Report from Jerusalem
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the atwentieth year, as I was in bSusa the citadel, 2 that cHanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and dshame. eThe wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
Nehemiah’s Prayer
4 fAs soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the gGod of heaven.
My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord
To the choirmaster: according to The vGittith.1 A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
1 How lovely is your wdwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 xMy soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
ymy King and my God.
4 zBlessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.2
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one aappears before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your banointed!
10 cFor a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a dsun and eshield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
fNo good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who gtrusts in you!
The Visit of the Wise Men
1 Now after Jesus was fborn in Bethlehem of Judea gin the days of Herod the king, behold, hwise men1 ifrom the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born jking of the Jews? For we saw his kstar when it rose2 and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the lChrist was to be born. 5 They told him, m“In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
