Friday, 19 January

40.   By your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from your neck."

1.   Now these are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2.   Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3.   Shechaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 4.   Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, 5.   Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6.   Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7.   Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and their brethren in the days of Jeshua. 8.   Moreover the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah who led the thanksgiving psalms , he and his brethren. 9.   Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, stood across from them in their duties. 10.   Jeshua begot Joiakim, Joiakim begot Eliashib, Eliashib begot Joiada, 11.   Joiada begot Jonathan, and Jonathan begot Jaddua. 12.   Now in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the heads of the fathers’ houses were : of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; 13.   of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; 14.   of Melichu, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; 15.   of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; 16.   of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 17.   of Abijah, Zichri; the son of Minjamin; of Moadiah, Piltai; 18.   of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; 19.   of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; 20.   of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; 21.   of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; and of Jedaiah, Nethanel. 22.   During the reign of Darius the Persian, a record was also kept of the Levites and priests who had been heads of their fathers’ houses in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua. 23.   The sons of Levi, the heads of the fathers’ houses until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib, were written in the book of the chronicles. 24.   And the heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers across from them, to praise and give thanks, group alternating with group, according to the command of David the man of God. 25.   Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping the watch at the storerooms of the gates. 26.   These lived in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe. 27.   Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps. 28.   And the sons of the singers gathered together from the countryside around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites, 29.   from the house of Gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem. 30.   Then the priests and Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, the gates, and the wall. 31.   So I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs. One went to the right hand on the wall toward the Refuse Gate. 32.   After them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, 33.   and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34.   Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, 35.   and some of the priests’ sons with trumpets––Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, 36.   and his brethren, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. Ezra the scribe went before them. 37.   By the Fountain Gate, in front of them, they went up the stairs of the City of David, on the stairway of the wall, beyond the house of David, as far as the Water Gate eastward. 38.   The other thanksgiving choir went the opposite way , and I was behind them with half of the people on the wall, going past the Tower of the Ovens as far as the Broad Wall, 39.   and above the Gate of Ephraim, above the Old Gate, above the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate; and they stopped by the Gate of the Prison. 40.   So the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God, likewise I and the half of the rulers with me; 41.   and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Minjamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; 42.   also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang loudly with Jezrahiah the director. 43.   Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off. 44.   And at the same time some were appointed over the rooms of the storehouse for the offerings, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who ministered. 45.   Both the singers and the gatekeepers kept the charge of their God and the charge of the purification, according to the command of David and Solomon his son. 46.   For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chiefs of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47.   In the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah all Israel gave the portions for the singers and the gatekeepers, a portion for each day. They also consecrated holy things for the Levites, and the Levites consecrated them for the children of Aaron.

1.   On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 2.   And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3.   Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4.   "And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5.   "Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6.   "But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7.   "And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8.   "But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9.   "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" 10.   And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" 11.   He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12.   "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13.   "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14.   "And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; 15.   For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’ 16.   "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17.   "for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it , and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it . 18.   "Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19.   "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it , then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20.   "But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21.   "yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22.   "Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23.   "But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it , who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." 24.   Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25.   "but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26.   "But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27.   "So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28.   "He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29.   "But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30.   ‘Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."’"