2 Chronicles 30

• 1. King Hezekiah now sent word to all Israel and Judah, and he wrote letters of invitation to Ephraim and Manasseh. He asked everyone to come to the Temple of the LORD at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel.
• 2. The king, his officials, and all the community of Jerusalem decided to celebrate Passover a month later than usual.
• 3. They were unable to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests could be purified by then, and the people had not yet assembled at Jerusalem.
• 4. This plan for keeping the Passover seemed right to the king and all the people.
• 5. So they sent a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north, inviting everyone to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel. The people had not been celebrating it in great numbers as prescribed in the law.
• 6. At the king's command, messengers were sent throughout Israel and Judah. They carried letters which said: "O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he will return to the few of us who have survived the conquest of the Assyrian kings.
• 7. Do not be like your ancestors and relatives who abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and became an object of derision, as you yourselves can see.
• 8. Do not be stubborn, as they were, but submit yourselves to the LORD. Come to his Temple which he has set apart as holy forever. Worship the LORD your God so that his fierce anger will turn away from you.
• 9. For if you return to the LORD, your relatives and your children will be treated mercifully by their captors, and they will be able to return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful. If you return to him, he will not continue to turn his face from you."
• 10. The messengers went from town to town throughout Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as the territory of Zebulun. But most of the people just laughed at the messengers and made fun of them.
• 11. However, some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem.
• 12. At the same time, God's hand was on the people in the land of Judah, giving them a strong desire to unite in obeying the orders of the king and his officials, who were following the word of the LORD.
• 13. And so a huge crowd assembled at Jerusalem in midspring to celebrate Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
• 14. They set to work and removed the pagan altars from Jerusalem. They took away all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.
• 15. On the appointed day in midspring, one month later than usual, the people slaughtered their Passover lambs. Then the priests and Levites became ashamed, so they purified themselves and brought burnt offerings to the Temple of the LORD.
• 16. They took their places at the Temple according to the regulations found in the law of Moses, the man of God. The Levites brought the sacrificial blood to the priests, who then sprinkled it on the altar.
• 17. Since many of the people there had not purified themselves, the Levites had to slaughter their Passover lambs for them, to set them apart for the LORD.
• 18. Most of those who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not purified themselves. But King Hezekiah prayed for them, and they were allowed to eat the Passover meal anyway, even though this was contrary to God's laws. For Hezekiah said, "May the LORD, who is good, pardon those
• 19. who decide to follow the LORD, the God of their ancestors, even though they are not properly cleansed for the ceremony."
• 20. And the LORD listened to Hezekiah's prayer and healed the people.
• 21. So the people of Israel who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy. Each day the Levites and priests sang to the LORD, accompanied by loud instruments.
• 22. Hezekiah encouraged the Levites for the skill they displayed as they served the LORD. So for seven days the celebration continued. Peace offerings were sacrificed, and the people confessed their sins to the LORD, the God of their ancestors.
• 23. The entire assembly then decided to continue the festival another seven days, so they celebrated joyfully for another week.
• 24. King Hezekiah gave the people one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for offerings, and the officials donated one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. Meanwhile, many more priests purified themselves.
• 25. The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, including the priests, the Levites, all who came from the land of Israel, the foreigners who came to the festival, and all those who lived in Judah.
• 26. There was great joy in the city, for Jerusalem had not seen a celebration like this one since the days of Solomon, King David's son.
• 27. Then the Levitical priests stood and blessed the people, and God heard them from his holy dwelling in heaven.

Revelation 16

• 1. Then I heard a mighty voice shouting from the Temple to the seven angels, "Now go your ways and empty out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth."
• 2. So the first angel left the Temple and poured out his bowl over the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue.
• 3. Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse. And everything in the sea died.
• 4. Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs, and they became blood.
• 5. And I heard the angel who had authority over all water saying, "You are just in sending this judgment, O Holy One, who is and who always was.
• 6. For your holy people and your prophets have been killed, and their blood was poured out on the earth. So you have given their murderers blood to drink. It is their just reward."
• 7. And I heard a voice from the altar saying, "Yes, Lord God Almighty, your punishments are true and just."
• 8. Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, causing it to scorch everyone with its fire.
• 9. Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God, who sent all of these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.
• 10. Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. And his subjects ground their teeth in anguish,
• 11. and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they refused to repent of all their evil deeds.
• 12. Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates River, and it dried up so that the kings from the east could march their armies westward without hindrance.
• 13. And I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs leap from the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.
• 14. These miracle-working demons caused all the rulers of the world to gather for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God Almighty.
• 15. "Take note: I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their robes ready so they will not need to walk naked and ashamed."
• 16. And they gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place called Armageddon in Hebrew.
• 17. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne of the Temple in heaven, saying, "It is finished!"
• 18. Then the thunder crashed and rolled, and lightning flashed. And there was an earthquake greater than ever before in human history.
• 19. The great city of Babylon split into three pieces, and cities around the world fell into heaps of rubble. And so God remembered all of Babylon's sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with the wine of his fierce wrath.
• 20. And every island disappeared, and all the mountains were leveled.
• 21. There was a terrible hailstorm, and hailstones weighing seventy-five pounds fell from the sky onto the people below. They cursed God because of the hailstorm, which was a very terrible plague.

Zechariah 12

• 1. This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the LORD: "This message is from the LORD, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the spirit within humans.
• 2. I will make Jerusalem and Judah like an intoxicating drink to all the nearby nations that send their armies to besiege Jerusalem.
• 3. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone, a burden for the world. None of the nations who try to lift it will escape unscathed.
• 4. "On that day, says the LORD, I will cause every horse to panic and every rider to lose his nerve. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will blind the horses of her enemies.
• 5. And the clans of Judah will say to themselves, `The people of Jerusalem have found strength in the LORD Almighty, their God.'
• 6. "On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a brazier that sets a woodpile ablaze or like a burning torch among sheaves of grain. They will burn up all the neighboring nations right and left, while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure.
• 7. The LORD will give victory to the rest of Judah first, before Jerusalem, so that the people of Jerusalem and the royal line of David will not have greater honor than the rest of Judah.
• 8. On that day the LORD will defend the people of Jerusalem; the weakest among them will be as mighty as King David! And the royal descendants will be like God, like the angel of the LORD who goes before them!
• 9. For my plan is to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
• 10. "Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on all the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.
• 11. The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be like the grievous mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo.
• 12. "All Israel will weep in profound sorrow, each family by itself, with the husbands and wives in separate groups. The family of David will mourn, along with the family of Nathan,
• 13. the family of Levi, and the family of Shimei.
• 14. Each of the surviving families from Judah will mourn separately, husbands and wives apart.

New Living Translation: 359 of 365 days.