¹And the Lord appeared to him by the ooaks1 of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. ²He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. pWhen he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth ³and said, “O Lord,2 if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. ⁴Let a qlittle water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, ⁵while I bring a morsel of bread, that ryou may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—ssince you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” ⁶And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs3 of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” ⁷And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. ⁸Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is tin the tent.” ¹⁰The Lord said, “I will surely return to you uabout this time next year, and vSarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. ¹¹Now wAbraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. ¹²xSo Sarah laughed to herself, saying, y“After I am worn out, and zmy lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” ¹³The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴aIs anything too hard4 for the Lord? bAt the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵But Sarah denied it,5 saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

¹⁶Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. ¹⁷The Lord said, c“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, ¹⁸seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be dblessed in him? ¹⁹For I have echosen6 him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” ²⁰Then the Lord said, “Because fthe outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, ²¹gI will go down to see whether they have done altogether7 according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, hI will know.”

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

²²iSo the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham jstill stood before the Lord. ²³Then Abraham drew near and said, k“Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, lso that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! mShall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” ²⁶And the Lord said, n“If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

²⁷Abraham answered and said, o“Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. ²⁸Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” ²⁹Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” ³⁰Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” ³¹He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” ³²Then he said, p“Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” ³³And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

The Transfiguration

¹gAnd after six days Jesus took with him hPeter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ²And he was itransfigured before them, and jhis face shone like the sun, and khis clothes became white as light. ³And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. ⁴And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for lElijah.” ⁵He was still speaking when, behold, ma bright cloud overshadowed them, and ma voice from the cloud said, n“This is my beloved Son,1 with whom I am well pleased; olisten to him.” ⁶When pthe disciples heard this, qthey fell on their faces and were terrified. ⁷But Jesus came and rtouched them, saying, “Rise, and shave no fear.” ⁸And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

⁹tAnd as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, u“Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” ¹⁰And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say vthat first Elijah must come?” ¹¹He answered, “Elijah does come, and whe will restore all things. ¹²But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but xdid to him whatever they pleased. ySo also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” ¹³zThen the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon

¹⁴aAnd when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, ¹⁵said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has bseizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. ¹⁶And I brought him to your disciples, and cthey could not heal him.” ¹⁷And Jesus answered, “O faithless and dtwisted generation, how long am I to be with you? eHow long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” ¹⁸And Jesus frebuked the demon,2 and it3 came out of him, and gthe boy was healed instantly.4 ¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁰He said to them, h“Because of your little faith. For itruly, I say to you, jif you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, kyou will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and lnothing will be impossible for you.”5

Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection

²²mAs they were gathering6 in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, ²³and they will kill him, and he will be raised on nthe third day.” And they were greatly distressed.

The Temple Tax

²⁴oWhen they came to Capernaum, the collectors of pthe two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” ²⁵He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, q“What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or rtax? From their sons or from others?” ²⁶And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. ²⁷However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel.7 Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”

¹Now when the wall had been built nand I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, ²I gave omy brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of pthe castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was qa more faithful and God-fearing man than many. ³And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” ⁴The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.

Lists of Returned Exiles

⁵Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of rthose who came up at the first, and I found written in it:

⁶sThese were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town. ⁷They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, tAzariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: ⁸the sons of Parosh, 2,172. ⁹The sons of Shephatiah, 372. ¹⁰The sons of Arah, u652. ¹¹The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818. ¹²The sons of vElam, 1,254. ¹³The sons of Zattu, 845. ¹⁴The sons of Zaccai, 760. ¹⁵The sons of wBinnui, 648. ¹⁶The sons of Bebai, 628. ¹⁷The sons of Azgad, 2,322. ¹⁸The sons of Adonikam, 667. ¹⁹The sons of Bigvai, 2,067. ²⁰The sons of Adin, 655. ²¹The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. ²²The sons of Hashum, 328. ²³The sons of xBezai, 324. ²⁴The sons of Hariph, 112. ²⁵The sons of yGibeon, 95. ²⁶The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188. ²⁷The men of Anathoth, 128. ²⁸The men zof Beth-azmaveth, 42. ²⁹The men of aKiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. ³⁰The men of Ramah and Geba, 621. ³¹The men of Michmas, 122. ³²The men of Bethel and Ai, 123. ³³The men of the other Nebo, 52. ³⁴The sons of bthe other Elam, 1,254. ³⁵The sons of Harim, 320. ³⁶The sons of Jericho, 345. ³⁷The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721. ³⁸The sons of Senaah, 3,930.

