Bible Readings for August 16, 2016

Today our passages are Nehemiah 11:1–12:26; 1 Corinthians 10:14–11:2; Psalm 34:11-22; and Proverbs 21:14-16. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal.

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Nehemiah 11-12:26 (The Message)

Nehemiah 11

 ^1-2The leaders of the people were already living in Jerusalem, so the rest of the people drew lots to get one out of ten to move to Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine remained in their towns. The people applauded those who voluntarily offered to live in Jerusalem.  ^3-4 These are the leaders in the province who resided in Jerusalem (some Israelites, priests, Levites, Temple staff, and descendants of Solomon's slaves lived in the towns of Judah on their own property in various towns; others from both Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem):
 ^4-6 From the family of Judah:
    Athaiah son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, from the family line of Perez; Maaseiah son of Baruch, the son of Col-Hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite. The descendants of Perez who lived in Jerusalem numbered 468 valiant men.
 ^7-9 From the family of Benjamin:
    Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah, and his brothers Gabbai and Sallai: 928 men. Joel son of Zicri was their chief and Judah son of Hassenuah was second in command over the city.
 ^10-14 From the priests:
    Jedaiah son of Joiarib; Jakin; Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, supervisor of The Temple of God, along with their associates responsible for work in The Temple: 822 men. Also Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah, and his associates who were heads of families: 242 men; Amashsai son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, and his associates, all valiant men: 128 men. Their commander was Zabdiel son of Haggedolim.
 ^15-18 From the Levites:
    Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; Shabbethai and Jozabad, two of the leaders of the Levites who were in charge of the outside work of The Temple of God; Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the director who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his associates; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. The Levites in the holy city totaled 284.
 ¹⁹ From the security guards:
    Akkub, Talmon, and their associates who kept watch over the gates: 172 men.
 ²⁰ The rest of the Israelites, priests, and Levites were in all the towns of Judah, each on his own family property.
 ²¹ The Temple staff lived on the hill Ophel. Ziha and Gishpa were responsible for them.
 ^22-23 The chief officer over the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. Uzzi was one of Asaph's descendants, singers who led worship in The Temple of God. The singers got their orders from the king, who drew up their daily schedule.
 ²⁴ Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, a descendant of Zerah son of Judah, represented the people's concerns at the royal court.
 ^25-30 Some of the Judeans lived in the villages near their farms:
      Kiriath Arba (Hebron) and suburbs
      Dibon and suburbs
      Jekabzeel and suburbs
      Jeshua
      Moladah
      Beth Pelet
      Hazar Shual
      Beersheba and suburbs
      Ziklag
      Meconah and suburbs
      En Rimmon
      Zorah
      Jarmuth
      Zanoah
      Adullam and their towns
      Lachish and its fields
      Azekah and suburbs.
They were living all the way from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom.
 ^31-36 The Benjaminites from Geba lived in:
      Micmash
      Aijah
      Bethel and its suburbs
      Anathoth
      Nob and Ananiah
      Hazor
      Ramah and Gittaim
      Hadid, Zeboim, and Neballat
      Lod and Ono and the Valley of the Craftsmen. Also some of the Levitical groups of Judah were assigned to Benjamin.

Nehemiah 12

 ^1-7 These are the priests and Levites who came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua:     Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,
   Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
   Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,
   Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah,
   Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,
   Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the leaders of the priests during the time of Jeshua.
 ^8-9 And the Levites:
   Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah;
    Mattaniah, with his brothers, was in charge of songs of praise, and their brothers Bakbukiah and Unni stood opposite them in the services of worship.
 ^10-11 Jeshua fathered Joiakim,
    Joiakim fathered Eliashib,
    Eliashib fathered Joiada,
    Joiada fathered Jonathan,
    and Jonathan fathered Jaddua.
 ^12-21 During the time of Joiakim, these were the heads of the priestly families:
    of the family of Seraiah, Meraiah;
    of Jeremiah, Hananiah;
    of Ezra, Meshullam;
    of Amariah, Jehohanan;
    of Malluch, Jonathan;
    of Shecaniah, Joseph;
    of Harim, Adna;
    of Meremoth, Helkai;
    of Iddo, Zechariah;
    of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
    of Abijah, Zicri;
    of Miniamin and Moadiah, Piltai;
    of Bilgah, Shammua;
    of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;
    of Joiarib, Mattenai;
    of Jedaiah, Uzzi;
    of Sallu, Kallai;
    of Amok, Eber;
    of Hilkiah, Hashabiah;
    and of Jedaiah, Nethanel.
 ²² During the time of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were registered as heads of families. During the reign of Darius the Persian, the priests were registered.
 ^23-24 The Levites who were heads of families were registered in the Book of the Chronicles until the time of Johanan son of Eliashib. These were:
    Hashabiah,
    Sherebiah,
    and Jeshua son of Kadmiel.
    Their brothers stood opposite them to give praise and thanksgiving, one side responding to the other, as had been directed by David the man of God.
 ^25-26 The security guards included:
    Mattaniah,
    Bakbukiah,
    Obadiah,
    Meshullam,
    Talmon,
    and Akkub.
They guarded the storerooms at the gates. They lived during the time of Joiakim son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, the time of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest and scholar.

