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Psalm 105

1  O give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name; ♦︎
   make known his deeds among the peoples.
2  Sing to him, sing praises, ♦︎
   and tell of all his marvellous works.
3  Rejoice in the praise of his holy name; ♦︎
   let the hearts of them rejoice who seek the Lord.
4  Seek the Lord and his strength; ♦︎
   seek his face continually.
5  Remember the marvels he has done, ♦︎
   his wonders and the judgements of his mouth,
6  O seed of Abraham his servant, ♦︎
   O children of Jacob his chosen.
7  He is the Lord our God; ♦︎
   his judgements are in all the earth.
8  He has always been mindful of his covenant, ♦︎
   the promise that he made for a thousand generations:
9  The covenant he made with Abraham, ♦︎
   the oath that he swore to Isaac,
10  Which he established as a statute for Jacob, ♦︎
   an everlasting covenant for Israel,
11  Saying, ‘To you will I give the land of Canaan ♦︎
   to be the portion of your inheritance.’
12  When they were but few in number, ♦︎
   of little account, and sojourners in the land,
13  Wandering from nation to nation, ♦︎
   from one kingdom to another people,
14  He suffered no one to do them wrong ♦︎
   and rebuked even kings for their sake,
15  Saying, ‘Touch not my anointed ♦︎
   and do my prophets no harm.’
16  Then he called down famine over the land ♦︎
   and broke every staff of bread.
17  But he had sent a man before them, ♦︎
   Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18  They shackled his feet with fetters; ♦︎
   his neck was ringed with iron.
19  Until all he foretold came to pass, ♦︎
   the word of the Lord tested him.
20  The king sent and released him; ♦︎
   the ruler of peoples set him free.
21  He appointed him lord of his household ♦︎
   and ruler of all he possessed,
22  To instruct his princes as he willed ♦︎
   and to teach his counsellors wisdom.

Nehemiah Deals with Oppression

5Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish kin. ²For there were those who said, ‘With our sons and our daughters, we are many; we must get grain, so that we may eat and stay alive.’ ³There were also those who said, ‘We are having to pledge our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the famine.’ ⁴And there were those who said, ‘We are having to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s tax. ⁵Now our flesh is the same as that of our kindred; our children are the same as their children; and yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are powerless, and our fields and vineyards now belong to others.’

6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. ⁷After thinking it over, I brought charges against the nobles and the officials; I said to them, ‘You are all taking interest from your own people.’ And I called a great assembly to deal with them, ⁸and said to them, ‘As far as we were able, we have bought back our Jewish kindred who had been sold to other nations; but now you are selling your own kin, who must then be bought back by us!’ They were silent, and could not find a word to say. ⁹So I said, ‘The thing that you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God, to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? ¹⁰Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us stop this taking of interest. ¹¹Restore to them, this very day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the interest on money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.’ ¹²Then they said, ‘We will restore everything and demand nothing more from them. We will do as you say.’ And I called the priests, and made them take an oath to do as they had promised. ¹³I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, ‘So may God shake out everyone from house and from property who does not perform this promise. Thus may they be shaken out and emptied.’ And all the assembly said, ‘Amen’, and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

The Generosity of Nehemiah

14 Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. ¹⁵The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people, and took food and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. ¹⁶Indeed, I devoted myself to the work on this wall, and acquired no land; and all my servants were gathered there for the work. ¹⁷Moreover, there were at my table one hundred and fifty people, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations around us. ¹⁸Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and every ten days skins of wine in abundance; yet with all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because of the heavy burden of labour on the people. ¹⁹Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.

⁵³When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

54 He came to his home town and began to teach the people^* in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? ⁵⁵Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?’ ⁵⁷And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour except in their own country and in their own house.’ ⁵⁸And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.