Final Warnings and Greetings

2 Corinthians 13 I am on my way to visit you for the third time. And as the Scriptures say, "Any charges must be proved true by at least two or three witnesses." ²During my second visit I warned you that I would punish you and anyone else who doesn't stop sinning. I am far away from you now, but I give you the same warning. ³This should prove to you that I am speaking for Christ. When he corrects you, he won't be weak. He will be powerful! ⁴Although he was weak when he was nailed to the cross, he now lives by the power of God. We are weak, just as Christ was. But you will see that we will live by the power of God, just as Christ does.
⁵Test yourselves and find out if you really are true to your faith. If you pass the test, you will discover that Christ is living in you. But if Christ isn't living in you, you have failed. ⁶I hope you will discover that we have not failed. ⁷We pray that you will stop doing evil things. We don't pray like this to make ourselves look good, but to get you to do right, even if we are failures.
⁸All we can do is to follow the truth and not fight against it. ⁹Even though we are weak, we are glad that you are strong, and we pray that you will do even better. ¹⁰I am writing these things to you before I arrive. This way I won't have to be hard on you when I use the authority that the Lord has given me. I was given this authority, so that I could help you and not destroy you.
¹¹Good-by, my friends. Do better and pay attention to what I have said. Try to get along and live peacefully with each other.
Now I pray that God, who gives love and peace, will be with you. ¹²Give each other a warm greeting. All of God's people send their greetings.
¹³I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will bless you and be kind to you! May God bless you with his love, and may the Holy Spirit join all your hearts together.

The Descendants of King David

1 Chronicles 3 ^1-4King David ruled from Hebron for seven years and six months, and during that time he had six sons, who were born in the following order: Amnon, Daniel, Absalom, Adonijah, Shephatiah, and Ithream. Ahinoam from Jezreel was the mother of Amnon; Abigail from Carmel was the mother of Daniel; Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur was the mother of Absalom; Haggith was the mother of Adonijah; Abital was the mother of Shephatiah; and Eglah was the mother of Ithream.
David then ruled from Jerusalem for thirty-three years, ⁵and during that time, he had thirteen more sons. His wife Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel gave birth to Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. ^6-8David's other sons included Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet. ⁹David's other wives also gave birth to sons. Tamar was his daughter.

The Descendants of King Solomon

^10-15Solomon's descendants included the following kings: Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, and Josiah and his four sons, Johanan, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah, and Jehoahaz. ¹⁶Jehoiakim was the father of Jehoiachin and Zedekiah.
¹⁷Jehoiachin, who was taken to Babylon as a prisoner, had seven sons: Shealtiel, ¹⁸Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. ¹⁹Pedaiah had two sons: Zerubbabel and Shimei. Zerubbabel was the father of Meshullam, Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister. ²⁰He also had five other sons: Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushabhesed. ²¹Hananiah's descendants were Pelatiah, Jeshaiah, Rephaiah, Arnan, Obadiah, and Shecaniah, ²²the father of Shemaiah and the grandfather of Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat. ²³Neariah was the father of Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam. ²⁴Elioenai was the father of Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani.

The Descendants of Judah

1 Chronicles 4 Judah was the father of five sons: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. ²Shobal was the father of Reaiah, the grandfather of Jahath, and the great-grandfather of Ahumai and Lahad. These men all belonged to the Zorathite clan.
^3-4Hur was the oldest son of Caleb and Ephrath. Some of his descendants settled the town of Bethlehem. Hur's other descendants included Etam, Penuel, and Ezer. Etam's sons were Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash, and his daughter was Hazzelelponi. Penuel settled the town of Gedor, and Ezer settled the town of Hushah.
⁵Ashhur, who settled the town of Tekoa, had two wives: Helah and Naarah. ⁶Ashhur and Naarah were the parents of Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. ⁷Ashhur and Helah were the parents of Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan.
⁸Koz, the father of Anub and Zobebah, was also the ancestor of the clans of Aharhel, the son of Harum.
⁹Jabez was a man who got his name because of the pain he caused his mother during birth. But he was still the most respected son in his family. ¹⁰One day he prayed to Israel's God, "Please bless me and give me a lot of land. Be with me so I will be safe from harm." And God did just what Jabez had asked.
¹¹Chelub was the brother of Shuhah and the father of Mehir. Later, Mehir had a son, Eshton, ¹²whose three sons were Bethrapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah. It was Tehinnah who settled the town of Nahash. These men and their families lived in the town of Recah.
¹³Kenaz was the father of Othniel and Seraiah. Othniel had two sons: Hathath and Meonothai, ¹⁴who was the father of Ophrah. Seraiah was the father of Joab, who settled a place called "Valley of Crafts" because the people who lived there were experts in making things.
¹⁵Caleb son of Jephunneh had three sons: Iru, Elah, and Naam. Elah was the father of Kenaz.
¹⁶Jehallelel was the father of Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.
^17-18Ezrah was the father of Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Mered was married to Bithiah the daughter of the king of Egypt. They had a daughter named Miriam and two sons: Shammai and Ishbah. It was Ishbah who settled the town of Eshtemoa. Mered was also married to a woman from the tribe of Judah, and their sons were Jered, Heber, and Jekuthiel. Jered settled the town of Gedor; Heber settled the town of Soco; and Jekuthiel settled the town of Zanoah.
¹⁹A man named Hodiah was married to the sister of Naham. Hodiah's descendants included Keilah of the Garmite clan and Eshtemoa of the Maacathite clan.
²⁰Shimon was the father of Amnon, Rinnah, Benhanan, and Tilon.
Ishi was the father of Zoheth and Benzoheth.
^21-22Judah also had a son named Shelah, whose descendants included Jokim and the people of the town of Cozeba, as well as Er who settled the town of Lecah and Laadah who settled the town of Mareshah. The people who lived in Beth-Ashbea were also descendants of Shelah, and they were experts in weaving cloth. Shelah was the ancestor of Joash and Saraph, two men who married Moabite women and then settled near Bethlehem --but these family records are very old. ²³The members of these clans were the potters who lived in the towns of Netaim and Gederah and worked for the king.

