2 Chronicles 3

• 1. So Solomon began to build the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to Solomon's father, King David. The Temple was built on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the site that David had selected.
• 2. The construction began in midspring, during the fourth year of Solomon's reign.
• 3. The foundation for the Temple of God was ninety feet long and thirty feet wide.
• 4. The foyer at the front of the Temple was thirty feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. The inner walls of the foyer and the ceiling were overlaid with pure gold. The roof of the foyer was thirty feet high.
• 5. The main room of the Temple was paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with pure gold, and decorated with carvings of palm trees and chains.
• 6. The walls of the Temple were decorated with beautiful jewels and with pure gold from the land of Parvaim.
• 7. All the walls, beams, doors, and thresholds throughout the Temple were overlaid with gold, and figures of cherubim were carved on the walls.
• 8. The Most Holy Place was thirty feet wide, corresponding to the width of the Temple, and it was also thirty feet deep. Its interior was overlaid with about twenty-three tons of pure gold.
• 9. They used gold nails that weighed about twenty ounces each. The walls of the upper rooms were also overlaid with pure gold.
• 10. Solomon made two figures shaped like cherubim and overlaid them with gold. These were placed in the Most Holy Place.
• 11. The total wingspan of the two cherubim standing side by side was 30 feet. One wing of the first figure was 7 1/2 feet long, and it touched the Temple wall. The other wing, also 7 1/2 feet long, touched one of the wings of the second figure.
• 12. In the same way, the second figure had one wing 7 1/2 feet long that touched the opposite wall. The other wing, also 7 1/2 feet long, touched the wing of the first figure.
• 13. So the wingspan of both cherubim together was 30 feet. They both stood and faced out toward the main room of the Temple.
• 14. Across the entrance of the Most Holy Place, Solomon hung a curtain made of fine linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with figures of cherubim embroidered on it.
• 15. For the front of the Temple, Solomon made two pillars that were 27 feet tall, each topped by a capital extending upward another 7 1/2 feet.
• 16. He made a network of interwoven chains and used them to decorate the tops of the pillars. He also made one hundred decorative pomegranates and attached them to the chains.
• 17. Then he set up the two pillars at the entrance of the Temple, one to the south of the entrance and the other to the north. He named the one on the south Jakin, and the one on the north Boaz.

2 Chronicles 4

• 1. Solomon also made a bronze altar 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high.
• 2. Then he cast a large round tank, 15 feet across from rim to rim; it was called the Sea. It was 7 1/2 feet deep and about 45 feet in circumference.
• 3. The Sea was encircled just below its rim by two rows of figures that resembled oxen. There were about six oxen per foot all the way around, and they had been cast as part of the tank.
• 4. The Sea rested on a base of twelve bronze oxen, all facing outward. Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east.
• 5. The walls of the Sea were about three inches thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a lily blossom. It could hold about 16,500 gallons of water.
• 6. He also made ten basins for water to wash the offerings, five to the south of the Sea and five to the north. The priests used the Sea itself, and not the basins, for their own washing.
• 7. Solomon then cast ten gold lampstands according to the specifications that had been given and put them in the Temple. Five were placed against the south wall, and five were placed against the north wall.
• 8. He also built ten tables and placed them in the Temple, five along the south wall and five along the north wall. Then he molded one hundred gold basins.
• 9. Solomon also built a courtyard for the priests and the large outer courtyard. He made doors for the courtyard entrances and overlaid them with bronze.
• 10. The Sea was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple.
• 11. Huram-abi also made the necessary pots, shovels, and basins. So at last Huram-abi completed everything King Solomon had assigned him to make for the Temple of God:
• 12. two pillars, two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars, two networks of chains that decorated the capitals,
• 13. four hundred pomegranates that hung from the chains on the capitals (two rows of pomegranates for each of the chain networks that were hung around the capitals on top of the pillars),
• 14. the water carts holding the basins,
• 15. the Sea and the twelve oxen under it,
• 16. the pots, the shovels, the meat hooks, and all the related utensils. Huram-abi made all these things out of burnished bronze for the Temple of the LORD, just as King Solomon had requested.
• 17. The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan.
• 18. Such great quantities of bronze were used that its weight could not be determined.
• 19. So Solomon made all the furnishings for the Temple of God: the gold altar; the tables for the Bread of the Presence;
• 20. the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the Most Holy Place as prescribed;
• 21. the flower decorations, lamps, and tongs, all of pure gold;
• 22. the lamp snuffers, basins, dishes, and firepans, all of pure gold; the doors for the entrances to the Most Holy Place and the main room of the Temple, overlaid with gold.

