Healing of a Man on the Sabbath
1 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the vPharisees, they were wwatching him carefully. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, x“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 And he said to them, “Which of you, yhaving a son1 or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately zpull him out?” 6 And they could not reply to these things.
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a aplace of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, b‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For ceveryone who exalts himself will be humbled, and dhe who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Parable of the Great Banquet
12 eHe said also to the man who had invited him, f“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers2 or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be grepaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the hjust.”
Qualifications for Overseers
1 bThe saying is trustworthy: cIf anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an doverseer1 must be above reproach, ethe husband of one wife,2 sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must fmanage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, ghow will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become hpuffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a isnare of the devil.
Qualifications for Deacons
8 jDeacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,3 not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. 9 They must khold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 And llet them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.
A Father’s Wise Instruction
1 Hear, O sons, a father’s rinstruction,
and be attentive, that you may gain1 insight,
2 for I give you good precepts;
sdo not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
4 he taught me and said to me,
“Let your theart hold fast my words;
ukeep my commandments, vand live.
5 wGet wisdom; get insight;
xdo not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
love her, and she will yguard you.
7 The zbeginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever you get, get insight.
8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.
9 She will place on your head a agraceful garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”
10 Hear, my son, and baccept my words,
that the years of your life may be cmany.
11 I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the dpaths of uprightness.
12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.
13 eKeep hold of finstruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your glife.
14 Do not enter the hpath of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of the evil.
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16 For ithey cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is jlike the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until kfull day.
19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know over what they stumble.
20 My son, be lattentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 mLet them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them,
and nhealing to all their2 flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
ofor from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you pcrooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25 qLet your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 rPonder3 the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve sto the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.
The Decree of Darius
1 Then Darius the king made a decree, and vsearch was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. 2 And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. 3 wIn the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits1 and its breadth sixty cubits, 4 with xthree layers of great stones and one layer of timber. yLet the cost be paid from the royal treasury. 5 And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, zbe restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God.”
6 “Now therefore, aTattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your2 associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. 7 Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. 8 Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. 9 And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, 10 that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the bking and his sons. 11 Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his chouse shall be made a dunghill. 12 May the God who has dcaused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”
The Temple Finished and Dedicated
13 Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. 14 And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of eHaggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; 15 and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
16 And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the fdedication of this house of God with joy. 17 They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel g12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they set the priests hin their divisions and the Levites iin their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, jas it is written in the Book of Moses.
Passover Celebrated
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kkept the Passover. 20 For the priests and the Levites had lpurified themselves together; all of them were clean. So mthey slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. 21 It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by every one who had joined them and nseparated himself from the ouncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 And they kept the pFeast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
