1 John 2; 2 Chronicles 35; Psalms 89:38-52

1 John 2

1 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father-Jesus Christ the righteous One.

2 He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

3 This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands.

4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," without keeping His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5 But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God is perfected. This is how we know we are in Him:

6 the one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command, but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the message you have heard.

8 Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

9 The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother is in the darkness until now.

10 The one who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn't know where he's going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.

13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have had victory over the evil one.

14 I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God's word remains in you, and you have had victory over the evil one.

15 Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.

16 For everything that belongs to the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one's lifestyle-is not from the Father, but is from the world.

17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God's will remains forever.

18 Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard, "Antichrist is coming," even now many antichrists have come. We know from this that it is the last hour.

19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

21 I have not written to you because you don't know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.

22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? He is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

23 No one who denies the Son can have the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.

24 What you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.

25 And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life.

26 I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

27 The anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you don't need anyone to teach you. Instead, His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in Him.

28 So now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

29 If you know that He is righteous, you know this as well: everyone who does what is right has been born of Him.

2 Chronicles 35

1 Josiah observed the Lord's Passover and slaughtered the Passover [lambs] on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2 He appointed the priests to their responsibilities and encouraged them to serve in the Lord's temple.

3 He said to the Levites who taught all Israel the holy things of the Lord, "Put the holy ark in the temple built by Solomon son of David king of Israel. Since you do not have to carry it on your shoulders, now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel.

4 "Organize your ancestral houses by your divisions according to the written instruction of David king of Israel and that of his son Solomon.

5 Serve in the holy place by the divisions of the ancestral houses for your brothers, the lay people, and the distribution of the tribal household of the Levites.

6 Slaughter the Passover [lambs], consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your brothers to carry out the word of the Lord through Moses."

7 Then Josiah donated 30,000 sheep, lambs, and kid goats, plus 3,000 bulls from his own possessions, for the Passover sacrifices for all the lay people who were present.

8 His officials also donated willingly for the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, leaders of God's temple, gave 2,600 Passover sacrifices and 300 bulls for the priests.

9 Conaniah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, officers of the Levites, donated 5,000 Passover sacrifices for the Levites, plus 500 bulls.

10 So the service was established; the priests stood at their posts and the Levites in their divisions according to the king's command.

11 Then they slaughtered the Passover [lambs], and while the Levites were skinning the [animals], the priests sprinkled the blood they had been given.

12 They removed the burnt offerings so that they might be given to the divisions of the ancestral houses of the lay people to offer to the Lord, according to what is written in the book of Moses; [they did] the same with the bulls.

13 They roasted the Passover [lambs] with fire according to regulation. They boiled the holy [sacrifices] in pots, in kettles, and in bowls; and they quickly brought [them] to the lay people.

14 Afterwards, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, since the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were busy offering up burnt offerings and fat until night. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

15 The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer. Also, the gatekeepers were at each gate. Because their Levite brothers had made preparations for them, none of them left their tasks.

16 So all the service of the Lord was established that day for observing the Passover and for offering burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah.

17 The Israelites who were present [in Judah] also observed the Passover at that time and the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

18 No Passover had been observed like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel ever observed a Passover like the one that Josiah observed with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, the Israelites who were present [in Judah], and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

19 In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, this Passover was observed.

20 After all this that Josiah had prepared for the temple, Neco king of Egypt marched up to fight at Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him.

21 But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, "What is [the issue] between you and me, king of Judah? I have not come against you today but to the dynasty I am fighting. God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God who is with me; don't make Him destroy you!"

22 But Josiah did not turn away from him; instead, in order to fight with him he disguised himself. He did not listen to Neco's words from the mouth of God, but went to the Valley of Megiddo to fight.

23 The archers shot King Josiah, and he said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am severely wounded!"

24 So his servants took him out of the war chariot, carried him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem. Then he died, and they buried him in the tomb of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

25 Jeremiah chanted a dirge over Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women still speak of Josiah in their dirges to this very day. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Dirges.

26 The rest of the events of Josiah's [reign], along with his deeds of faithful love according to what is written in the law of the Lord,

27 and his words, from beginning to end, are written about in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

Psalms 89:38-52

38 But You have spurned and rejected him; You have become enraged with Your anointed.

39 You have repudiated the covenant with Your servant; You have completely dishonored his crown.

40 You have broken down all his walls; You have reduced his fortified cities to ruins.

41 All who pass by plunder him; he has become a joke to his neighbors.

42 You have lifted high the right hand of his foes; You have made all his enemies rejoice.

43 You have also turned back his sharp sword and have not let him stand in battle.

44 You have made his splendor cease and have overturned his throne.

45 You have shortened the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame. Selah

46 How long, Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your anger keep burning like fire?

47 Remember how short my life is. Have You created everyone for nothing?

48 What man can live and never see death? Who can save himself from the power of Sheol? Selah

49 Lord, where are the former acts of Your faithful love that You swore to David in Your faithfulness?

50 Remember, Lord, the ridicule against Your servants- in my heart I carry [abuse] from all the peoples-

51 how Your enemies have ridiculed, Lord, how they have ridiculed every step of Your anointed.

52 May the Lord be praised forever. Amen and amen. BOOK IV (Psalms 90-106)