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Nehemiah
1
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1
¶The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to
pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan
the palace,
2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah;
and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were
left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity
there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the
wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are
burned with fire.
4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down
and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before
the God of heaven,
5 ¶And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great
and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that
love him and observe his commandments:
6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou
mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee
now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and
confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned
against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the
commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst
thy servant Moses.
8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant
Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among
the nations:
9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them;
though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the
heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them
unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed
by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the
prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire
to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day,
and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's
cupbearer.
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Nehemiah
2
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1
¶And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year
of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up
the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime
sad in his presence.
2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing
thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then
I was very sore afraid,
3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should
not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers'
sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with
fire?
4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So
I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant
have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto
Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build
it.
6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For
how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it
pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters
be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey
me over till I come into Judah;
8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that
he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace
which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and
for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me,
according to the good hand of my God upon me.
9 ¶Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave
them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army
and horsemen with me.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite,
heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man
to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither
told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem:
neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode
upon.
13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before
the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem,
which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with
fire.
14 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's
pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to
pass.
15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall,
and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
16 And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither
had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the
nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how
Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire:
come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more
a reproach.
18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me;
as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said,
Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this
good work.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the
Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn,
and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye
rebel against the king?
20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven,
he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build:
but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
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Hosea
12
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1 ¶Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind:
he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant
with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
2 The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob
according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense
him.
3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength
he had power with God:
4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and
made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he
spake with us;
5 Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial.
6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait
on thy God continually.
7 ¶He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand:
he loveth to oppress.
8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance:
in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were
sin.
9 And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet
make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn
feast.
10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions,
and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice
bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows
of the fields.
12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for
a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
13 And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by
a prophet was he preserved.
14 Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall
he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return
unto him.
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Colossians
3
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1 ¶If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which
are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also
appear with him in glory.
5 ¶Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth;
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence,
and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children
of disobedience:
7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
8 ¶But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man
with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after
the image of him that created him:
11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
12 ¶Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man
have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also
do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond
of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also
ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching
and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
18 ¶Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it
is fit in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing
unto the Lord.
21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh;
not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart,
fearing God:
23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not
unto men;
24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance:
for ye serve the Lord Christ.
25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he
hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
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Colossians
4
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1 ¶Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and
equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.
2 ¶Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
3 Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door
of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also
in bonds:
4 That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
5 ¶Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the
time.
6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that
ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
7 ¶All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved
brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord:
8 Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might
know your estate, and comfort your hearts;
9 With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you.
They shall make known unto you all things which are done here.
10 Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister's
son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he
come unto you, receive him;)
11 And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision.
These only are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, which have
been a comfort unto me.
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you,
always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand
perfect and complete in all the will of God.
13 For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and
them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis.
14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.
15 Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the
church which is in his house.
16 And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read
also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read
the epistle from Laodicea.
17 And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast
received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.
18 The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace
be with you. Amen.
<<Written from Rome to Colossians by Tychicus and Onesimus.>>
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