Day 278: Power in Weakness (2026)

Fr. Mike Schmitz (0:04)

Hi, my name is Fr. Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to The Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using The Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we've it. And that story today, it is day 278 We are only four short days from the end of the return, heading into the Maccabean revolt. But today on day 278, we have Nehemiah 10, Esther 15, and 6 and 7, Proverbs 21 verses 13-16. As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version. I'm using The Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com/bible in a Year. You can also receive daily updates by subscribing. That would be great. It's day 278 We're reading Nehemiah 10, Esther 15, and chapter 6 and chapter 7, as well as Proverbs chapter 21 verses 13 through 16

The Book of Nehemiah, the conclusion of chapter 9 verse 38, the signing of the covenant. Because of all this, we make a firm covenant and write on it, and our princes, our Levites, and our priests set their seal to it.

Chapter 10

Those who set their seal are Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, Saraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashur, Amariah, Melchizedekh, Hattush, Shebaniah, Maluch, Harim, Mirimoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnathon, Baruch, Meshulam, Abijah, Mishamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah.

These are the priests. And the Levites, Jeshua, the son of Azeniah, Benui, of the sons of Hennadad, Kadmiel, and their brethren. Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kalaita, Palaiah, Hanan, Micah, Rehob, Hashabiah, Zakur, Sherebayah, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. The chiefs of the people. Parosh, Bahathmohab, Elam, Zatu, Bani, Buni, Azgad, Babai, Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, Ater, Hezekiah, Azur, Hodiah, Hashum, Bzai, Harif, Anathoth, Nebai, Magpiyash, Meshulam, Hazir, Meshezabel, Zadok, Jedua, Pilatea, Hanan, Anaya, Hoshea, Hananiah, Hashub, Halohesh, Pilchah, Shobeck, Rechum, Hashabna, Maasaya, Ahaya, Hanan, Anan, Maluk, Harim, and Anna.

Summary of the Covenant. The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, join with their brethren, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord, our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes. We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. And if the peoples of the land bring in wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy it from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.

We also lay upon ourselves the obligation to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God, for the showbread, the continual cereal offering, the continual burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. We have likewise cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our father's houses, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law.

We obligate ourselves to bring the first fruits of our ground, and the first fruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord. Also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks. And to bring the first of our course meal, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God. And to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our rural towns. And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, to the storehouse. For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine and oil to the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.