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Reading Plan
Day 275 Day 276Day 277

Ezra chapter 5

1
At that time two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo, began to speak in the name of the God of Israel to the Jews who lived in Judah and Jerusalem.
2
When Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak heard their messages, they began to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, and the two prophets helped them.
3
Almost at once Governor Tattenai of West-of-Euphrates, Shethar Bozenai, and their fellow officials came to Jerusalem and demanded: "Who gave you orders to build this Temple and equip it?"
4
They also asked for the names of all the men who were helping build the Temple.
5
But God was watching over the Jewish leaders, and the Persian officials decided to take no action until they could write to Emperor Darius and receive a reply.
6
This is the report that they sent to the emperor:
7
"To Emperor Darius, may you rule in peace.
8
"Your Majesty should know that we went to the province of Judah and found that the Temple of the great God is being rebuilt with large stone blocks and with wooden beams set in the wall. The work is being done with great care and is moving ahead steadily.
9
"We then asked the leaders of the people to tell us who had given them authority to rebuild the Temple and to equip it.
10
We also asked them their names so that we could inform you who the leaders of this work are.
11
"They answered, 'We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the Temple which was originally built and equipped many years ago by a powerful king of Israel.
12
But because our ancestors made the God of Heaven angry, he let them be conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, a king of the Chaldean dynasty. The Temple was destroyed, and the people were taken into exile in Babylonia.
13
Then in the first year of the reign of King Cyrus as emperor of Babylonia, Cyrus issued orders for the Temple to be rebuilt.
14
He restored the gold and silver Temple utensils which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in the temple in Babylon. Emperor Cyrus turned these utensils over to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governor of Judah.
15
The emperor told him to take them and return them to the Temple in Jerusalem, and to rebuild the Temple where it had stood before.
16
So Sheshbazzar came and laid its foundation; construction has continued from then until the present, but it is still not finished.'
17
"Now, if it please Your Majesty, have a search made in the royal records in Babylon to find whether or not Emperor Cyrus gave orders for this Temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt, and then inform us what your will is in this matter."

Ezra chapter 6

1
So Emperor Darius issued orders for a search to be made in the royal records that were kept in Babylon.
2
But it was in the city of Ecbatana in the province of Media that a scroll was found, containing the following record:
3
"In the first year of his reign Emperor Cyrus commanded that the Temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are made and offerings are burned. The Temple is to be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide.
4
The walls are to be built with one layer of wood on top of each three layers of stone. All expenses are to be paid by the royal treasury.
5
Also the gold and silver utensils which King Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon from the Temple in Jerusalem are to be returned to their proper place in the Jerusalem Temple."
6
Then Emperor Darius sent the following reply: "To Tattenai, governor of West-of-Euphrates, Shethar Bozenai, and your fellow officials in West-of-Euphrates. "Stay away from the Temple
7
and do not interfere with its construction. Let the governor of Judah and the Jewish leaders rebuild the Temple of God where it stood before.
8
I hereby command you to help them rebuild it. Their expenses are to be paid promptly out of the royal funds received from taxes in West-of-Euphrates, so that the work is not interrupted.
9
Day by day, without fail, you are to give the priests in Jerusalem whatever they tell you they need: young bulls, sheep, or lambs to be burned as offerings to the God of Heaven, or wheat, salt, wine, or olive oil.
10
This is to be done so that they can offer sacrifices that are acceptable to the God of Heaven and pray for his blessing on me and my sons.
11
I further command that if any disobey this order, a wooden beam is to be torn out of their houses, sharpened on one end, and then driven through their bodies. And their houses are to be made a rubbish heap.
12
May the God who chose Jerusalem as the place where he is to be worshiped overthrow any king or nation that defies this command and tries to destroy the Temple there. I, Darius, have commanded. My command is to be fully obeyed."
13
Then Governor Tattenai, Shethar Bozenai, and their fellow officials did exactly as the emperor had commanded.
14
The Jewish leaders made good progress with the building of the Temple, encouraged by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. They completed the Temple as they had been commanded by the God of Israel and by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, emperors of Persia.
15
They finished the Temple on the third day of the month Adar in the sixth year of the reign of Emperor Darius.
16
Then the people of Israel---the priests, the Levites, and all the others who had returned from exile---joyfully dedicated the Temple.
17
For the dedication they offered 100 bulls, 200 sheep, and 400 lambs as sacrifices, and 12 goats as offerings for sin, one for each tribe of Israel.
18
They also organized the priests and the Levites for the Temple services in Jerusalem, according to the instructions contained in the book of Moses.
19
The people who had returned from exile celebrated Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month of the following year.
20
All the priests and the Levites had purified themselves and were ritually clean. The Levites killed the animals for the Passover sacrifices for all the people who had returned, for the priests, and for themselves.
21
The sacrifices were eaten by all the Israelites who had returned from exile and by all those who had given up the pagan ways of the other people who were living in the land and who had come to worship the LORD God of Israel.
22
For seven days they joyfully celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread. They were full of joy because the LORD had made the emperor of Assyria favorable to them, so that he supported them in their work of rebuilding the Temple of the God of Israel.

