Day 260 - Thursday After the 16th Sunday after Pentecost

Read | Day 260 | Thursday | September 17 

Ezra 9: 1-15 
Ezra 10: 1-17, 18-44
Nehemiah 1: 1-11 
Nehemiah 2: 1-10, 11-20

By Russian Icon Painter
(Greek and Russian Orthodox Icon)
[Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons

Background | Nehemiah | The book of Nehemiah begins with King Artaxerxes sending Nehemiah to Jerusalem to rebuild its walls. Nehemiah 3 gives a detailed description of the various gates of the walls, which is the earliest such description scholars have, thereby helping them to understand something of the topography of Jerusalem at the time. As with Ezra’s reforms, there was opposition to rebuilding the wall, for a fortified Jerusalem would surely make the surrounding nations nervous. Despite this, the wall was still completed. Nehemiah also includes a number of lists that are of interest to historians: a list of those who returned from Babylon, of those who agreed to the religious reforms initiated by Ezra reading the Torah in the presence of all the people, a list of the new residents of Jerusalem, and a list of the priests and Levites. Like Ezra, Nehemiah is concerned with foreign religious influence. Intermarriage was forbidden, as was admitting Ammonites or Moabites into Israel’s assembly (Nehemiah 13:1). This same view is also found in Deuteronomy 23:3-6 and is in some tension with the story of Ruth, the Moabite woman, who was the great-grandmother of David, Israel’s greatest king.

Source | The Center for Biblical Studies | Click here

Date: 464 BC

Reading | Esra - ashamed of the people with their foreign wives and practices; he pleads to God for forgiveness; people confess their sin; listing of the wrong doers; Nehemiah - mourning the exiles and the lack of building the broken wall; granted safe passage from king and queen; inspects the wall and begins the rebuilding project; asked what he was doing, Nehemiah said he was obeying God.

Source | Tyndale | The One Year Chronological Bible NIV | ISBN 978-1-4143-5993-9 

Next |   Day 261 | Friday | September 18 
Nehemiah 3: 1-32 
Nehemiah 4: 1-23 
Nehemiah 5: 1-13 
Nehemiah 6: 1-14, 15– 7: 3 

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Glory to God Gloria in excelsis

Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.

Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.

Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.

For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Source | Forward Movement | click here