Jesus Warns of Offenses^(A)

17 Then He said to the disciples, ^(B)“It is impossible that no ^[a]offenses should come, but ^(C)woe to him through whom they do come! ² It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should ^[b]offend one of these little ones. ³ Take heed to yourselves. ^(D)If your brother sins ^[c]against you, ^(E)rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns ^[d]to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

Faith and Duty^(F)

⁵ And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

^6 (G)So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. ⁷ And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? ⁸ But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself ^(H)and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? ⁹ Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded ^[e]him? I think not. ¹⁰ So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are ^(I)unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ”

Not Ashamed of the Gospel

^8 (A)Therefore do not be ashamed of ^(B)the testimony of our Lord, nor of me ^(C)His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, ⁹ who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, ^(D)not according to our works, but ^(E)according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus ^(F)before time began, ¹⁰ but ^(G)has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, ^11 (H)to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher ^[a]of the Gentiles. ¹² For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, ^(I)for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

Be Loyal to the Faith

^13 (J)Hold fast ^(K)the pattern of ^(L)sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

¹⁵ This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶ The Lord grant mercy to the ^(M)household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; ¹⁷ but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. ¹⁸ The Lord ^(N)grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord ^(O)in that Day—and you know very well how many ways he ^(P)ministered ^[b]to me at Ephesus.

The Folly of Wickedness

Conspiracy Against Nehemiah

6 Now it happened ^(A)when Sanballat, Tobiah, ^[a]Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it ^(B)(though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), ² that Sanballat and ^[b]Geshem ^(C)sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together ^[c]among the villages in the plain of ^(D)Ono.” But they ^(E)thought to do me harm.

³ So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

⁴ But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.

⁵ Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. ⁶ In it was written:

⁸ Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.”

⁹ For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.”

Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

¹⁰ Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the ^[e]temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.”

¹¹ And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” ¹² Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that ^(G)he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. ¹³ For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

^14 (H)My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the ^(I)prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.

The Wall Completed

¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. ¹⁶ And it happened, ^(J)when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for ^(K)they perceived that this work was done by our God.

¹⁷ Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them. ¹⁸ For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the ^(L)son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of ^(M)Meshullam the son of Berechiah. ¹⁹ Also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my ^[f]words to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.