Title: Lesson 1

Summary:

God establishes unbreakable covenants that reveal His unwavering commitment to redeem and restore His people. Beginning with Abraham, God promises land, descendants, and blessing, reaffirming His oath through covenantal rituals. Moses foretells a future return to God’s commands and blessings of restoration. Through Jeremiah and Ezekiel, God unveils the New Covenant—a divine work where He writes His law on hearts, forgives sins, gives a new spirit, and renews His people for His glory. These passages trace God’s faithful promises culminating in ultimate spiritual renewal and eternal fellowship with Him.

Scripture References:

Genesis 12:1-4 – ESV (audio 🔊)

1. Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4. So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Genesis 15:1-21 – ESV (audio 🔊)

1. After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
2. But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3. And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
4. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
5. And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6. And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
7. And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
8. But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
9. He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10. And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
11. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
13. Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.
14. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.
16. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17. When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
18. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
19. the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
20. the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21. the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Deuteronomy 30:1-10 – ESV (audio 🔊)

1. “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you,
2. and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul,
3. then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.
4. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you.
5. And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.
6. And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
7. And the LORD your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you.
8. And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD and keep all his commandments that I command you today.
9. The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers,
10. when you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 – ESV (audio 🔊)
31. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
32. not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.
33. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Ezekiel 36:22-32 – ESV (audio 🔊)
22. “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.
23. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
24. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.
25. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
26. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
28. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
29. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.
30. I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.
31. Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations.
32. It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

Title: Lesson 26

Summary:

Jesus Christ, the promised light, fulfills the covenants and brings salvation by dwelling with His people. He is the ultimate covenant mediator who gives life, dispels darkness, and establishes God’s eternal kingdom through His sacrifice and victory.

Scripture References:

Genesis 3:15 – ESV (audio 🔊)

15. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

Galatians 3:16 – ESV (audio 🔊)

16. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

John 1:1-14 – ESV (audio 🔊)

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. He was in the beginning with God.
3. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
8. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
11. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
12. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
13. who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 8:12 – ESV (audio 🔊)

12. Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

1 John 1:5-7 – ESV (audio 🔊)

5. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Matthew 5:17 – ESV (audio 🔊)

17. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Luke 22:20 – ESV (audio 🔊)

20. And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Hebrews 8:13 – ESV (audio 🔊)

13. In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

John 3:18 – ESV (audio 🔊)

18. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:36 – ESV (audio 🔊)

36. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John 5:24 – ESV (audio 🔊)

24. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – ESV (audio 🔊)

4. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
5. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
7. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
8. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Ephesians 1:1-14 – ESV (audio 🔊)

1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
4. even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
5. he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
6. to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
7. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
8. which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
9. making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
10. as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
11. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
12. so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
13. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14. who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Title: Lesson 25

Summary:

Through Malachi, God rebukes Israel’s spiritual apathy and corrupted worship while promising a coming messenger to prepare the way for His glory. The prophetic hope looks forward to Messiah’s arrival, bringing refinement, justice, and the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises.

Scripture References:

Malachi 1:1-14 – ESV (audio 🔊)

1. The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
2. “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob
3. but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.”
4. If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the LORD of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.’”
5. Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!”
6. “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
7. By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the LORD’s table may be despised.
8. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.
9. And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts.
10. Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.
11. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.
12. But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised.
13. But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD.
14. Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.

Malachi 2:1-17 – ESV (audio 🔊)

1. “And now, O priests, this command is for you.
2. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.
3. Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.
4. So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the LORD of hosts.
5. My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.
6. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.
7. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
8. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts,
9. and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”
10. Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
11. Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
12. May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the LORD of hosts!
13. And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.
14. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
15. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.
16. “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
17. You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Malachi 3:1-18 – ESV (audio 🔊)

1. “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
2. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.
3. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.
4. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.
5. “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
6. “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
7. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
8. Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
9. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.
10. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
11. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts.
12. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.
13. “Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’
14. You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts?
15. And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’”
16. Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.
17. “They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.
18. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

Malachi 4:1-6 – ESV (audio 🔊)

1. “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
2. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
3. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.
4. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.
6. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

Jeremiah 31:33-34 – ESV (audio 🔊)

33. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Ezekiel 36:26-27 – ESV (audio 🔊)

26. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Mark 9:2 – ESV (audio 🔊)

2. And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,

Mark 11:15-16 – ESV (audio 🔊)

15. And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
16. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.

John 1:14-18 – ESV (audio 🔊)

14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)
16. For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
17. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Hebrews 1:3 – ESV (audio 🔊)

3. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Title: Lesson 24

Summary:

Upon returning to Jerusalem, Nehemiah confronts compromise in worship and community practices, purging corruption and restoring holiness. His reforms reaffirm God’s standards of faithful living and proper reverence for His temple.