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1 Corinthians 10:14-11:2 (The Message)

 ¹⁴So, my very dear friends, when you see people reducing God to something they can use or control, get out of their company as fast as you can.
 ^15-18I assume I'm addressing believers now who are mature. Draw your own conclusions: When we drink the cup of blessing, aren't we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life, of Christ? And isn't it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don't we take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ? Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness—Christ doesn't become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don't reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is. That's basically what happened even in old Israel—those who ate the sacrifices offered on God's altar entered into God's action at the altar.
 ^19-22Do you see the difference? Sacrifices offered to idols are offered to nothing, for what's the idol but a nothing? Or worse than nothing, a minus, a demon! I don't want you to become part of something that reduces you to less than yourself. And you can't have it both ways, banqueting with the Master one day and slumming with demons the next. Besides, the Master won't put up with it. He wants us—all or nothing. Do you think you can get off with anything less?
 ^23-24Looking at it one way, you could say, "Anything goes. Because of God's immense generosity and grace, we don't have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster." But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.
 ^25-28With that as a base to work from, common sense can take you the rest of the way. Eat anything sold at the butcher shop, for instance; you don't have to run an "idolatry test" on every item. "The earth," after all, "is God's, and everything in it." That "everything" certainly includes the leg of lamb in the butcher shop. If a nonbeliever invites you to dinner and you feel like going, go ahead and enjoy yourself; eat everything placed before you. It would be both bad manners and bad spirituality to cross-examine your host on the ethical purity of each course as it is served. On the other hand, if he goes out of his way to tell you that this or that was sacrificed to god or goddess so-and-so, you should pass. Even though you may be indifferent as to where it came from, he isn't, and you don't want to send mixed messages to him about who you are worshiping.
 ^29-30But, except for these special cases, I'm not going to walk around on eggshells worrying about what small-minded people might say; I'm going to stride free and easy, knowing what our large-minded Master has already said. If I eat what is served to me, grateful to God for what is on the table, how can I worry about what someone will say? I thanked God for it and he blessed it!
 ^31-33So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you're eating to God's glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God's glory. At the same time, don't be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren't as free as you are. I try my best to be considerate of everyone's feelings in all these matters; I hope you will be, too.

1 Corinthians 11

To Honor God

 ^1-2It pleases me that you continue to remember and honor me by keeping up the traditions of the faith I taught you. All actual authority stems from Christ.

 

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Psalm 34:11-22 (The Message)

 ¹¹ Come, children, listen closely;
   I'll give you a lesson in God worship.

 ¹² Who out there has a lust for life?
   Can't wait each day to come upon beauty?

 ¹³ Guard your tongue from profanity,
   and no more lying through your teeth.

 ¹⁴ Turn your back on sin; do something good.
   Embrace peace—don't let it get away!

 ¹⁵ God keeps an eye on his friends,
   his ears pick up every moan and groan.

 ¹⁶ God won't put up with rebels;
   he'll cull them from the pack.

 ¹⁷ Is anyone crying for help? God is listening,
   ready to rescue you.

 ¹⁸ If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there;
   if you're kicked in the gut, he'll help you catch your breath.

 ¹⁹ Disciples so often get into trouble;
   still, God is there every time.

 ²⁰ He's your bodyguard, shielding every bone;
   not even a finger gets broken.

 ²¹ The wicked commit slow suicide;
   they waste their lives hating the good.

 ²² God pays for each slave's freedom;
   no one who runs to him loses out.

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Proverbs 21:14-16 (The Message)

 ¹⁴ A quietly given gift soothes an irritable person;
   a heartfelt present cools a hot temper.

 ¹⁵ Good people celebrate when justice triumphs,
   but for the workers of evil it's a bad day.

 ¹⁶ Whoever wanders off the straight and narrow
   ends up in a congregation of ghosts.

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Verse of the Day

 

“My friends, God has made us these promises. So we should stay away from everything that keeps our bodies and spirits from being clean. We should honor God and try to be completely like him.” - 2 Corinthians 7:1

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American humorist and writer from Chicago. Finley Peter Dunne wrote, “The past always looks better than it was. It's only pleasant because it isn't here.”