March 22: Psalm 81; Exodus 26; Nehemiah 7; Romans 16 - a podcast by Crossway

Psalm 81(Listen)

Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.¹Of Asaph.

81   Sing aloud to God our strength;
    shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
2   Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
    the sweet lyre with the harp.
3   Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
    at the full moon, on our feast day.
4   For it is a statute for Israel,
    a rule²of the God of Jacob.
5   He made it a decree in Joseph
    when he went out over³the land of Egypt.
  I hear a language I had not known:
6   “I relieved your⁴shoulder of the burden;
    your hands were freed from the basket.
7   In distress you called, and I delivered you;
    I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.Selah
8   Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
    O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9   There shall be no strange god among you;
    you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10   I am the LORD your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11   “But my people did not listen to my voice;
    Israel would not submit to me.
12   So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
    to follow their own counsels.
13   Oh, that my people would listen to me,
    that Israel would walk in my ways!
14   I would soon subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes.
15   Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him,
    and their fate would last forever.
16   But he would feed you⁵with the finest of the wheat,
    and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

(ESV)

Exodus 26(Listen)

The Tabernacle

26 “Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them.2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits,¹and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be the same size.3 Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another.4 And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set. Likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set.5 Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another.6 And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to the other with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single whole.

7 “You shall also make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; eleven curtains shall you make.8 The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains shall be the same size.9 You shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and the sixth curtain you shall double over at the front of the tent.10 You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set.

11 “You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together that it may be a single whole.12 And the part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle.13 And the extra that remains in the length of the curtains, the cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it.14 And you shall make for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins²and a covering of goatskins on top.

15 “You shall make upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood.16 Ten cubits shall be the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each frame.17 There shall be two tenons in each frame, for fitting together. So shall you do for all the frames of the tabernacle.18 You shall make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side;19 and forty bases of silver you shall make under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under the next frame for its two tenons;20 and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side twenty frames,21 and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame, and two bases under the next frame.22 And for the rear of the tabernacle westward you shall make six frames.23 And you shall make two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear;24 they shall be separate beneath, but joined at the top, at the first ring. Thus shall it be with both of them; they shall form the two corners.25 And there shall be eight frames, with their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under one frame, and two bases under another frame.

26 “You shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle,27 and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the side of the tabernacle at the rear westward.28 The middle bar, halfway up the frames, shall run from end to end.29 You shall overlay the frames with gold and shall make their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and you shall overlay the bars with gold.30 Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain.

31 “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it.32 And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver.33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy.34 You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place.35 And you shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table, and you shall put the table on the north side.

36 “You shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework.37 And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them.

(ESV)

Nehemiah 7(Listen)

7 Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed,2 I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many.3 And 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.”4 The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.

Lists of Returned Exiles

5 Then 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 those who came up at the first, and I found written in it:

6 These 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.7 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel:8 the sons of Parosh, 2,172.9 The sons of Shephatiah, 372.10 The sons of Arah, 652.11 The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818.12 The sons of Elam, 1,254.13 The sons of Zattu, 845.14 The sons of Zaccai, 760.15 The sons of Binnui, 648.16 The sons of Bebai, 628.17 The sons of Azgad, 2,322.18 The sons of Adonikam, 667.19 The sons of Bigvai, 2,067.20 The sons of Adin, 655.21 The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98.22 The sons of Hashum, 328.23 The sons of Bezai, 324.24 The sons of Hariph, 112.25 The sons of Gibeon, 95.26 The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188.27 The men of Anathoth, 128.28 The men of Beth-azmaveth, 42.29 The men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743.30 The men of Ramah and Geba, 621.31 The men of Michmas, 122.32 The men of Bethel and Ai, 123.33 The men of the other Nebo, 52.34 The sons of the other Elam, 1,254.35 The sons of Harim, 320.36 The sons of Jericho, 345.37 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721.38 The sons of Senaah, 3,930.

39 The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, 973.40 The sons of Immer, 1,052.41 The sons of Pashhur, 1,247.42 The sons of Harim, 1,017.

43 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the sons of Hodevah, 74.44 The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148.45 The 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.

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

57 The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida,58 the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,59 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Amon.

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

61 The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove their fathers’ houses nor their descent, whether they belonged to Israel:62 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642.63 Also, 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).64 These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.65 The governor 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

66 The whole assembly together was 42,360,67 besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 singers, male and female.68 Their horses were 736, their mules 245,¹69 their camels 435, and their donkeys 6,720.

70 Now some of the heads of fathers’ houses gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics²of gold, 50 basins, 30 priests’ garments and 500 minas³of silver.⁴71 And 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.72 And what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests’ garments.

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

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

(ESV)

Romans 16(Listen)

Personal Greetings

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant¹of the church at Cenchreae,2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert²to Christ in Asia.6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,³my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,⁴and they were in Christ before me.8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys.10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus.11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus.12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers⁵who are with them.15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

Final Instructions and Greetings

17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,⁶and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.⁷

Doxology

25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

(ESV)