The Descendants of Simeon

²⁴Simeon had five sons: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul. ²⁵The descendants of Shaul included his son Shallum, his grandson Mibsam, and his great-grandson Mishma. ²⁶The descendants of Mishma included his son Hammuel, his grandson Zaccur, and his great-grandson Shimei. ²⁷Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters. But his brothers did not have as many children, so the Simeon tribe was smaller than the Judah tribe.
^28-31Before David became king, the people of the Simeon tribe lived in the following towns: Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-Shual, Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth-Marcaboth, Hazarsusim, Bethbiri, and Shaaraim. ³²They also lived in the five villages of Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, ³³as well as in the nearby villages as far as the town of Baal. These are the places where Simeon's descendants had settled, according to their own family records.
^34-38As their families and clans became larger, the people of Simeon had the following leaders: Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, Joel, Jehu, Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, and Ziza. ³⁹When the people needed more pastureland for their flocks and herds, they looked as far as the eastern side of the valley where the town of Gerar is located, ⁴⁰and they found a lot of good pastureland that was quiet and undisturbed. This had once belonged to the Hamites, ⁴¹but when Hezekiah was king of Judah, the descendants of Simeon attacked and forced the Hamites and Meunites off the land, then settled there.
⁴²Some time later, five hundred men from the Simeon tribe went into Edom under the command of Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel the sons of Ishi. ⁴³They killed the last of the Amalekites and lived there from then on.

ZEPHANIAH

Zephaniah 1 I am Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the grandson of Gedaliah, the great-grandson of Amariah, and the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah.
When Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah, the LORD gave me this message.

Judgment on Judah

²I, the LORD, now promise
to destroy everything on this earth--
³people and animals, birds and fish.
Everyone who is evil will crash to the ground,
and I will wipe out the entire human race.
⁴I will reach out to punish Judah and Jerusalem--
nothing will remain of the god Baal;
nothing will be remembered of his pagan priests.
⁵Not a trace will be found of those who worship stars
from their rooftops,
or bow down to the god Milcom, while claiming loyalty
to me, the LORD.
⁶Nothing will remain of anyone who has turned away
and rejected me.

⁷Be silent! I am the LORD God, and the time is near.
I am preparing to sacrifice my people
and to invite my guests.
⁸On that day I will punish national leaders
and sons of the king,
along with all who follow foreign customs.
⁹I will punish worshipers of pagan gods
and cruel palace officials who abuse their power.

¹⁰I, the LORD, promise that on that day
noisy crying will be heard
from Fish Gate, New Town, and Upper Hills.
¹¹Everyone in Lower Hollow will mourn loudly,
because merchants and money changers
will be wiped out.
¹²I'll search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those people
who sit there unworried while thinking,
"The LORD won't do anything, good or bad."
¹³Their possessions will be taken, their homes left in ruins.
They won't get to live in the houses they build,
or drink wine from the grapes in their own vineyards.

A Terrible Day

¹⁴The great day of the LORD is coming soon, very soon.
On that terrible day, fearsome shouts of warriors
will be heard everywhere.
¹⁵It will be a time of anger--
of trouble and torment, of disaster and destruction,
of darkness and despair, of storm clouds and shadows,
¹⁶of trumpet calls and battle cries
against fortified cities and mighty fortresses.

¹⁷The LORD warns everyone who has sinned against him,
"I'll strike you blind!
Then your blood and your insides
will gush out like vomit.
¹⁸Not even your silver or gold can save you on that day
when I, the LORD, am angry.
My anger will flare up like a furious fire
scorching the earth and everyone on it."