2 Chronicles 7
1 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the Lord’s splendor filled the temple. 2 The priests were unable to enter the Lord’s temple because the Lord’s splendor filled the Lord’s temple. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord’s splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!”
4 The king and all the people were presenting sacrifices to the Lord. 5 King Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple. 6 The priests stood in their assigned spots, along with the Levites who had the musical instruments used for praising the Lord. (These were the ones King David made for giving thanks to the Lord and which were used by David when he offered praise, saying, “Certainly his loyal love endures.”) Opposite the Levites, the priests were blowing the trumpets, while all Israel stood there. 7 Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple. He offered burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat from the peace offerings there, because the bronze altar that Solomon had made was too small to hold all these offerings. 8 At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival for seven days. This great assembly included people from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Stream of Egypt in the south. 9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had dedicated the altar for seven days and celebrated the festival for seven more days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people home. They left happy and contented because of the good the Lord had done for David, Solomon, and his people Israel.
11 After Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and the royal palace and accomplished all his plans for the Lord’s temple and his royal palace, 12 the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: “I have answered your prayer and chosen this place to be my temple where sacrifices are to be made. 13 When I close up the sky so that it doesn’t rain, or command locusts to devour the land’s vegetation, or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who belong to me, humble themselves, pray, seek to please me, and repudiate their sinful practices, then I will respond from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 15 Now I will be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 Now I have chosen and consecrated this temple by making it my permanent home; I will be constantly present there. 17 You must serve me as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations. 18 Then I will establish your dynasty, just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.’
19 “But if you people ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, and decide to serve and worship other gods, 20 then I will remove you from my land I have given you, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, and I will make you an object of mockery and ridicule among all the nations. 21 As for this temple, which was once majestic, everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’ 22 Others will then answer, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors, who led them out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. That is why he brought all this disaster down on them.’”
2 John 1
1 From the elder, to an elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth (and not I alone, but also all those who know the truth), 2 because of the truth that resides in us and will be with us forever. 3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
4 I rejoiced greatly because I have found some of your children living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded us.
5 But now I ask you, lady (not as if I were writing a new commandment to you, but the one we have had from the beginning), that we love one another. 6 (Now this is love: that we walk according to his commandments.) This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning; thus you should walk in it. 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the antichrist! 8 Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked for, but receive a full reward.
9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting, 11 because the person who gives him a greeting shares in his evil deeds.
12 Though I have many other things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come visit you and speak face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
13 The children of your elect sister greet you.
Habakkuk 2
1 I will stand at my watch post;
I will remain stationed on the city wall.
I will keep watching so I can see what he says to me
and can know how I should answer
when he counters my argument.
2 The Lord responded:
“Write down this message.
Record it legibly on tablets
so the one who announces it may read it easily.
3 For the message is a witness to what is decreed;
it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out.
Even if the message is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently;
for it will certainly come to pass—it will not arrive late.
4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion,
but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness.
5 Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man!
His appetite is as big as Sheol’s;
like death, he is never satisfied.
He gathers all the nations;
he seizes all peoples.
6 “But all these nations will someday taunt him
and ridicule him with proverbial sayings:
‘Woe to the one who accumulates what does not belong to him
(How long will this go on?)—
he who gets rich by extortion!’
7 Your creditors will suddenly attack;
those who terrify you will spring into action,
and they will rob you.
8 Because you robbed many countries,
all who are left among the nations will rob you.
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.
9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead.
He does this so he can build his nest way up high
and escape the clutches of disaster.
10 Your schemes will bring shame to your house.
Because you destroyed many nations, you will self-destruct.
11 For the stones in the walls will cry out,
and the wooden rafters will answer back.
12 Woe to the one who builds a city by bloodshed—
he who starts a town by unjust deeds.
13 Be sure of this! The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has decreed:
The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke;
their exhausting work will be for nothing.
14 For recognition of the Lord’s sovereign majesty will fill the earth
just as the waters fill up the sea.
15 “Woe to you who force your neighbor to drink wine—
you who make others intoxicated
by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger
so you can look at their naked bodies.
16 But you will become drunk with shame, not majesty.
Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin!
The cup of wine in the Lord’s right hand is coming to you,
and disgrace will replace your majestic glory!
17 For you will pay in full for your violent acts against Lebanon;
terrifying judgment will come upon you
because of the way you destroyed the wild animals living there.
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.
18 What good is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it?
What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles?
Why would its creator place his trust in it
and make such mute, worthless things?
19 Woe to the one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’—
he who says to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’
Can it give reliable guidance?
It is overlaid with gold and silver;
it has no life’s breath inside it.
20 But the Lord is in his majestic palace.
The whole earth is speechless in his presence!”
Luke 21
1 Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3 He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all offered their gifts out of their wealth. But she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had to live on.”
5 Now while some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and offerings, Jesus said, 6 “As for these things that you are gazing at, the days will come when not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!” 7 So they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that these things are about to take place?” 8 He said, “Watch out that you are not misled. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them! 9 And when you hear of wars and rebellions, do not be afraid. For these things must happen first, but the end will not come at once.”
10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and famines and plagues in various places, and there will be terrifying sights and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will be a time for you to serve as witnesses. 14 Therefore be resolved not to rehearse ahead of time how to make your defense. 15 For I will give you the words along with the wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will have some of you put to death. 17 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. 18 Yet not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Those who are inside the city must depart. Those who are out in the country must not enter it, 22 because these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away as captives among all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
25 “And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth nations will be in distress, anxious over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves. 26 People will be fainting from fear and from the expectation of what is coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man arriving in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 But when these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
29 Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the other trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near. 31 So also you, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
34 “But be on your guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day close down upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will overtake all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that must happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
37 So every day Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, but at night he went and stayed on the Mount of Olives. 38 And all the people came to him early in the morning to listen to him in the temple courts.
