12th November

¹ These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.² Of the sons of Phinehas; Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David; Hattush.³ Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.⁴ Of the sons of Pahathmoab; Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.⁵ Of the sons of Shechaniah; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.⁶ Of the sons also of Adin; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.⁷ And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.⁸ And of the sons of Shephatiah; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore males.⁹ Of the sons of Joab; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.¹⁰ And of the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore males.¹¹ And of the sons of Bebai; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight males.¹² And of the sons of Azgad; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten males.¹³ And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males.¹⁴ Of the sons also of Bigvai; Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.¹⁵ And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.¹⁶ Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.¹⁷ And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.¹⁸ And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;¹⁹ And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;²⁰ Also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name.²¹ Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.²² For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.²³ So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.²⁴ Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,²⁵ And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:²⁶ I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents;²⁷ Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.²⁸ And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the LORD; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers.²⁹ Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.³⁰ So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.³¹ Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.³² And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.³³ Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites;³⁴ By number and by weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.³⁵ Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD.³⁶ And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and the house of God.

¹ Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.² The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.³ They shall not dwell in the LORD's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.⁴ They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.⁵ What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD?⁶ For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.⁷ The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.⁸ The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.⁹ They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.¹⁰ I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.¹¹ As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.¹² Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!¹³ Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.¹⁴ Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.¹⁵ All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.¹⁶ Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.¹⁷ My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

¹ And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.² And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.³ And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.⁴ And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.⁵ And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.⁶ Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.⁷ In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.⁸ And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.⁹ So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed:¹⁰ Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary.¹¹ And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux.¹² And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days.¹³ And from thence we fetched a compass, and came to Rhegium: and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli:¹⁴ Where we found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven days: and so we went toward Rome.¹⁵ And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.¹⁶ And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.¹⁷ And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.¹⁸ Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me.¹⁹ But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of.²⁰ For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.²¹ And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee.²² But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against.²³ And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.²⁴ And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.²⁵ And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,²⁶ Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:²⁷ For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.²⁸ Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.²⁹ And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.³⁰ And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,³¹ Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.