2 Chronicles 9

• 1. When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's reputation, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She arrived with a large group of attendants and a great caravan of camels loaded with spices, huge quantities of gold, and precious jewels.
• 2. When she met with Solomon, they talked about everything she had on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her.
• 3. When the queen of Sheba realized how wise Solomon was, and when she saw the palace he had built,
• 4. she was breathless. She was also amazed at the food on his tables, the organization of his officials and their splendid clothing, the cup-bearers and their robes, and the burnt offerings Solomon made at the Temple of the LORD.
• 5. She exclaimed to the king, "Everything I heard in my country about your achievements and wisdom is true!
• 6. I didn't believe it until I arrived here and saw it with my own eyes. Truly I had not heard the half of it! Your wisdom is far greater than what I was told.
• 7. How happy these people must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom!
• 8. The LORD your God is great indeed! He delights in you and has placed you on the throne to rule for him. Because God loves Israel so much and desires this kingdom to last forever, he has made you king so you can rule with justice and righteousness."
• 9. Then she gave the king a gift of nine thousand pounds of gold, and great quantities of spices and precious jewels. Never before had there been spices as fine as those the queen of Sheba gave to Solomon.
• 10. (When the crews of Hiram and Solomon brought gold from Ophir, they also brought rich cargoes of almug wood and precious jewels.
• 11. The king used the almug wood to make steps for the Temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and to construct harps and lyres for the musicians. Never before had there been such beautiful instruments in Judah.)
• 12. King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba whatever she asked for--gifts of greater value than the gifts she had given him. Then she and all her attendants left and returned to their own land.
• 13. Each year Solomon received about 25 tons of gold.
• 14. This did not include the additional revenue he received from merchants and traders. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.
• 15. King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold, each containing over 15 pounds of gold.
• 16. He also made three hundred smaller shields of hammered gold, each containing about 7 1/2 pounds of gold. The king placed these shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
• 17. Then the king made a huge ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold.
• 18. The throne had six steps, and there was a footstool of gold attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with the figure of a lion standing on each side of the throne.
• 19. Solomon made twelve other lion figures, one standing on each end of each of the six steps. No other throne in all the world could be compared with it!
• 20. All of King Solomon's drinking cups were solid gold, as were all the utensils in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. They were not made of silver because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's day!
• 21. The king had a fleet of trading ships manned by the sailors sent by Hiram. Once every three years the ships returned, loaded down with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
• 22. So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king in all the earth.
• 23. Kings from every nation came to visit him and to hear the wisdom God had given him.
• 24. Year after year, everyone who came to visit brought him gifts of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
• 25. Solomon had four thousand stalls for his chariot horses and twelve thousand horses. He stationed many of them in the chariot cities, and some near him in Jerusalem.
• 26. He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt.
• 27. The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones. And valuable cedarwood was as common as the sycamore wood that grows in the foothills of Judah.
• 28. Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and many other countries.
• 29. The rest of the events of Solomon's reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Record of Nathan the Prophet and in The Prophecy of Ahijah from Shiloh, and also in The Visions of Iddo the Seer, concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat.
• 30. Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.
• 31. When he died, he was buried in the city of his father, David. Then his son Rehoboam became the next king.

