Nehemiah Dedicates the Wall

27 Now at othe 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, pboth 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 qvillages 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 rpurified 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. sOne went to the right hand on the wall ttoward 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 uwith 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 vthe musical winstruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. 37 xBy the Fountain Gate, in front of them, they went up ythe stairs of the zCity of David, on the stairway of the wall, beyond the house of David, as far as athe Water Gate eastward.

38 bThe other thanksgiving choir went the opposite way, and I was behind them with half of the people on the wall, going past the cTower of the Ovens as far as dthe Broad Wall, 39 eand above the Gate of Ephraim, above fthe Old Gate, above gthe Fish Gate, hthe Tower of Hananel, the Tower of 9the Hundred, as far as ithe Sheep Gate; and they stopped by jthe 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, 1Minjamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; 42 also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers 2sang 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 kafar off.

Temple Responsibilities

44 lAnd at the same time some were appointed over the rooms of the storehouse for the offerings, the firstfruits, and the mtithes, 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 3ministered. 45 Both the singers and the gatekeepers kept the charge of their God and the charge of the purification, naccording to the command of David and Solomon his son. 46 For in the days of David oand 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 peach day. qThey also 4consecrated holy things for the Levites, rand the Levites consecrated them for the children of Aaron.

Principles of Separation

13 On that day athey read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written bthat no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but chired Balaam against them to curse them. dHowever, our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 So it was, when they had heard the Law, ethat they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.

The Reforms of Nehemiah

4 Now before this, fEliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with gTobiah. 5 And he had prepared for him a large room, hwhere previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, iwhich were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests. 6 But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, jfor in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king, 7 and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in kpreparing a room for him in the courts of the 1house of God. 8 And it grieved me bitterly; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room. 9 Then I commanded them to lcleanse the rooms; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

10 I also realized that the portions for the Levites had mnot been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to nhis field. 11 So oI contended with the rulers, and said, p“Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their place. 12 qThen all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse. 13 rAnd I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered sfaithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren.

14 tRemember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its services!

15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses uon the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, vwhich they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. 16 Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? 18 wDid not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

19 So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it xbegan to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. yThen I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of 2wares 3lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.

21 Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night 4around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites that zthey should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.

Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!

23 In those days I also saw Jews who ahad married women of bAshdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people.

25 So I ccontended with them and 5cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them dswear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves. 26 eDid not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, fwho was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. gNevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin. 27 Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, htransgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?”

28 And one of the sons iof Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of jSanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me.

29 kRemember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and lthe covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

30 mThus I cleansed them of everything pagan. I also nassigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each to his service, 31 and to bringing othe wood offering and the firstfruits at appointed times.

pRemember me, O my God, for good!

Summarized Bible

Complete Summary of
the New Testament

By KEITH L. BROOKS

Author of

“Simple Studies in Bible Marking”

Published by

Bible Institute of Los Angeles

536–558 South Hope Street

Los Angeles, Cal.

Copyright 1919

keith l. brooks

How Shall I Study My Bible?

by frederic w. farr, d. d.

PEOPLE are always asking, how shall I study the Bible? What is the best method? There is no short cut, no royal road, no magic method. Say to such an inquirer, “Read the Bible over and over again—not once, nor twice, nor thrice, but many, many times.” And that is all any one can do. Read it until you become familiar, cognizant of its contents, until you are so familiar with your Bible, be it Bagster or Oxford, that you can close your eyes and visualize the passage by locating it upon a particular page just where it belongs.

In riding upon a railroad train, you hear the trainmen call out the stations, and you refer to your time card to verify the call as each station is passed, and you wonder at the trained memory of the man who can repeat that long list of way stations without a mistake, and you ask him how he ever does it, and he smiles and replies that he has done it so long it is automatic, done without thought and without effort; and so the best product of Bible study becomes spontaneous and involuntary. You have read the Bible so frequently, so thoughtfully, so earnestly, so prayerfully that it comes to you without direct effort on your part where to locate a passage and you label it instinctively. And when the facts of Scripture are all in your head and heart, you can safely trust the Holy Spirit to interpret those facts, and you need not that any man teach you, and therefore the only thing to seek and to secure is to become familiar with the contents of the Word—thoroughly cognizant of all the facts of Scripture, and read them so often that you see them on the page where they occur, even with closed eyes. In that way, a man with one book, if that book be the Bible, has a large and liberal culture and an education that will serve manifold purposes in solving the problems and bearing the burdens and discharging the duties of daily life.

Christian workers must be taught and trained. To teach is to cause to know; to train is to cause to do; knowing and doing are related as a means to an end, as a cause and effect. “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” Theory precedes practice. How could a man ever do anything unless he knows how it ought to be done? We not only have to be taught, we have to be trained. We must learn the theory, we must acquire the practice and knowledge as a means to an end. I shall briefly mention seven conditions under which Bible study may be prosecuted with success.