Genesis 18, Matthew 17, Nehemiah 7, Acts 17

Genesis 18,

The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.
Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.
Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way--now that you have come to your servant." "Very well," they answered, "do as you say."
  
  So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread."
Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.
He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
"Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There, in the tent," he said.
Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
  
  Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?"
Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?'
Is anything too hard for the LORD ? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."
Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh." But he said, "Yes, you did laugh."
  
  When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way.
Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?
Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.
For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
  
  that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."
The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.
Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?
Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
  
  The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,
what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?" "If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it."
Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it."
Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."
  
  Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it."
Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."
When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

Matthew 17,

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
  
  When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.
But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid."
When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"
  
  Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.
But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."
Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him.
"Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.
  
  I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."
"O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me."
Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
  
 
When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.
They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life." And the disciples were filled with grief.
After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?"
"Yes, he does," he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes--from their own sons or from others?"
  
  "From others," Peter answered. "Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him.
"But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."
 

Nehemiah 7,

After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed.
I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do.
I said to them, "The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses."
Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt.
So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families. I found the genealogical record of those who had been the first to return. This is what I found written there:
  
  These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,
in company with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum and Baanah): The list of the men of Israel:
the descendants of Parosh 2,172
of Shephatiah 372
of Arah 652
  
  of Pahath-Moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab) 2,818
of Elam 1,254
of Zattu 845
of Zaccai 760
of Binnui 648
  
  of Bebai 628
of Azgad 2,322
of Adonikam 667
of Bigvai 2,067
of Adin 655
  
  of Ater (through Hezekiah) 98
of Hashum 328
of Bezai 324
of Hariph 112
of Gibeon 95
  
  the men of Bethlehem and Netophah 188
of Anathoth 128
of Beth Azmaveth 42
of Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah and Beeroth 743
of Ramah and Geba 621
  
  of Micmash 122
of Bethel and Ai 123
of the other Nebo 52
of the other Elam 1,254
of Harim 320
  
  of Jericho 345
of Lod, Hadid and Ono 721
of Senaah 3,930
The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family of Jeshua) 973
of Immer 1,052
  
  of Pashhur 1,247
of Harim 1,017
The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua (through Kadmiel through the line of Hodaviah) 74
The singers: the descendants of Asaph 148
The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita and Shobai 138
  
  The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
Keros, Sia, Padon,
Lebana, Hagaba, Shalmai,
Hanan, Giddel, Gahar,
Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda,
  
  Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah,
Besai, Meunim, Nephussim,
Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,
Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
  
  Neziah and Hatipha
The descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, Sophereth, Perida,
Jaala, Darkon, Giddel,
Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Amon
The temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon 392
  
  The following came up from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer, but they could not show that their families were descended from Israel:
the descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda 642
And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name).
These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.
The governor, therefore, ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there should be a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.
  
  The whole company numbered 42,360,
besides their 7,337 menservants and maidservants; and they also had 245 men and women singers.
There were 736 horses, 245 mules,
435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
Some of the heads of the families contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 drachmas of gold, 50 bowls and 530 garments for priests.
  
  Some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury for the work 20,000 drachmas of gold and 2,200 minas of silver.
The total given by the rest of the people was 20,000 drachmas of gold, 2,000 minas of silver and 67 garments for priests.
The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers and the temple servants, along with certain of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns. When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns,
 

Acts 17

When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said.
Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.
  
  But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here,
and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus."
When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.
Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.
As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.
  
  Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.
The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.
The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
  
  While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.
So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?
You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean."
  
  (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.
For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
  
  From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'
"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill.
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
  
  For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject."
At that, Paul left the Council.
A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.