Thoughts and Reflection
Today we read the conclusion of Zechariah. There is a promise – on the day of the Lord he will redeem the earth. Those who have been under the heel of others will be vindicated. Everyone’s deeds shall be known. Nehemiah does the Lord’s work. When he encounters difficulty and opposition, he turns to the Lord and prays. Nehemiah may not be perfect, but he works hard for God.
About This Project
For the year 2022, I decided that my New Year’s Resolution was to read the whole Bible following the Bible in the Year plan presented by Fr. Mike Schmitz. It is a big and bold undertaking. You can follow along by subscribing. Feel free to look at previous day’s post and comment. It’s something we can all learn from together!
Daily Readings
Nehemiah 3
1 Eliashib the high priest with his brother priests then set to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate; they made the framework, hung its doors, fixed its bolts and bars and proceeded as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel.
2 The men of Jericho built next to him; Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.
3 The sons of Ha-Senaah rebuilt the Fish Gate; they made the framework, hung its doors and fixed its bolts and bars.
4 Meremoth son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz, carried out repairs next to them; Meshullam son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel, carried out repairs next to him; and Zadok son of Baana carried out repairs next to him.
5 The men of Tekoa carried out repairs next to him, though their nobles would not demean themselves to help their masters.
6 Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah repaired the gate of the New Quarter; they made the framework, hung its doors and fixed its bolts and bars.
7 Next to them repairs were carried out by Melatiah of Gibeon, Jadon of Meronoth, and the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, for the sake of the governor of Transeuphrates.
8 Next to them repairs were carried out by Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a member of the metal-workers’ guild, and next to him repairs were carried out by Hananiah of the perfumers’ guild. These renovated the wall of Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.
9 Next to them repairs were carried out by Rephaiah son of Hur, who was head of one half of the district of Jerusalem.
10 Next to them Jedaiah son of Harumaph carried out repairs opposite his own house; next to him repairs were carried out by Hattush son of Hashabneiah.
11 Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section as far as the Furnace Tower.
12 Next to them repairs were carried out by Shallum son of Hallohesh, head of the other half of the district of Jerusalem, by him and his sons.
13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate: they rebuilt it, hung its doors and fixed its bolts and bars; they also repaired a thousand cubits of wall up to the Dung Gate.
14 Malchijah son of Rechab, head of the district of Beth-ha-Cherem, repaired the Dung Gate; he rebuilt it, hung its doors and fixed its bolts and bars.
15 Shallum son of Col-Hozeh, head of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he rebuilt it, roofed it, hung its doors and fixed its bolts and bars. He also rebuilt the wall of the Pool of Siloah, adjoining the king’s garden, as far as the steps going down from the City of David.
16 After him, Nehemiah son of Azbuk, head of half the district of Beth-Zur, carried out repairs from a point opposite the Davidic Tombs to the artificial pool and the House of the Champions.
17 After him, repairs were carried out by the Levites: Rehum son of Bani; and next to him Hashabiah, head of one half of the district of Keilah, carried out repairs for his own district.
18 After him, repairs were carried out by their brothers: Binnui son of Henadad, head of the other half of the district of Keilah.
19 Next to him, Ezer son of Jeshua, headman of Mizpah, repaired another section in front of the ascent to the armoury at the Angle.
20 After him, Baruch son of Zabbai repaired another section from the Angle to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
21 After him, Meremoth son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz, repaired another section from the door of Eliashib’s house as far as the end of Eliashib’s house.
22 And after him repairs were carried out by the priests who lived in the district.
23 After them repairs were carried out by Benjamin and Hasshub, opposite their own house. After them repairs were carried out by Azariah son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, beside his own house.
24 After him, Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section from Azariah’s house as far as the Angle at the corner.
25 After him, Palal son of Uzai carried out repairs in front of the Angle and the tower projecting from the king’s Upper Palace by the Court of the Guard; and after him, Pedaiah son of Parosh carried out the repairs
26 to a point by the Water Gate to the east and the projecting tower.
27 After him, the men of Tekoa repaired another section from in front of the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.
28 From the Horse Gate onwards repairs were carried out by the priests, each in front of his own house.
29 After them repairs were carried out by Zadok son of Immer in front of his house, and after him repairs were carried out by Shemaiah son of Shechaniah, keeper of the East Gate.
30 After him Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section, after whom repairs were carried out by Meshullam son of Berechiah in front of his room.
31 After him Malchijah, of the metal-workers’ guild, repaired as far as the Hall of the temple slaves and merchants, in front of the Muster Gate, as far as the upper room at the corner.
32 And between the upper room at the corner and the Sheep Gate repairs were carried out by the goldsmiths and the merchants.
33 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furiously angry.
34 He ridiculed the Jews and in front of his kinsmen and the aristocracy of Samaria he exclaimed, ‘What are these pathetic Jews doing . . . ? Are they going to give up? Or offer sacrifices? Or complete the work in a day? Can they put new life into stones taken from rubbish heaps and even charred?’
35 And beside him Tobiah of Ammon remarked, ‘If a jackal were to jump on what they are building, it would knock their stone wall down!’
36 Listen, our God, for we are despised! Make their sneers fall back on their own heads! Send them as booty to a land of captivity!
37 Do not pardon their wickedness, may their sin never be erased before you, for they have insulted the builders to their face!
38 Meanwhile we were rebuilding the wall, which was soon joined up all the way round to mid-height; the people put their hearts into the work.
Zechariah 14
1 Look, the Day of Yahweh is coming, when the spoils taken from you will be shared out among you.
2 For I shall gather all the nations to Jerusalem for battle. The city will be taken, the houses plundered, the women ravished. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be ejected from the city.
3 Then Yahweh will sally out and fight those nations as once he fought on the day of battle.
4 When that day comes, his feet will rest on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley; half the Mount will recede northwards, the other half southwards.
5 The valley between the hills will be filled in, yes, it will be blocked as far as Jasol, it will be filled in as it was by the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. And Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
6 That Day, there will be no light, but only cold and frost.
7 And it will be one continuous day — Yahweh knows — there will be no more day and night, and it will remain light right into the time of evening.
8 When that Day comes, living waters will issue from Jerusalem, half towards the eastern sea, half towards the western sea; they willflow summer and winter.
9 Then Yahweh will become king of the whole world. When that Day comes, Yahweh will be the one and only and his name the one name.
10 The entire country will be transformed into plain, from Geba to Rimmon in the Negeb, but Jerusalem will stand high in her place and be full of people from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the earlier gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine-presses.
11 People will make their homes there. The curse of destruction will be lifted; Jerusalem will be safe to live in.
12 And this is the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the nations who have fought against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet; their eyes will rot in their sockets; their tongues will rot in their mouths.
13 When that Day comes, a great terror will fall on them from Yahweh; each man will grab his neighbour’s hand and they will fall to fighting among themselves.
14 Even Judah will fight against Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be heaped together: gold, silver, clothing, in vast quantity.
15 And the plague afflicting the horses, mules, camels, donkeys and all the other animals in those armies will be the same.
16 After this, all the survivors of all the nations which have attacked Jerusalem will come up year after year to worship the King, YahwehSabaoth, and to keep the feast of Shelters.
17 Should one of the races of the world fail to come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh Sabaoth, there will be no rain for that one.
18 Should the race of Egypt fail to come up and pay its visit, on it will fall the plague which Yahweh will inflict on each of those nations which fail to come up to keep the feast of Shelters.
19 Such will be the punishment for Egypt and the punishment for all the nations which fail to come up to keep the feast of Shelters.
20 When that Day comes, the very bells on the horses will be inscribed with the words, ‘Sacred to Yahweh’, and the cooking pots of the house of Yahweh will be as holy as the sprinkling bowls before the altar.
21 Yes, every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be sacred to Yahweh Sabaoth, and all who come to offer sacrifice will help themselves and do their cooking in them, and there will be no more traders in the Temple of Yahweh Sabaoth, when that Day comes.
Proverbs 20:23-26
23 One weight here, another there: this is abhorrent to Yahweh, false scales are not good.
24 Yahweh guides the steps of the powerful: but who can comprehend human ways?
25 Anyone is trapped who cries ‘Dedicated!’ and begins to reflect only after the vow.
26 A wise king winnows the wicked and makes the wheel pass over them.
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