The reading for July 9 is Ezra 3-5 and Acts 12.
Daily Reading for July 8
The reading for July 8 is Ezra 1-2 and Acts 11.
The passages below are courtesy of BibleGateway.
Ezra 1-2
Cyrus Allows the Exiles to Return
1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia,[a] the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah.[b] He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom:
2 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says:
“The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you! 4 Wherever this Jewish remnant is found, let their neighbors contribute toward their expenses by giving them silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a voluntary offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.”
5 Then God stirred the hearts of the priests and Levites and the leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of the Lord. 6 And all their neighbors assisted by giving them articles of silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock. They gave them many valuable gifts in addition to all the voluntary offerings.
7 King Cyrus himself brought out the articles that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his own gods. 8 Cyrus directed Mithredath, the treasurer of Persia, to count these items and present them to Sheshbazzar, the leader of the exiles returning to Judah.[c] 9 This is a list of the items that were returned:
| gold basins | 30 |
| silver basins | 1,000 |
| silver incense burners[d] | 29 |
| 10 gold bowls | 30 |
| silver bowls | 410 |
| other items | 1,000 |
11 In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and silver. Sheshbazzar brought all of these along when the exiles went from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Exiles Who Returned with Zerubbabel
2 Here is the list of the Jewish exiles of the provinces who returned from their captivity. King Nebuchadnezzar had deported them to Babylon, but now they returned to Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah where they originally lived. 2 Their leaders were Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.
This is the number of the men of Israel who returned from exile:
| 3 The family of Parosh | 2,172 |
| 4 The family of Shephatiah | 372 |
| 5 The family of Arah | 775 |
| 6 The family of Pahath-moab (descendants of Jeshua and Joab) | 2,812 |
| 7 The family of Elam | 1,254 |
| 8 The family of Zattu | 945 |
| 9 The family of Zaccai | 760 |
| 10 The family of Bani | 642 |
| 11 The family of Bebai | 623 |
| 12 The family of Azgad | 1,222 |
| 13 The family of Adonikam | 666 |
| 14 The family of Bigvai | 2,056 |
| 15 The family of Adin | 454 |
| 16 The family of Ater (descendants of Hezekiah) | 98 |
| 17 The family of Bezai | 323 |
| 18 The family of Jorah | 112 |
| 19 The family of Hashum | 223 |
| 20 The family of Gibbar | 95 |
| 21 The people of Bethlehem | 123 |
| 22 The people of Netophah | 56 |
| 23 The people of Anathoth | 128 |
| 24 The people of Beth-azmaveth[e] | 42 |
| 25 The people of Kiriath-jearim,[f] Kephirah, and Beeroth | 743 |
| 26 The people of Ramah and Geba | 621 |
| 27 The people of Micmash | 122 |
| 28 The people of Bethel and Ai | 223 |
| 29 The citizens of Nebo | 52 |
| 30 The citizens of Magbish | 156 |
| 31 The citizens of West Elam[g] | 1,254 |
| 32 The citizens of Harim | 320 |
| 33 The citizens of Lod, Hadid, and Ono | 725 |
| 34 The citizens of Jericho | 345 |
| 35 The citizens of Senaah | 3,630 |
36 These are the priests who returned from exile:
| The family of Jedaiah (through the line of Jeshua) | 973 |
| 37 The family of Immer | 1,052 |
| 38 The family of Pashhur | 1,247 |
| 39 The family of Harim | 1,017 |
40 These are the Levites who returned from exile:
| The families of Jeshua and Kadmiel (descendants of Hodaviah) | 74 |
| 41 The singers of the family of Asaph | 128 |
| 42 The gatekeepers of the families of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai | 139 |
43 The descendants of the following Temple servants returned from exile:
Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
44 Keros, Siaha, Padon,
45 Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub,
46 Hagab, Shalmai,[h] Hanan,
47 Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah,
48 Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam,
49 Uzza, Paseah, Besai,
50 Asnah, Meunim, Nephusim,
51 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
52 Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,
53 Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
54 Neziah, and Hatipha.
55 The descendants of these servants of King Solomon returned from exile:
Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda,
56 Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel,
57 Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-hazzebaim, and Ami.
58 In all, the Temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants numbered 392.
59 Another group returned at this time from the towns of Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Kerub, Addan, and Immer. However, they could not prove that they or their families were descendants of Israel. 60 This group included the families of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda—a total of 652 people.
61 Three families of priests—Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai—also returned. (This Barzillai had married a woman who was a descendant of Barzillai of Gilead, and he had taken her family name.) 62 They searched for their names in the genealogical records, but they were not found, so they were disqualified from serving as priests. 63 The governor told them not to eat the priests’ share of food from the sacrifices until a priest could consult the Lord about the matter by using the Urim and Thummim—the sacred lots.
64 So a total of 42,360 people returned to Judah, 65 in addition to 7,337 servants and 200 singers, both men and women. 66 They took with them 736 horses, 245 mules, 67 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.
68 When they arrived at the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the family leaders made voluntary offerings toward the rebuilding of God’s Temple on its original site, 69 and each leader gave as much as he could. The total of their gifts came to 61,000 gold coins,[i] 6,250 pounds[j] of silver, and 100 robes for the priests.
70 So the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, the Temple servants, and some of the common people settled in villages near Jerusalem. The rest of the people returned to their own towns throughout Israel.
Footnotes
- 1:1a The first year of Cyrus’s reign over Babylon was 538 B.c.
- 1:1b See Jer 25:11-12; 29:10.
- 1:8 Hebrew Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
- 1:9 The meaning of this Hebrew word is uncertain.
- 2:24 As in parallel text at Neh 7:28; Hebrew reads Azmaveth.
- 2:25 As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek version (see also Neh 7:29); Hebrew reads Kiriath-arim.
- 2:31 Or of the other Elam.
- 2:46 As in an alternate reading of the Masoretic Text (see also Neh 7:48); the other alternate reads Shamlai.
- 2:69a Hebrew 61,000 darics of gold, about 1,100 pounds or 500 kilograms in weight.
- 2:69b Hebrew 5,000 minas [3,000 kilograms].
Acts 11
Peter Explains His Actions
11 Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers[a] in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God. 2 But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers[b] criticized him. 3 “You entered the home of Gentiles[c] and even ate with them!” they said.
4 Then Peter told them exactly what had happened. 5 “I was in the town of Joppa,” he said, “and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me. 6 When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles, and birds. 7 And I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’
8 “‘No, Lord,’ I replied. ‘I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean.[d]’
9 “But the voice from heaven spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’ 10 This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven.
11 “Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying. 12 The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us. 13 He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, ‘Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. 14 He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!’
15 “As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning. 16 Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with[e] water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”
18 When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”
The Church in Antioch of Syria
19 Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews. 20 However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles[f] about the Lord Jesus. 21 The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord.
22 When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. 24 Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. 26 When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers[g] were first called Christians.)
27 During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.) 29 So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters[h] in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could. 30 This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- 11:1 Greek brothers.
- 11:2 Greek those of the circumcision.
- 11:3 Greek of uncircumcised men.
- 11:8 Greek anything common or unclean.
- 11:16 Or in; also in 11:16b.
- 11:20 Greek the Hellenists (i.e., those who speak Greek); other manuscripts read the Greeks.
- 11:26 Greek disciples; also in 11:29.
- 11:29 Greek the brothers.