Psalm chapter 138

1
I thank you, LORD, with all my heart; I sing praise to you before the gods.
2
I face your holy Temple, bow down, and praise your name because of your constant love and faithfulness, because you have shown that your name and your commands are supreme.
3
You answered me when I called to you; with your strength you strengthened me.
4
All the kings in the world will praise you, LORD, because they have heard your promises.
5
They will sing about what you have done and about your great glory.
6
Even though you are so high above, you care for the lowly, and the proud cannot hide from you.
7
When I am surrounded by troubles, you keep me safe. You oppose my angry enemies and save me by your power.
8
You will do everything you have promised; LORD, your love is eternal. Complete the work that you have begun.

Luke chapter 16

1
Jesus said to his disciples, "There was once a rich man who had a servant who managed his property. The rich man was told that the manager was wasting his master's money,
2
so he called him in and said, 'What is this I hear about you? Turn in a complete account of your handling of my property, because you cannot be my manager any longer.'
3
The servant said to himself, 'My master is going to dismiss me from my job. What shall I do? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg.
4
Now I know what I will do! Then when my job is gone, I shall have friends who will welcome me in their homes.'
5
So he called in all the people who were in debt to his master. He asked the first one, 'How much do you owe my master?'
6
'One hundred barrels of olive oil,' he answered. 'Here is your account,' the manager told him; 'sit down and write fifty.'
7
Then he asked another one, 'And you---how much do you owe?' 'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he answered. 'Here is your account,' the manager told him; 'write eight hundred.'
8
As a result the master of this dishonest manager praised him for doing such a shrewd thing; because the people of this world are much more shrewd in handling their affairs than the people who belong to the light."
9
And Jesus went on to say, "And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home.
10
Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones.
11
If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth?
12
And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you?
13
"No servant can be the slave of two masters; such a slave will hate one and love the other or will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
14
When the Pharisees heard all this, they made fun of Jesus, because they loved money.
15
Jesus said to them, "You are the ones who make yourselves look right in other people's sight, but God knows your hearts. For the things that are considered of great value by people are worth nothing in God's sight.
16
"The Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were in effect up to the time of John the Baptist; since then the Good News about the Kingdom of God is being told, and everyone forces their way in.
17
But it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest detail of the Law to be done away with.
18
"Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery; and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
19
"There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day.
20
There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man's door,
21
hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
22
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven. The rich man died and was buried,
23
and in Hades, where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side.
24
So he called out, 'Father Abraham! Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!'
25
But Abraham said, 'Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain.
26
Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to us from where you are.'
27
The rich man said, 'Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father's house,
28
where I have five brothers. Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain.'
29
Abraham said, 'Your brothers have Moses and the prophets to warn them; your brothers should listen to what they say.'
30
The rich man answered, 'That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.'
31
But Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.' "

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