Jude 1

• 1. This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. I am writing to all who are called to live in the love of God the Father and the care of Jesus Christ.
• 2. May you receive more and more of God's mercy, peace, and love.
• 3. Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News. God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people.
• 4. I say this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you, saying that God's forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate of such people was determined long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
• 5. I must remind you--and you know it well--that even though the Lord rescued the whole nation of Israel from Egypt, he later destroyed every one of those who did not remain faithful.
• 6. And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the day of judgment.
• 7. And don't forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with sexual immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and are a warning of the eternal fire that will punish all who are evil.
• 8. Yet these false teachers, who claim authority from their dreams, live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at the power of the glorious ones.
• 9. But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse Satan of blasphemy, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you." (This took place when Michael was arguing with Satan about Moses' body.)
• 10. But these people mock and curse the things they do not understand. Like animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and they bring about their own destruction.
• 11. How terrible it will be for them! For they follow the evil example of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they will do anything for money. And like Korah, they will perish because of their rebellion.
• 12. When these people join you in fellowship meals celebrating the love of the Lord, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are shameless in the way they care only about themselves. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much but producing nothing. They are like trees without fruit at harvesttime. They are not only dead but doubly dead, for they have been pulled out by the roots.
• 13. They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the dirty foam of their shameful deeds. They are wandering stars, heading for everlasting gloom and darkness.
• 14. Now Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, "Look, the Lord is coming with thousands of his holy ones.
• 15. He will bring the people of the world to judgment. He will convict the ungodly of all the evil things they have done in rebellion and of all the insults that godless sinners have spoken against him."
• 16. These people are grumblers and complainers, doing whatever evil they feel like. They are loudmouthed braggarts, and they flatter others to get favors in return.
• 17. But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you,
• 18. that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable.
• 19. Now they are here, and they are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They live by natural instinct because they do not have God's Spirit living in them.
• 20. But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit.
• 21. Live in such a way that God's love can bless you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you.
• 22. Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering.
• 23. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren't contaminated by their sins.
• 24. And now, all glory to God, who is able to keep you from stumbling, and who will bring you into his glorious presence innocent of sin and with great joy.
• 25. All glory to him, who alone is God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to him, in the beginning, now, and forevermore. Amen.

Zephaniah 1

• 1. The LORD gave these messages to Zephaniah when Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah.
• 2. "I will sweep away everything in all your land," says the LORD.
• 3. "I will sweep away both people and animals alike. Even the birds of the air and the fish in the sea will die. I will reduce the wicked to heaps of rubble, along with the rest of humanity," says the LORD.
• 4. "I will crush Judah and Jerusalem with my fist and destroy every last trace of their Baal worship. I will put an end to all the idolatrous priests, so that even the memory of them will disappear.
• 5. For they go up to their roofs and bow to the sun, moon, and stars. They claim to follow the LORD, but then they worship Molech, too. So now I will destroy them!
• 6. And I will destroy those who used to worship me but now no longer do. They no longer ask for the LORD's guidance or seek my blessings."
• 7. Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign LORD, for the awesome day of the LORD's judgment has come. The LORD has prepared his people for a great slaughter and has chosen their executioners.
• 8. "On that day of judgment," says the LORD, "I will punish the leaders and princes of Judah and all those following pagan customs.
• 9. Yes, I will punish those who participate in pagan worship ceremonies, and those who steal and kill to fill their masters' homes with loot.
• 10. "On that day," says the LORD, "a cry of alarm will come from the Fish Gate and echo throughout the newer Mishneh section of the city. And a great crashing sound will come from the surrounding hills.
• 11. Wail in sorrow, all you who live in the market area, for all who buy and sell there will die.
• 12. "I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem's darkest corners to find and punish those who sit contented in their sins, indifferent to the LORD, thinking he will do nothing at all to them.
• 13. They are the very ones whose property will be plundered by the enemy, whose homes will be ransacked. They will never have a chance to live in the new homes they have built. They will never drink wine from the vineyards they have planted.
• 14. "That terrible day of the LORD is near. Swiftly it comes--a day when strong men will cry bitterly.
• 15. It is a day when the LORD's anger will be poured out. It is a day of terrible distress and anguish, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, of clouds, blackness,
• 16. trumpet calls, and battle cries. Down go the walled cities and strongest battlements!
• 17. "Because you have sinned against the LORD, I will make you as helpless as a blind man searching for a path. Your blood will be poured out into the dust, and your bodies will lie there rotting on the ground."
• 18. Your silver and gold will be of no use to you on that day of the LORD's anger. For the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy. He will make a terrifying end of all the people on earth.

New Living Translation: 343 of 365 days.