1 John 3

• 1. See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! But the people who belong to this world don't know God, so they don't understand that we are his children.
• 2. Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children, and we can't even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
• 3. And all who believe this will keep themselves pure, just as Christ is pure.
• 4. Those who sin are opposed to the law of God, for all sin opposes the law of God.
• 5. And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, for there is no sin in him.
• 6. So if we continue to live in him, we won't sin either. But those who keep on sinning have never known him or understood who he is.
• 7. Dear children, don't let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it is because they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.
• 8. But when people keep on sinning, it shows they belong to the Devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the Devil.
• 9. Those who have been born into God's family do not sin, because God's life is in them. So they can't keep on sinning, because they have been born of God.
• 10. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the Devil. Anyone who does not obey God's commands and does not love other Christians does not belong to God.
• 11. This is the message we have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
• 12. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was right.
• 13. So don't be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
• 14. If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to eternal life. But a person who has no love is still dead.
• 15. Anyone who hates another Christian is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don't have eternal life within them.
• 16. We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters.
• 17. But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help--how can God's love be in that person?
• 18. Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.
• 19. It is by our actions that we know we are living in the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before the Lord,
• 20. even if our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
• 21. Dear friends, if our conscience is clear, we can come to God with bold confidence.
• 22. And we will receive whatever we request because we obey him and do the things that please him.
• 23. And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.
• 24. Those who obey God's commandments live in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Holy Spirit lives in us.

Nahum 2

• 1. Nineveh, you are already surrounded by enemy armies! Sound the alarm! Man the ramparts! Muster your defenses, and keep a sharp watch for the enemy attack to begin!
• 2. For the land of Israel lies empty and broken after your attacks, but the LORD will restore its honor and power again.
• 3. Shields flash red in the sunlight! The attack begins! See their scarlet uniforms! Watch as their glittering chariots move into position, with a forest of spears waving above them.
• 4. The chariots race recklessly along the streets and through the squares, swift as lightning, flickering like torches.
• 5. The king shouts to his officers; they stumble in their haste, rushing to the walls to set up their defenses.
• 6. But too late! The river gates are open! The enemy has entered! The palace is about to collapse!
• 7. Nineveh's exile has been decreed, and all the servant girls mourn its capture. Listen to them moan like doves; watch them beat their breasts in sorrow.
• 8. Nineveh is like a leaking water reservoir! The people are slipping away. "Stop, stop!" someone shouts, but the people just keep on running.
• 9. Loot the silver! Plunder the gold! There seems no end to Nineveh's many treasures--its vast, uncounted wealth.
• 10. Soon the city is an empty shambles, stripped of its wealth. Hearts melt in horror, and knees shake. The people stand aghast, their faces pale and trembling.
• 11. Where now is that great Nineveh, lion of the nations, full of fight and boldness, where the old and feeble and the young and tender lived with nothing to fear?
• 12. O Nineveh, you were once a mighty lion! You crushed your enemies to feed your cubs and your mate. You filled your city and your homes with captives and plunder.
• 13. "I am your enemy!" says the LORD Almighty. "Your chariots will soon go up in smoke. The finest of your youth will be killed in battle. Never again will you bring back plunder from conquered nations. Never again will the voices of your proud messengers be heard."

New Living Translation: 338 of 365 days.