²⁰Here is the secret meaning of the seven stars that you see in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

The Book of
NEHEMIAH

Nehemiah 1 This is the account of what Nehemiah son of Hacaliah accomplished.

Nehemiah's Concern for Jerusalem

In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year that Artaxerxes was emperor of Persia, I, Nehemiah, was in Susa, the capital city. ²Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived from Judah with another group, and I asked them about Jerusalem and about the other Jews who had returned from exile in Babylonia. ³They told me that those who had survived and were back in the homeland were in great difficulty and that the foreigners who lived nearby looked down on them. They also told me that the walls of Jerusalem were still broken down and that the gates had not been restored since the time they were burned. ⁴When I heard all this, I sat down and wept.
For several days I mourned and did not eat. I prayed to God, ⁵"LORD God of Heaven! You are great, and we stand in fear of you. You faithfully keep your covenant with those who love you and do what you command. ⁶Look at me, LORD, and hear my prayer, as I pray day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess that we, the people of Israel, have sinned. My ancestors and I have sinned. ⁷We have acted wickedly against you and have not done what you commanded. We have not kept the laws which you gave us through Moses, your servant. ⁸Remember now what you told Moses: 'If you people of Israel are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the other nations. ⁹But then if you turn back to me and do what I have commanded you, I will bring you back to the place where I have chosen to be worshiped, even though you are scattered to the ends of the earth.'
¹⁰"Lord, these are your servants, your own people. You rescued them by your great power and strength. ¹¹Listen now to my prayer and to the prayers of all your other servants who want to honor you. Give me success today and make the emperor merciful to me."
In those days I was the emperor's wine steward.

Nehemiah Goes to Jerusalem

Nehemiah 2 One day four months later, when Emperor Artaxerxes was dining, I took the wine to him. He had never seen me look sad before, ²so he asked, "Why are you looking so sad? You aren't sick, so it must be that you're unhappy."
I was startled ³and answered, "May Your Majesty live forever! How can I keep from looking sad when the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"
⁴The emperor asked, "What is it that you want?"
I prayed to the God of Heaven, ⁵and then I said to the emperor, "If Your Majesty is pleased with me and is willing to grant my request, let me go to the land of Judah, to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I can rebuild the city."
⁶The emperor, with the empress sitting at his side, approved my request. He asked me how long I would be gone and when I would return, and I told him.
⁷Then I asked him to grant me the favor of giving me letters to the governors of West-of-Euphrates Province, instructing them to let me travel to Judah. ⁸I asked also for a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal forests, instructing him to supply me with timber for the gates of the fort that guards the Temple, for the city walls, and for the house I was to live in. The emperor gave me all I asked for, because God was with me.
⁹The emperor sent some army officers and a troop of cavalry with me, and I made the journey to West-of-Euphrates. There I gave the emperor's letters to the governors. ¹⁰But Sanballat, from the town of Beth Horon, and Tobiah, an official in the province of Ammon, heard that someone had come to work for the good of the people of Israel, and they were highly indignant.
¹¹I went on to Jerusalem, and for three days ¹²I did not tell anyone what God had inspired me to do for Jerusalem. Then in the middle of the night I got up and went out, taking a few of my companions with me. The only animal we took was the donkey that I rode on. ¹³It was still night as I left the city through the Valley Gate on the west and went south past Dragon's Fountain to the Rubbish Gate. As I went, I inspected the broken walls of the city and the gates that had been destroyed by fire. ¹⁴Then on the east side of the city I went north to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool. The donkey I was riding could not find any path through the rubble, ¹⁵so I went down into Kidron Valley and rode along, looking at the wall. Then I returned the way I had come and went back into the city through the Valley Gate.
¹⁶None of the local officials knew where I had gone or what I had been doing. So far I had not said anything to any of the other Jews--the priests, the leaders, the officials, or anyone else who would be taking part in the work. ¹⁷But now I said to them, "See what trouble we are in because Jerusalem is in ruins and its gates are destroyed! Let's rebuild the city walls and put an end to our disgrace." ¹⁸And I told them how God had been with me and helped me, and what the emperor had said to me.
They responded, "Let's start rebuilding!" And they got ready to start the work.
¹⁹When Sanballat, Tobiah, and an Arab named Geshem heard what we were planning to do, they laughed at us and said, "What do you think you're doing? Are you going to rebel against the emperor?"
²⁰I answered, "The God of Heaven will give us success. We are his servants, and we are going to start building. But you have no right to any property in Jerusalem, and you have no share in its traditions."

God the Supreme King
(1 Chronicles 16.23-33)

Psalm 96 Sing a new song to the LORD!
Sing to the LORD, all the world!
²Sing to the LORD, and praise him!
Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us.
³Proclaim his glory to the nations,
his mighty deeds to all peoples.

⁴The LORD is great and is to be highly praised;
he is to be honored more than all the gods.
⁵The gods of all other nations are only idols,
but the LORD created the heavens.
⁶Glory and majesty surround him;
power and beauty fill his Temple.

⁷Praise the LORD, all people on earth;
praise his glory and might.
⁸Praise the LORD's glorious name;
bring an offering and come into his Temple.
⁹Bow down before the Holy One when he appears;
tremble before him, all the earth!

¹⁰Say to all the nations, "The LORD is king!
The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with justice."
¹¹Be glad, earth and sky!
Roar, sea, and every creature in you;
¹²be glad, fields, and everything in you!
The trees in the woods will shout for joy
¹³when the LORD comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the peoples of the world
with justice and fairness.