Daily Readings for November 12

Daily Readings for November 12
Click the arrow above to the left of the audio strip to start audio for today

Ezra 8

1.Now these are the heads of their fathers' households, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king: 2.Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush. 3.Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males one hundred fifty. 4.Of the sons of Pahathmoab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males. 5.Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males. 6.Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males. 7.Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males. 8.Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him eighty males. 9.Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males. 10.Of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him one hundred sixty males. 11.Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight males. 12.Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him one hundred ten males. 13.Of the sons of Adonikam, who were the last; and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males. 14.Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males. 15.I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava; and there we encamped three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi. 16.Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, who were teachers. 17.I sent them forth to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should tell Iddo, and his brothers the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God. 18.According to the good hand of our God on us they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen; 19.and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty; 20.and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all of them were mentioned by name. 21.Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. 22.For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, "The hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him." 23.So we fasted and begged our God for this: and he was entreated of us. 24.Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them, 25.and weighed to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counselors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered: 26.I weighed into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels one hundred talents; of gold one hundred talents; 27.and twenty bowls of gold, of one thousand darics; and two vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold. 28.I said to them, "You are holy to Yahweh, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh, the God of your fathers. 29.Watch, and keep them, until you weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers' households of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the rooms of the house of Yahweh." 30.So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God. 31.Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the bandit by the way. 32.We came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days. 33.On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levite; 34.the whole by number and by weight: and all the weight was written at that time. 35.The children of the captivity, who had come out of exile, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering to Yahweh. 36.They delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps, and to the governors beyond the River: and they furthered the people and the house of God.

Hosea 9

1.Don't rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations; for you were unfaithful to your God. You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor. 2.The threshing floor and the winepress won't feed them, and the new wine will fail her. 3.They won't dwell in Yahweh's land; but Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria. 4.They won't pour out wine offerings to Yahweh, neither will they be pleasing to him. Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat of it will be polluted; for their bread will be for their appetite. It will not come into the house of Yahweh. 5.What will you do in the day of solemn assembly, and in the day of the feast of Yahweh? 6.For, behold, they have gone away from destruction. Egypt will gather them up. Memphis will bury them. Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver. Thorns will be in their tents. 7.The days of visitation have come. The days of reckoning have come. Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, and the man who is inspired to be insane, because of the abundance of your sins, and because your hostility is great. 8.A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God. A fowler's snare is on all of his paths, and hostility in the house of his God. 9.They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity. He will punish them for their sins. 10.I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season; but they came to Baal Peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing, and became abominable like that which they loved. 11.As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird. There will be no birth, none with child, and no conception. 12.Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left. Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them! 13.I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place; but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer. 14.Give them--Yahweh what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

15."All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house! I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels. 16.Ephraim is struck. Their root has dried up. They will bear no fruit. Even though they bring forth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb."

17.My God will cast them away, because they did not listen to him; and they will be wanderers among the nations.

Acts 28

1.When we had escaped, then they⁸¹ learned that the island was called Malta. 2.The natives showed us uncommon kindness; for they kindled a fire, and received us all, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. 3.But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4.When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said one to another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea, yet Justice has not allowed to live." 5.However he shook off the creature into the fire, and wasn't harmed. 6.But they expected that he would have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly, but when they watched for a long time and saw nothing bad happen to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

7.Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us, and courteously entertained us for three days. 8.It happened that the father of Publius lay sick of fever and dysentery. Paul entered in to him, prayed, and laying his hands on him, healed him. 9.Then when this was done, the rest also who had diseases in the island came, and were cured. 10.They also honored us with many honors, and when we sailed, they put on board the things that we needed.

11.After three months, we set sail in a ship of Alexandria which had wintered in the island, whose sign was "The Twin Brothers." 12.Touching at Syracuse, we stayed there three days. 13.From there we circled around and arrived at Rhegium. After one day, a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli, 14.where we found brothers,⁸² and were entreated to stay with them for seven days. So we came to Rome. 15.From there the brothers, when they heard of us, came to meet us as far as The Market of Appius and The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God, and took courage. 16.When we entered into Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

17.It happened that after three days Paul called together those who were the leaders of the Jews. When they had come together, he said to them, "I, brothers, though I had done nothing against the people, or the customs of our fathers, still was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, 18.who, when they had examined me, desired to set me free, because there was no cause of death in me. 19.But when the Jews spoke against it, I was constrained to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything about which to accuse my nation. 20.For this cause therefore I asked to see you and to speak with you. For because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain."

21.They said to him, "We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor did any of the brothers come here and report or speak any evil of you. 22.But we desire to hear from you what you think. For, as concerning this sect, it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against."

23.When they had appointed him a day, many people came to him at his lodging. He explained to them, testifying about the Kingdom of God, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening. 24.Some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved. 25.When they didn't agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had spoken one word, "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah, the prophet, to our fathers, 26.saying, 'Go to this people, and say, in hearing, you will hear, but will in no way understand. In seeing, you will see, but will in no way perceive. 27.For this people's heart has grown callous. Their ears are dull of hearing. Their eyes they have closed. Lest they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again, and I would heal them.'⁸³

28."Be it known therefore to you, that the salvation of God is sent to the nations. They will also listen."

29.When he had said these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.

30.Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who were coming to him, 31.preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance.