Daily Readings for November 11

Daily Readings for November 11
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Ezra 7

1.Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, 2.the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, 3.the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, 4.the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, 5.the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest; 6.this Ezra went up from Babylon: and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of Yahweh his God on him. 7.There went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. 8.He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 9.For on the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon; and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God on him. 10.For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of Yahweh, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances. 11.Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the commandments of Yahweh, and of his statutes to Israel: 12.Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect and so forth. 13.I make a decree, that all those of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, who are minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with you. 14.Because you are sent of the king and his seven counselors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your hand, 15.and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, 16.and all the silver and gold that you shall find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; 17.therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money bulls, rams, lambs, with their meal offerings and their drink offerings, and shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. 18.Whatever shall seem good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do that after the will of your God. 19.The vessels that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem. 20.Whatever more shall be needful for the house of your God, which you shall have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure house. 21.I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers who are beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence, 22.to one hundred talents of silver, and to one hundred measures of wheat, and to one hundred baths of wine, and to one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. 23.Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? 24.Also we inform you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, porters, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll, on them. 25.You, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God who is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people who are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach him who doesn't know them. 26.Whoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with all diligence, whether it be to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. 27.Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem; 28.and has extended loving kindness to me before the king, and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty princes. I was strengthened according to the hand of Yahweh my God on me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

Hosea 8

1."Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh's house, because they have broken my covenant, and rebelled against my law. 2.They cry to me, 'My God, we Israel acknowledge you!' 3.Israel has cast off that which is good. The enemy will pursue him. 4.They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I didn't approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off. 5.Let Samaria throw out his calf idol! My anger burns against them! How long will it be until they are capable of purity? 6.For this is even from Israel! The workman made it, and it is no God; indeed, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. 7.For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The stalk will yield no head. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up. 8.Israel is swallowed up. Now they are among the nations like a worthless thing. 9.For they have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has hired lovers for himself. 10.But although they sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them; and they begin to waste away because of the oppression of the king of mighty ones. 11.Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they became for him altars for sinning. 12.I wrote for him the many things of my law; but they were regarded as a strange thing. 13.As for the sacrifices of my offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; But Yahweh doesn't accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins. They will return to Egypt. 14.For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire on his cities, and it will devour its fortresses."

Acts 27

1.When it was determined that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan band. 2.Embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to places on the coast of Asia, we put to sea; Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. 3.The next day, we touched at Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him permission to go to his friends and refresh himself. 4.Putting to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. 5.When we had sailed across the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. 6.There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy, and he put us on board. 7.When we had sailed slowly many days, and had come with difficulty opposite Cnidus, the wind not allowing us further, we sailed under the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8.With difficulty sailing along it we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.

9.When much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, because the Fast had now already gone by, Paul admonished them, 10.and said to them, "Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives." 11.But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner of the ship than to those things which were spoken by Paul. 12.Because the haven was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised going to sea from there, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, and winter there, which is a port of Crete, looking northeast and southeast.

13.When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to shore. 14.But before long, a stormy wind beat down from shore, which is called Euroclydon.⁷⁸ 15.When the ship was caught, and couldn't face the wind, we gave way to it, and were driven along. 16.Running under the lee of a small island called Clauda, we were able, with difficulty, to secure the boat. 17.After they had hoisted it up, they used cables to help reinforce the ship. Fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis sand bars, they lowered the sea anchor, and so were driven along. 18.As we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw things overboard. 19.On the third day, they threw out the ship's tackle with their own hands. 20.When neither sun nor stars shone on us for many days, and no small storm pressed on us, all hope that we would be saved was now taken away.

21.When they had been long without food, Paul stood up in the middle of them, and said, "Sirs, you should have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete, and have gotten this injury and loss. 22.Now I exhort you to cheer up, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23.For there stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the God whose I am and whom I serve, 24.saying, 'Don't be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.' 25.Therefore, sirs, cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be just as it has been spoken to me. 26.But we must run aground on a certain island."

27.But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some land. 28.They took soundings, and found twenty fathoms.⁷⁹ After a little while, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms.⁸⁰ 29.Fearing that we would run aground on rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and wished for daylight. 30.As the sailors were trying to flee out of the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they would lay out anchors from the bow, 31.Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Unless these stay in the ship, you can't be saved." 32.Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it fall off.

33.While the day was coming on, Paul begged them all to take some food, saying, "This day is the fourteenth day that you wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing. 34.Therefore I beg you to take some food, for this is for your safety; for not a hair will perish from any of your heads." 35.When he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it, and began to eat. 36.Then they all cheered up, and they also took food. 37.In all, we were two hundred seventy-six souls on the ship. 38.When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea. 39.When it was day, they didn't recognize the land, but they noticed a certain bay with a beach, and they decided to try to drive the ship onto it. 40.Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time untying the rudder ropes. Hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. 41.But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground. The bow struck and remained immovable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves.

42.The soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape. 43.But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should throw themselves overboard first to go toward the land; 44.and the rest should follow, some on planks, and some on other things from the ship. So it happened that they all escaped safely to the land.