2 Kings 24

• 1. During Jehoiakim's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land of Judah. Jehoiakim surrendered and paid him tribute for three years but then rebelled.
• 2. Then the LORD sent bands of Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Judah to destroy it, just as the LORD had promised through his prophets.
• 3. These disasters happened to Judah according to the LORD's command. He had decided to remove Judah from his presence because of the many sins of Manasseh.
• 4. He had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not forgive this.
• 5. The rest of the events in Jehoiakim's reign and all his deeds are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.
• 6. When Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin became the next king.
• 7. The king of Egypt never returned after that, for the king of Babylon occupied the entire area formerly claimed by Egypt--from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
• 8. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem.
• 9. Jehoiachin did what was evil in the LORD's sight, just as his father had done.
• 10. During Jehoiachin's reign, the officers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up against Jerusalem and besieged it.
• 11. Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived at the city during the siege.
• 12. Then King Jehoiachin, along with his advisers, nobles, and officials, and the queen mother, surrendered to the Babylonians. In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, he took Jehoiachin prisoner.
• 13. As the LORD had said beforehand, Nebuchadnezzar carried away all the treasures from the LORD's Temple and the royal palace. They cut apart all the gold vessels that King Solomon of Israel had placed in the Temple.
• 14. King Nebuchadnezzar took ten thousand captives from Jerusalem, including all the princes and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and smiths. So only the poorest people were left in the land.
• 15. Nebuchadnezzar led King Jehoiachin away as a captive to Babylon, along with his wives and officials, the queen mother, and all Jerusalem's elite.
• 16. He also took seven thousand of the best troops and one thousand craftsmen and smiths, all of whom were strong and fit for war.
• 17. Then the king of Babylon installed Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, as the next king, and he changed Mattaniah's name to Zedekiah.
• 18. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.
• 19. But Zedekiah did what was evil in the LORD's sight, just as Jehoiakim had done.
• 20. So the LORD, in his anger, finally banished the people of Jerusalem and Judah from his presence and sent them into exile. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Hebrews 6

• 1. So let us stop going over the basics of Christianity again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don't need to start all over again with the importance of turning away from evil deeds and placing our faith in God.
• 2. You don't need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
• 3. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.
• 4. For it is impossible to restore to repentance those who were once enlightened--those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit,
• 5. who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come--
• 6. and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people to repentance again because they are nailing the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting him, holding him up to public shame.
• 7. When the ground soaks up the rain that falls on it and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has the blessing of God.
• 8. But if a field bears thistles and thorns, it is useless. The farmer will condemn that field and burn it.
• 9. Dear friends, even though we are talking like this, we really don't believe that it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation.
• 10. For God is not unfair. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other Christians, as you still do.
• 11. Our great desire is that you will keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.
• 12. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and patience.
• 13. For example, there was God's promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:
• 14. "I will certainly bless you richly, and I will multiply your descendants into countless millions."
• 15. Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.
• 16. When people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding.
• 17. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind.
• 18. So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence.
• 19. This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain of heaven into God's inner sanctuary.
• 20. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the line of Melchizedek.

Joel 3

• 1. "At that time, when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem," says the LORD,
• 2. "I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, for scattering my inheritance among the nations, and for dividing up my land.
• 3. They cast lots to decide which of my people would be their slaves. They traded young boys for prostitutes and little girls for enough wine to get drunk.
• 4. "What do you have against me, Tyre and Sidon and you cities of Philistia? Are you trying to take revenge on me? If you are, then watch out! I will strike swiftly and pay you back for everything you have done.
• 5. You have taken my silver and gold and all my precious treasures, and you have carried them off to your pagan temples.
• 6. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, who took them far from their homeland.
• 7. But I will bring them back again from all these places to which you sold them, and I will pay you back for all you have done.
• 8. I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the peoples of Arabia, a nation far away. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
• 9. Say to the nations far and wide: "Get ready for war! Call out your best warriors! Let all your fighting men advance for the attack!
• 10. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Train even your weaklings to be warriors.
• 11. Come quickly, all you nations everywhere! Gather together in the valley." And now, O LORD, call out your warriors!
• 12. "Let the nations be called to arms. Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I, the LORD, will sit to pronounce judgment on them all.
• 13. Now let the sickle do its work, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the winepress because it is full. The storage vats are overflowing with the wickedness of these people."
• 14. Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision. It is there that the day of the LORD will soon arrive.
• 15. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
• 16. The LORD's voice will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem, and the earth and heavens will begin to shake. But to his people of Israel, the LORD will be a welcoming refuge and a strong fortress.
• 17. "Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, live in Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy forever, and foreign armies will never conquer her again.
• 18. In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. Water will fill the dry streambeds of Judah, and a fountain will burst forth from the LORD's Temple, watering the arid valley of acacias.
• 19. Egypt will become a wasteland and Edom a wilderness, because they attacked Judah and killed her innocent people.
• 20. "But Judah will remain forever, and Jerusalem will endure through all future generations.
• 21. I will pardon my people's crimes, which I have not yet pardoned; and I, the LORD, will make my home in Jerusalem with my people."

New Living Translation: 315 of 365 days.