Scripture References:

Nehemiah 13:1-31 – ESV (audio 🔊)

1. On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,
2. for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them — yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.
3. As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.
4. Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah,
5. prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.
6. While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king
7. and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.
8. And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber.
9. Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.
10. I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field.
11. So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations.
12. Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.
13. And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers.
14. Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.
15. In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food.
16. Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself!
17. Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?
18. Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19. As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day.
20. Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21. But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.
22. Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.
23. In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
24. And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people.
25. And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
26. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.
27. Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”
28. And one of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me.
29. Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
30. Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work;
31. and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

Title: Lesson 23

Summary:

With Jerusalem repopulated and the temple service restored, the city is filled with thanksgiving, dedication, and worship. God’s people rejoice as they experience renewed community life centered on His presence and covenant promises.

Scripture References:

Nehemiah 11:1-36 – ESV (audio 🔊)

1. Now on the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns.
2. And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.
3. These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah everyone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants.
4. And in Jerusalem lived certain of the sons of Judah and of the sons of Benjamin. Of the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez;
5. and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, son of the Shilonite.
6. All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 valiant men.
7. And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah,
8. and his brothers, men of valor, 928.
9. Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.
10. Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin,
11. Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, ruler of the house of God,
12. and their brothers who did the work of the house, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah,
13. and his brothers, heads of fathers’ houses, 242; and Amashsai, the son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer,
14. and their brothers, mighty men of valor, 128; their overseer was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.
15. And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni;
16. and Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who were over the outside work of the house of God;
17. and Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, who was the leader of the praise, who gave thanks, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun.
18. All the Levites in the holy city were 284.
19. The gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were 172.
20. And the rest of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, every one in his inheritance.
21. But the temple servants lived on Ophel; and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants.
22. The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the work of the house of God.
23. For there was a command from the king concerning them, and a fixed provision for the singers, as every day required.
24. And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king’s side in all matters concerning the people.
25. And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba and its villages, and in Dibon and its villages, and in Jekabzeel and its villages,
26. and in Jeshua and in Moladah and Beth-pelet,
27. in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its villages,
28. in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages,
29. in En-rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth,
30. Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its villages. So they encamped from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom.
31. The people of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages,
32. Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah,
33. Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim,
34. Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat,
35. Lod, and Ono, the valley of craftsmen.
36. And certain divisions of the Levites in Judah were assigned to Benjamin.

Nehemiah 12:1-47 – ESV (audio 🔊)

1. These are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
2. Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,
3. Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
4. Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah,
5. Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,
6. Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,
7. Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua.
8. And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who with his brothers was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving.
9. And Bakbukiah and Unni and their brothers stood opposite them in the service.
10. And Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada,
11. Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua.
12. And in the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers’ houses: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;
13. of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;
14. of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph;
15. of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai;
16. of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
17. of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai;
18. of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;
19. of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi;
20. of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber;
21. of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.
22. In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were recorded as heads of fathers’ houses; so too were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian.
23. As for the sons of Levi, their heads of fathers’ houses were written in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib.
24. And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers who stood opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch by watch.
25. Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers standing guard at the storehouses of the gates.
26. These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra, the priest and scribe.
27. And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres.
28. And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites;
29. also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem.
30. And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.
31. Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the Dung Gate.
32. And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah,
33. and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam,
34. Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah,
35. and certain of the priests’ sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph;
36. and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them.
37. At the Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to the Water Gate on the east.
38. The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, to the Broad Wall,
39. and above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Gate of Yeshanah, and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate; and they came to a halt at the Gate of the Guard.
40. So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half of the officials with me;
41. and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets;
42. and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader.
43. And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
44. On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered.
45. And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon.
46. For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.
47. And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.