³⁹The priests: the sons of cJedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, 973. ⁴⁰The sons of dImmer, 1,052. ⁴¹The sons of ePashhur, 1,247. ⁴²The sons of fHarim, 1,017.

⁴³The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the sons of gHodevah, 74. ⁴⁴The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148. ⁴⁵The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, 138.

⁴⁶The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, ⁴⁷the sons of Keros, the sons of hSia, the sons of Padon, ⁴⁸the sons of Lebana, the sons of iHagaba, the sons of iShalmai, ⁴⁹the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, ⁵⁰the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, ⁵¹the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, ⁵²the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of jNephushesim, ⁵³the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, ⁵⁴the sons of kBazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, ⁵⁵the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, ⁵⁶the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.

⁵⁷The sons of Solomon's servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of lPerida, ⁵⁸the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, ⁵⁹the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of mAmon.

⁶⁰All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were 392.

⁶¹nThe following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, oAddon, and Immer, but they could not prove their fathers' houses nor their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: ⁶²the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642. ⁶³Also, of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name). ⁶⁴These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. ⁶⁵pThe qgovernor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food until a priest with Urim and Thummim should arise.

Totals of People and Gifts

⁶⁶The whole assembly together was 42,360, ⁶⁷besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 singers, male and female. ⁶⁸Their horses were 736, their mules 245,1 ⁶⁹their camels 435, and their donkeys 6,720.

⁷⁰Now some of the heads of fathers' houses gave to the work. The qgovernor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics2 of gold, 50 basins, 30 priests' garments and 500 minas3 of silver.4 ⁷¹And some of the heads of fathers' houses gave into the treasury of the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver. ⁷²rAnd what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests' garments.

⁷³So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel, lived in their towns.

sAnd when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.

Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

¹Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to gThessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ²And Paul went in, has was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them ifrom the Scriptures, ³jexplaining and proving that it was necessary for kthe Christ to suffer and lto rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” ⁴And msome of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did na great many of the devout oGreeks and not a few of the leading women. ⁵pBut the Jews1 qwere jealous, and taking rsome wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶And when they could not find them, sthey dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ⁷and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against tthe decrees of Caesar, saying that there is uanother king, Jesus.” ⁸And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. ⁹And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

Paul and Silas in Berea

¹⁰vThe brothers2 immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they wwent into the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, xexamining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. ¹²yMany of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek zwomen of high standing as well as men. ¹³But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, aagitating and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴Then the brothers bimmediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and cTimothy remained there. ¹⁵dThose who conducted Paul brought him as far as eAthens, and after receiving a command ffor Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

Paul in Athens

¹⁶Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was gprovoked within him as he saw that the city was hfull of idols. ¹⁷So ihe reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, j“What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because khe was preaching lJesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹And they took him and brought him to mthe Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this nnew teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰For you bring some ostrange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” ²¹Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

Paul Addresses the Areopagus

²²So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. ²³For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: p‘To the unknown god.’ pWhat therefore you worship qas unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴rThe God who made the world and everything in it, being sLord of heaven and earth, tdoes not live in temples made by man,3 ²⁵nor is he served by human hands, uas though he needed anything, since he himself vgives to all mankind wlife and breath and everything. ²⁶And xhe made from one man every nation of mankind to live yon all the face of the earth, zhaving determined allotted periods and athe boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷bthat they should seek God, cand perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. dYet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸for

e“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;4

as even some of fyour own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’5

²⁹gBeing then God's offspring, hwe ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ³⁰iThe times of ignorance jGod overlooked, but know he lcommands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹because he has fixed ma day on which nhe will judge the world oin righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and pof this he has given assurance to all qby raising him from the dead.”

³²Now when they heard of rthe resurrection of the dead, ssome mocked. But others said, t“We will hear you again about this.” ³³So Paul went out from their midst. ³⁴But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius uthe Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.