The Flood Subsides

8 But God ^(A)remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And ^(B)God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. ^2 (C)The fountains of the deep and ^(D)the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, ³ and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end ^(E)of 150 days the waters had abated, ⁴ and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of ^(F)Ararat. ⁵ And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

⁶ At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made ⁷ and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. ⁹ But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. ¹⁰ He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. ¹¹ And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. ¹² Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

¹³ In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. ¹⁴ In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. ¹⁵ Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Go out from the ark, ^(G)you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and ^(H)be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” ¹⁸ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. ¹⁹ Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

God's Covenant with Noah

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ And when the Lord smelled ^(I)the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again ^(J)curse^[a] the ground because of man, for ^(K)the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. ^(L)Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. ^22 (M)While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, ^(N)day and night, shall not cease.”

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

8 When he came down from the mountain, ^(A)great crowds followed him. ^2 (B)And behold, a leper^[a] came to him and ^(C)knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” ³ And Jesus^[b] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴ And Jesus said to him, ^(D)“See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, ^(E)show yourself to the priest and ^(F)offer the gift that Moses commanded, ^(G)for a proof to them.”

The Faith of a Centurion

^5 (H)When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, ⁶ “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” ⁷ And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸ But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but ^(I)only say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant,^[c] ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, ^(J)he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with ^(K)no one in Israel^[d] have I found such faith. ¹¹ I tell you, ^(L)many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, ^12 (M)while the sons of the kingdom ^(N)will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place ^(O)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³ And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you ^(P)as you have believed.” ^(Q)And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Jesus Heals Many

^14 (R)And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw ^(S)his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. ¹⁵ He ^(T)touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. ¹⁶ That evening they brought to him many who were ^(U)oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits ^(V)with a word and healed all who were sick. ^17 (W)This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ^(X)“He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

The Cost of Following Jesus

¹⁸ Now ^(Y)when Jesus saw a crowd around him, ^(Z)he gave orders to go over to the other side. ^19 (AA)And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” ²⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ²¹ Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ²² And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave ^(AB)the dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

^23 (AC)And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴ And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but ^(AD)he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him, saying, ^(AE)“Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” ²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you ^(AF)afraid, ^(AG)O you of little faith?” Then he rose and ^(AH)rebuked the winds and the sea, and ^(AI)there was a great calm. ²⁷ And the men ^(AJ)marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even ^(AK)winds and sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons

^28 (AL)And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes,^[e] two ^(AM)demon-possessed^[f] men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ And behold, they ^(AN)cried out, “What have you to do with us, ^(AO)O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us ^(AP)before the time?” ³⁰ Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹ And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” ³² And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. ³³ The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the ^(AQ)demon-possessed men. ³⁴ And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, ^(AR)they begged him to leave their region.

Genealogy of Those Who Returned with Ezra

8 These are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king: ² Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of ^(A)Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, ^(B)Hattush. ³ Of the sons of Shecaniah, who was of the sons of ^(C)Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered 150 men. ^4 (D)Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men. ⁵ Of the sons of Zattu,^[a] Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men. ⁶ Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men. ⁷ Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men. ⁸ Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men. ⁹ Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men. ¹⁰ Of the sons of Bani,^[b] Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men. ^11 (E)Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and with him 28 men. ¹² Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men. ¹³ Of the sons of Adonikam, those who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men. ¹⁴ Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.

Ezra Sends for Levites

¹⁵ I gathered them to the river that runs to ^(F)Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there ^(G)none of the sons of Levi. ¹⁶ Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and ^(H)Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight, ¹⁷ and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and^[c] the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. ¹⁸ And ^(I)by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of ^(J)Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18; ¹⁹ also ^(K)Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of ^(L)the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20; ^20 (M)besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all ^(N)mentioned by name.

Fasting and Prayer for Protection

^21 (O)Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river ^(P)Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, ^(Q)to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. ²² For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ^(R)“The hand of our God is for good on ^(S)all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” ²³ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

Priests to Guard Offerings

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: ^(T)Sherebiah, ^(U)Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. ²⁵ And I weighed out to them the ^(V)silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his ^(W)counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered. ^26 (X)I weighed out into their hand 650 talents^[d] of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents,^[e] and 100 talents of gold, ²⁷ 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics,^[f] and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. ²⁸ And I said to them, ^(Y)“You are holy to the Lord, and ^(Z)the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. ²⁹ Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, ^(AA)within the chambers of the house of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the priests and the Levites ^(AB)took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

³¹ Then we departed from the river Ahava ^(AC)on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. ^(AD)The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. ^32 (AE)We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. ³³ On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were ^(AF)weighed into the hands of ^(AG)Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, ^(AH)Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of ^(AI)Binnui. ³⁴ The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.

³⁵ At that time ^(AJ)those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, ^(AK)twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. ^36 (AL)They also delivered the king's commissions to the king's ^(AM)satraps^[g] and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people and the house of God.

Saul Ravages the Church

8 And ^(A)Saul ^(B)approved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and ^(C)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. ³ But ^(D)Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he ^(E)dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

⁴ Now ^(F)those who were scattered went about preaching the word. ^5 (G)Philip went down to the city^[a] of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. ^6 (H)And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him ^(I)and saw the signs that he did. ⁷ For ^(J)unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So ^(K)there was much joy in that city.

Simon the Magician Believes

⁹ But there was a man named Simon, ^(L)who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, ^(M)saying that he himself was somebody great. ¹⁰ They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, ^(N)“This man is the power of God that is called ^(O)Great.” ¹¹ And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had ^(P)amazed them with his magic. ¹² But when ^(Q)they believed Philip as he preached good news ^(R)about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, ^(S)they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³ Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And ^(T)seeing signs and ^(U)great miracles^[b] performed, ^(V)he was amazed.

¹⁴ Now when ^(W)the apostles at Jerusalem heard that ^(X)Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them ^(Y)that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶ for ^(Z)he had not yet ^(AA)fallen on any of them, but ^(AB)they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then ^(AC)they laid their hands on them and ^(AD)they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, ^(AE)“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God ^(AF)with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for ^(AG)your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^(AH)if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are in ^(AI)the gall^[c] of bitterness and in ^(AJ)the bond of iniquity.” ²⁴ And Simon answered, ^(AK)“Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

²⁵ Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, ^(AL)preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

²⁶ Now ^(AM)an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south^[d] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. ²⁷ And he rose and went. And there was an ^(AN)Ethiopian, a ^(AO)eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, ^(AP)who was in charge of all her treasure. ^(AQ)He had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸ and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” ³⁰ So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, ^(AR)“How can I, unless someone ^(AS)guides me?” And ^(AT)he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

³⁴ And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and ^(AW)beginning with this Scripture ^(AX)he told him the good news about Jesus. ³⁶ And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! ^(AY)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[e] 38} And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ And when they came up out of the water, ^(AZ)the Spirit of the Lord ^(BA)carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.