Jesus and Zacchaeus
1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief btax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, c“He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I dgive to the poor. And if I have edefrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the flost.”
10 For there are many who are insubordinate, wempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of xthe circumcision party.1 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for yshameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 zOne of the Cretans,2 a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”3 13 aThis testimony is true. Therefore brebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish cmyths and the dcommands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, eall things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ftheir minds and their gconsciences are defiled. 16 hThey profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
19 The evil bow down before the good,
the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
20 kThe poor is disliked even by his neighbor,
lbut the rich has many friends.
21 mWhoever despises his neighbor is a sinner,
but nblessed is he who is generous to the poor.
22 Do they not go astray who odevise evil?
Those who devise good meet1 psteadfast love and faithfulness.
23 qIn all toil there is profit,
but mere talk tends only to poverty.
24 The crown of the wise is their wealth,
but the folly of fools brings folly.
25 A truthful witness saves lives,
but one who breathes out lies is deceitful.
26 In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence,
and his children will have a refuge.
27 The fear of the Lord ris a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.
28 In a multitude of people is the glory of a king,
but without people a prince is ruined.
29 Whoever is sslow to anger has great understanding,
but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
30 A tranquil2 heart gives life to the flesh,
but envy3 makes the bones rot.
31 tWhoever uoppresses a poor man insults vhis Maker,
but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
32 The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing,
but the righteous finds refuge in his death.
33 Wisdom rests win the heart of a man of understanding,
but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.4
34 Righteousness xexalts a nation,
but sin is a reproach to any people.
35 yA servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor,
but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.
Nehemiah’s Final Reforms
1 On that day they aread from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And bin it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, 2 for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, cbut hired Balaam against them to curse them—dyet our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 As soon as the people heard the law, they eseparated from Israel all those of foreign descent.
4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to fTobiah, 5 prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, gwhich were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. 6 While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the hthirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king 7 and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. 8 And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. 9 Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.
10 I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field. 11 So iI confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. 12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13 And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers. 14 jRemember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.
15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. 16 kTyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! 17 Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster1 on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19 lAs soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. 22 Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.
23 In those days also I saw the Jews who had mmarried women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the nlanguage of each people. 25 And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and opulled out their hair. And I pmade them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26 qDid not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations rthere was no king like him, and he was sbeloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. 27 Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”
28 And one of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of tEliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of uSanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. 29 Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the vcovenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
30 Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31 and I provided for the wwood offering at appointed times, and for the xfirstfruits.
Remember me, O my God, for good.
