John 8:1-20; 2 Chronicles 1; 2 Chronicles 2:1-16; Zechariah 14

John 8:1-20

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 At dawn He went to the temple complex again, and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began to teach them.

3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center.

4 "Teacher," they said to Him, "this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery.

5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say?"

6 They asked this to trap Him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse Him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with His finger.

7 When they persisted in questioning Him, He stood up and said to them, "The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her."

8 Then He stooped down again and continued writing on the ground.

9 When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only He was left, with the woman in the center.

10 When Jesus stood up, He said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

11 "No one, Lord," she answered. "Neither do I condemn you," said Jesus. "Go, and from now on do not sin any more." ]

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again: "I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life."

13 So the Pharisees said to Him, "You are testifying about Yourself. Your testimony is not valid."

14 "Even if I testify about Myself," Jesus replied, "My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I'm going. But you don't know where I come from or where I'm going.

15 You judge by human standards. I judge no one.

16 And if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me [judge together].

17 Even in your law it is written that the witness of two men is valid.

18 I am the One who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me."

19 Then they asked Him, "Where is Your Father?" "You know neither Me nor My Father," Jesus answered. "If you knew Me, you would also know My Father."

20 He spoke these words by the treasury, while teaching in the temple complex. But no one seized Him, because His hour had not come.

2 Chronicles 1

1 Solomon son of David strengthened his hold on his kingdom. The Lord his God was with him and highly exalted him.

2 Then Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel-the heads of the families.

3 Solomon and the whole assembly with him went to the high place that was in Gibeon because God's tent of meeting, which the Lord's servant Moses had made in the wilderness, was there.

4 Now, David had brought the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had set up for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem,

5 but he put the bronze altar, which Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, in front of the Lord's tabernacle. Solomon and the assembly inquired of Him [there].

6 Solomon offered sacrifices there in the Lord's presence on the bronze altar at the tent of meeting; he offered 1,000 burnt offerings on it.

7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him: "Ask. What should I give you?"

8 And Solomon said to God: "You have shown great faithful love to my father David, and You have made me king in his place.

9 Lord God, let Your promise to my father David now come true. For You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

10 Now, grant me wisdom and knowledge so that I may lead these people, for who can judge this great people of Yours?"

11 God said to Solomon, "Because this was in your heart, and you have not requested riches, wealth, or glory, or for the life of those who hate you, and you have not even requested long life, but you have requested for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king,

12 wisdom and knowledge are given to you. I will also give you riches, wealth, and glory, such that it was not like this for the kings who were before you, nor will it be like this for those after you."

13 So Solomon went to Jerusalem from the high place that was in Gibeon in front of the tent of meeting, and he reigned over Israel.

14 Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills.

16 Solomon's horses came from Egypt and Kue. The king's traders would get them from Kue at the going price.

17 A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 15 pounds [of silver] and a horse for about four pounds. In the same way, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram through their agents.

2 Chronicles 2:1-16

1 Solomon decided to build a temple for the name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself,

2 so he assigned 70,000 men as porters, 80,000 men as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as supervisors over them.

3 Then Solomon sent [word] to King Hiram of Tyre: [Do for me] what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in.

4 Now I myself am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God in order to dedicate it to Him for burning sweet incense before Him, for [displaying] the rows [of the bread of the Presence] continuously, and for [sacrificing] burnt offerings for the evening and the morning, the Sabbaths and the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is [ordained] for Israel forever.

5 The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods.

6 But who is able to build a temple for Him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Him? Who am I then that I should build a house for Him except as a place to burn incense before Him?

7 Therefore, send me a craftsman who is skilled in engraving to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. [He will work] with the craftsmen who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, appointed by my father David.

8 Also, send me cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the trees of Lebanon. Note that my servants will be with your servants

9 to prepare logs for me in abundance because the temple I am building will be great and wonderful.

10 I will give your servants, the woodcutters who cut the trees, 100,000 bushels of wheat flour, 100,000 bushels of barley, 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of oil.

11 Then King Hiram of Tyre wrote a letter and sent [it] to Solomon: Because the Lord loves His people, He set you over them as king.

12 Hiram also said: May the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, be praised! He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

13 I have now sent Huram-abi, a skillful man who has understanding.

14 He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your craftsmen and the craftsmen of my lord, your father David.

15 Now, let my lord send the wheat, barley, oil, and wine to his servants as promised.

16 We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and bring them to you as rafts by sea to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14

1 A day of the Lord is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence.

2 I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.

3 Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations as He fights on a day of battle.

4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south.

5 You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him.

6 On that day there will be no light; the sunlight and moonlight will diminish.

7 It will be a day known [only] to Yahweh, without day or night, but there will be light at evening.

8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea, in summer and winter alike.

9 On that day Yahweh will become king over all the earth-Yahweh alone, and His name alone.

10 All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be changed into a plain. But [Jerusalem] will be raised up and will remain on its site from the Benjamin Gate to the place of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses.

11 People will live there, and never again will there be a curse of destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell in security.

12 This will be the plague the Lord strikes all the peoples with, who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

13 On that day a great panic from the Lord will be among them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other.

14 Judah will also fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected: gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance.

15 The same plague as the previous one will strike the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the animals that are in those camps.

16 Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Festival of Booths.

17 Should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, rain will not fall on them.

18 And if the people of Egypt will not go up and enter, then rain will not fall on them; this will be the plague the Lord inflicts on the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Booths.

19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Booths.

20 On that day, [the words] HOLY TO THE LORD will be on the bells of the horses. The pots in the house of the Lord will be like the sprinkling basins before the altar.

21 Every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of Hosts. Everyone who sacrifices will come and take some of the pots to cook in. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts.