1 John 3; 2 Chronicles 36; Psalms 90

1 John 3

1 Look at how great a love the Father has given us, that we should be called God's children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn't know Him.

2 Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is.

3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.

4 Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law.

5 You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him.

6 Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him.

7 Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.

8 The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil's works.

9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.

10 This is how God's children-and the Devil's children-are made evident. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother.

11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another,

12 unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's were righteous.

13 Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.

14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death.

15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

16 This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers.

17 If anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need but shuts off his compassion from him-how can God's love reside in him?

18 Little children, we must not love in word or speech, but in deed and truth;

19 that is how we will know we are of the truth, and will convince our hearts in His presence,

20 because if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.

21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn [us] we have confidence before God,

22 and can receive whatever we ask from Him because we keep His commands and do what is pleasing in His sight.

23 Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us.

24 The one who keeps His commands remains in Him, and He in him. And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He has given us.

2 Chronicles 36

1 Then the common people took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.

2 Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king; he reigned three months in Jerusalem.

3 The king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and fined the land 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold.

4 Then [Neco] king of Egypt made Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took his brother Jehoahaz and brought him to Egypt.

5 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king; he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.

6 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him in bronze [shackles] to take him to Babylon.

7 Also Nebuchadnezzar took some of the utensils of the Lord's temple to Babylon and put them in his temple in Babylon.

8 The rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim, the detestable things he did, and what was found against him, are written about in the Book of Israel's Kings. His son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

9 Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king; he reigned three months and 10 days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the Lord's sight.

10 In the spring Nebuchadnezzar sent [for him] and brought him to Babylon along with the valuable utensils of the Lord's temple. Then he made Jehoiachin's brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

11 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king; he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem.

12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet at the Lord's command.

13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. He became obstinate and hardened his heart against returning to the Lord God of Israel.

14 All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the Lord's temple that He had consecrated in Jerusalem.

15 But the Lord God of their ancestors sent word against them by the hand of his messengers, sending them time and time again, for He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place.

16 But they kept ridiculing God's messengers, despising His words, and scoffing at His prophets, until the Lord's wrath was so stirred up against His people that there was no remedy.

17 So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their choice young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He had no pity on young man and virgin or elderly and aged; He handed them all over to him.

18 He took everything to Babylon-all the articles of God's temple, large and small, the treasures of the Lord's temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials.

19 Then the Chaldeans burned God's temple. They tore down Jerusalem's wall, burned down all its palaces, and destroyed all its valuable utensils.

20 Those who escaped from the sword he deported to Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the rise of the Persian kingdom.

21 This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Jeremiah and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation until 70 years were fulfilled.

22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The Lord put it into the mind of King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and also [to put it] in writing:

23 This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build Him a temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you of His people may go up, and may the Lord his God be with him.

Psalms 90

1 Lord, You have been our refuge in every generation.

2 Before the mountains were born, before You gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, You are God.

3 You return mankind to the dust, saying, "Return, descendants of Adam."

4 For in Your sight a thousand years are like yesterday that passes by, like a few hours of the night.

5 You end their life; they sleep. They are like grass that grows in the morning-

6 in the morning it sprouts and grows; by evening it withers and dries up.

7 For we are consumed by Your anger; we are terrified by Your wrath.

8 You have set our unjust ways before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

9 For all our days ebb away under Your wrath; we end our years like a sigh.

10 Our lives last seventy years or, if we are strong, eighty years. Even the best of them are struggle and sorrow; indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away.

11 Who understands the power of Your anger? Your wrath matches the fear that is due You.

12 Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.

13 Lord-how long? Turn and have compassion on Your servants.

14 Satisfy us in the morning with Your faithful love so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us rejoice for as many days as You have humbled us, for as many years as we have seen adversity.

16 Let Your work be seen by Your servants, and Your splendor by their children.

17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us; establish for us the work of our hands- establish the work of our hands!