Dedication of the Wall

27 And at ^qthe dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, ^rwith cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; 29 also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. 30 And the priests and the Levites ^spurified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.

31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. ^tOne went to the south on the wall to ^uthe Dung Gate. 32 And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, 33 and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, 35 and certain of the priests’ sons ^vwith trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph; 36 and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, ^wwith the musical instruments of David ^xthe man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. 37 At ^ythe Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by ^zthe stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to ^athe Water Gate on the east.

38 ^bThe other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above ^cthe Tower of the Ovens, to ^dthe Broad Wall, 39 and above ^ethe Gate of Ephraim, and by ^fthe Gate of Yeshanah,¹ and by ^gthe Fish Gate and ^hthe Tower of Hananel and ^hthe Tower of the Hundred, to ⁱthe Sheep Gate; and they came to a halt at ^jthe Gate of the Guard. 40 So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half of the officials with me; 41 and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, ^kwith trumpets; 42 and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. 43 And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.

Service at the Temple

44 ^lOn that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. 45 And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, ^maccording to the command of David and his son Solomon. 46 For long ago in the days of David and ⁿAsaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs² of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the ^odaily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; ^pand they set apart that which was for the Levites; ^qand the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.

Nehemiah’s Final Reforms

1 On that day ^rthey read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written ^sthat 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, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 As soon as the people heard the law, ^tthey separated from Israel all ^uthose of foreign descent.

4 Now before this, ^vEliashib the priest, who ^wwas appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to ^xTobiah, 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, ^ywhich 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 ^zin the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes ^aking 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, ^bpreparing 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 ^ccleansed 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 ^dthe portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each ^eto his field. 11 ^fSo I confronted the officials and said, ^g“Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. 12 Then all Judah brought ^hthe tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13 And ⁱI 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, ^jfor they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers. 14 ^kRemember 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 ^lon the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, ^mwhich they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And ⁿI warned them on the day when they sold food. 16 Tyrians 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 ^oThen I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, ^pprofaning the Sabbath day? 18 ^qDid not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster³ on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

19 As soon as it ^rbegan 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 ^sBut 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 ^tthat they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. ^uRemember 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 ^vwho had married women ^wof Ashdod, ^xAmmon, and ^xMoab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. 25 ^oAnd I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. ^yAnd I made 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 ^zDid not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? ^aAmong the many nations there was no king like him, and he was ^bbeloved 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 ^cact treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”

28 And one of the sons of ^dJehoiada, the son of ^eEliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of ^fSanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. 29 ^gRemember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood ^hand the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

30 ⁱThus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31 and I provided ^jfor the wood offering ^kat appointed times, and for the firstfruits.

^lRemember me, O my God, for good.

A Living Sacrifice

1 ^zI appeal to you therefore, brothers,¹ by the mercies of God, ^ato present your bodies ^bas a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.² 2 ^cDo not be conformed to this world,³ but be transformed by ^dthe renewal of your mind, that by testing you may ^ediscern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.⁴

Gifts of Grace

3 For ^fby the grace given to me I say to everyone among you ^gnot to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, ^heach according to ⁱthe measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For ^jas in one body we have many members,⁵ and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, ^kthough many, ^lare one body in Christ, and individually ^mmembers one of another. 6 ⁿHaving gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if ^oprophecy, ^pin proportion to our faith; 7 if ^qservice, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; ^rthe one who leads,⁶ with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with ^scheerfulness.

Marks of the True Christian

9 ^tLet love be genuine. ^uAbhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 ^vLove one another with brotherly affection. ^wOutdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, ^xbe fervent in spirit,^{7 y}serve the Lord. 12 ^zRejoice in hope, ^abe patient in tribulation, ^bbe constant in prayer. 13 ^cContribute to the needs of the saints and ^dseek to show hospitality.

14 ^eBless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 ^fRejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 ^gLive in harmony with one another. ^hDo not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.^{8 i}Never be wise in your own sight. 17 ^jRepay no one evil for evil, but ^kgive thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, ^llive peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, ^mnever avenge yourselves, but leave it⁹ to the wrath of God, for it is written, ⁿ“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, ^o“if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Submission to the Authorities

1 Let every person ^pbe subject to the governing authorities. For ^qthere is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you ^rwill receive his approval, 4 for ^she is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, ^tan avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also ^ufor the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 ^vPay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.