2 Chronicles 10

• 1. Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all Israel had gathered to make him king.
• 2. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of Solomon's death, he returned from Egypt, for he had fled to Egypt to escape from King Solomon.
• 3. The leaders of Israel sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel went together to speak with Rehoboam.
• 4. "Your father was a hard master," they said. "Lighten the harsh labor demands and heavy taxes that your father imposed on us. Then we will be your loyal subjects."
• 5. Rehoboam replied, "Come back in three days for my answer." So the people went away.
• 6. Then King Rehoboam went to discuss the matter with the older men who had counseled his father, Solomon. "What is your advice?" he asked. "How should I answer these people?"
• 7. The older counselors replied, "If you are good to the people and show them kindness and do your best to please them, they will always be your loyal subjects."
• 8. But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him and who were now his advisers.
• 9. "What is your advice?" he asked them. "How should I answer these people who want me to lighten the burdens imposed by my father?"
• 10. The young men replied, "This is what you should tell those complainers: `My little finger is thicker than my father's waist--if you think he was hard on you, just wait and see what I'll be like!
• 11. Yes, my father was harsh on you, but I'll be even harsher! My father used whips on you, but I'll use scorpions!'"
• 12. Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to hear Rehoboam's decision, just as the king had requested.
• 13. But Rehoboam spoke harshly to them, for he rejected the advice of the older counselors
• 14. and followed the counsel of his younger advisers. He told the people, "My father was harsh on you, but I'll be even harsher! My father used whips on you, but I'll use scorpions!"
• 15. So the king paid no attention to the people's demands. This turn of events was the will of God, for it fulfilled the prophecy of the LORD spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat by the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh.
• 16. When all Israel realized that the king had rejected their request, they shouted, "Down with David and his dynasty! We have no share in Jesse's son! Let's go home, Israel! Look out for your own house, O David!" So all Israel returned home.
• 17. But Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah.
• 18. King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the labor force, to restore order, but the Israelites stoned him to death. When this news reached King Rehoboam, he quickly jumped into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.
• 19. The northern tribes of Israel have refused to be ruled by a descendant of David to this day.

Revelation 1

• 1. This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him concerning the events that will happen soon. An angel was sent to God's servant John so that John could share the revelation with God's other servants.
• 2. John faithfully reported the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ--everything he saw.
• 3. God blesses the one who reads this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to it and obey what it says. For the time is near when these things will happen.
• 4. This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne;
• 5. and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the commander of all the rulers of the world. All praise to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us.
• 6. He has made us his Kingdom and his priests who serve before God his Father. Give to him everlasting glory! He rules forever and ever! Amen!
• 7. Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him--even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the earth will weep because of him. Yes! Amen!
• 8. "I am the Alpha and the Omega--the beginning and the end," says the Lord God. "I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come, the Almighty One."
• 9. I am John, your brother. In Jesus we are partners in suffering and in the Kingdom and in patient endurance. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and speaking about Jesus.
• 10. It was the Lord's Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast.
• 11. It said, "Write down what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."
• 12. When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands.
• 13. And standing in the middle of the lampstands was the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest.
• 14. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were bright like flames of fire.
• 15. His feet were as bright as bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves.
• 16. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was as bright as the sun in all its brilliance.
• 17. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last.
• 18. I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.
• 19. Write down what you have seen--both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen later.
• 20. This is the meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Zephaniah 2

• 1. Gather together and pray, you shameless nation.
• 2. Gather while there is still time, before judgment begins and your opportunity is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the LORD falls and the terrible day of the LORD's anger begins.
• 3. Beg the LORD to save you--all you who are humble, all you who uphold justice. Walk humbly and do what is right. Perhaps even yet the LORD will protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.
• 4. Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron--these Philistine cities, too, will be rooted out and left in desolation.
• 5. And how terrible it will be for you Philistines who live along the coast and in the land of Canaan, for this judgment is against you, too! The LORD will destroy you until not one of you is left.
• 6. The coastal area will become a pasture, a place of shepherd camps and enclosures for sheep.
• 7. The few survivors of the tribe of Judah will pasture there. They will lie down to rest in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon. For the LORD their God will visit his people in kindness and restore their prosperity again.
• 8. "I have heard the taunts of the people of Moab and Ammon, mocking my people and invading their borders.
• 9. Now, as surely as I live," says the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, "Moab and Ammon will be destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah. Their land will become a place of stinging nettles, salt pits, and eternal desolation. Those of my people who are left will plunder them and take their land."
• 10. They will receive the wages of their pride, for they have scoffed at the people of the LORD Almighty.
• 11. The LORD will terrify them as he destroys all the gods in the land. Then people from nations around the world will worship the LORD, each in their own land.
• 12. "You Ethiopians will also be slaughtered by my sword," says the LORD.
• 13. And the LORD will strike the lands of the north with his fist. He will destroy Assyria and make its great capital, Nineveh, a desolate wasteland, parched like a desert.
• 14. The city that once was so proud will become a pasture for sheep and cattle. All sorts of wild animals will settle there. Owls of many kinds will live among the ruins of its palaces, hooting from the gaping windows. Rubble will block all the doorways, and the cedar paneling will lie open to the wind and weather.
• 15. This is the fate of that boisterous city, once so secure. "In all the world there is no city as great as I," it boasted. But now, look how it has become an utter ruin, a place where animals live! Everyone passing that way will laugh in derision or shake a defiant fist.

New Living Translation: 344 of 365 days.