Temptations to Sin
1 And he said to his disciples, u“Temptations to sin1 are vsure to come, but wwoe to the one through whom they come! 2 xIt would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.2 3 Pay attention to yourselves! yIf your brother sins, zrebuke him, and if he repents, aforgive him, 4 and if he sins against you bseven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Increase Our Faith
5 cThe apostles said to the Lord, d“Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, e“If you had faith like fa grain of mustard seed, you could say to this gmulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Unworthy Servants
7 “Will any one of you who has a servant3 plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and hdress properly,4 and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are iunworthy servants;5 we have only done what was our duty.’”
8 Therefore qdo not be ashamed of rthe testimony about our Lord, nor of sme his prisoner, but tshare in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 uwho saved us and vcalled us to1 a holy calling, wnot because of our works but because of vhis own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus xbefore the ages began,2 10 and which now has ybeen manifested through zthe appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, awho abolished death and bbrought life and cimmortality to light through the gospel, 11 dfor which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 ewhich is why I suffer as I do. But fI am not ashamed, for gI know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until hthat day iwhat has been entrusted to me.3 13 jFollow kthe pattern of lthe sound4 words mthat you have heard from me, in nthe faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit owho dwells within us, guard ithe good deposit entrusted to you.
15 You are aware that pall who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to qthe household of Onesiphorus, for he often rrefreshed me and was not ashamed of smy chains, 17 but when he arrived in Rome the searched for me earnestly and found me— 18 may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on uthat day!—and you well know all the service he vrendered at Ephesus.
1 aA false balance is an abomination to the Lord,
bbut a just weight is his delight.
2 cWhen pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with dthe humble is wisdom.
3 eThe integrity of the upright guides them,
fbut the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.
4 gRiches do not profit in the day of wrath,
hbut righteousness delivers from death.
5 The righteousness of the blameless ikeeps his way straight,
but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.
6 hThe righteousness of the upright delivers them,
but the treacherous jare taken captive by their lust.
7 When the wicked dies, his khope will perish,
and lthe expectation of wealth1 perishes too.
8 mThe righteous is delivered from trouble,
and the wicked walks into it instead.
9 With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor,
but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.
10 nWhen it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.
11 By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
but oby the mouth of the wicked pit is overthrown.
12 Whoever qbelittles his neighbor lacks sense,
but a man of understanding remains silent.
13 Whoever rgoes about slandering reveals secrets,
but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.
14 Where there is sno guidance, a people falls,
sbut in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
15 tWhoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm,
but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.
Conspiracy Against Nehemiah
1 Now when aSanballat and Tobiah and bGeshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (calthough up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of dOno.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. 5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem1 also says it, that you and ethe Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God,2 strengthen my hands.
10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was fconfined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live?3 I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, gbut he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 hRemember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also ithe prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.
The Wall Is Finished
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And jwhen all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, kfor they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 17 Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of lArah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of mMeshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife. 19 Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.
