Jesus and John the Baptist

John 3 ²²Later, Jesus and his disciples went to Judea, where he stayed with them for a while and was baptizing people.
^23-24John had not yet been put in jail. He was at Aenon near Salim, where there was a lot of water, and people were coming there for John to baptize them.
²⁵John's followers got into an argument with a Jewish man about a ceremony of washing. ²⁶They went to John and said, "Rabbi, you spoke about a man when you were with him east of the Jordan. He is now baptizing people, and everyone is going to him."
²⁷John replied:

No one can do anything unless God in heaven allows it. ²⁸You surely remember how I told you that I am not the Messiah. I am only the one sent ahead of him.

²⁹At a wedding the groom is the one who gets married. The best man is glad just to be there and to hear the groom's voice. That's why I am so glad. ³⁰Jesus must become more important, while I become less important.

The One Who Comes from Heaven

³¹God's Son comes from heaven and is above all others. Everyone who comes from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all others. ³²He speaks about what he has seen and heard, and yet no one believes him. ³³But everyone who does believe him has shown that God is truthful. ³⁴The Son was sent to speak God's message, and he has been given the full power of God's Spirit.

³⁵The Father loves the Son and has given him everything. ³⁶Everyone who has faith in the Son has eternal life. But no one who rejects him will ever share in that life, and God will be angry with them forever.

David Moves the Sacred Chest to Jerusalem
(2 Samuel 6.1-12a)

1 Chronicles 13 Some time later, David talked with his army commanders, ^2-3and then announced to the people of Israel:

While Saul was king, the sacred chest was ignored. But now it's time to bring the chest to Jerusalem. We will invite everyone in Israel to come here, including the priests and the Levites in the towns surrounded by pastureland. But we will do these things only if you agree, and if the LORD our God wants us to.

⁴The people agreed this was the right thing to do.
⁵David gathered everyone from the Shihor River in Egypt to Lebo-Hamath in the north. ⁶Then he led them to Baalah in Judah, which was also called Kiriath-Jearim. They went there to get the sacred chest and bring it to Jerusalem, because it belonged to the LORD God, whose throne is above the winged creatures on the lid of the chest.
⁷The sacred chest was still at Abinadab's house, and when David and the crowd arrived there, they brought the chest outside and placed it on a new ox cart. Abinadab's sons Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart, ⁸while David and the crowd danced and sang praises to the LORD with all their might. They played music on small harps and other stringed instruments, and on tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
⁹But when they came to Chidon's threshing place, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the chest to stop it from falling. ¹⁰The LORD God was very angry at Uzzah for doing this, and he killed Uzzah right there beside the chest.
¹¹David then got angry at God for killing Uzzah. So he named that place "Attack on Uzzah," and it's been called that ever since.
¹²David was afraid what the LORD might do to him, and he asked himself, "Should I really be the one to take care of the sacred chest?" ¹³So instead of taking it to Jerusalem, David decided to take it to the home of Obed-Edom, who lived in the town of Gath.
¹⁴The chest stayed there for three months, and the LORD blessed Obed-Edom, his family, and everything he owned.

David's Palace in Jerusalem
(2 Samuel 5.11-16)

1 Chronicles 14 King Hiram of Tyre sent some officials to David. They brought along carpenters and stone workers, and enough cedar logs to build David a palace. ²David now knew that the LORD had made him a powerful king of Israel for the good of his people.
³After David moved to Jerusalem, he married more women and had more sons and daughters. ^4-7His children born there were Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines
(2 Samuel 5.17-25)

⁸When the Philistines heard that David had become king of Israel, they came to capture him. But David heard about their plan and marched out to meet them in battle. ⁹The Philistines had already camped in Rephaim Valley and were raiding the nearby villages.
¹⁰David asked God, "Should I attack the Philistines? Will you help me win?"
The LORD told David, "Yes, attack them! I will give you victory."
¹¹David and his army marched to Baal-Perazim, where they attacked and defeated the Philistines. He said, "I defeated my enemies because God broke through them like a mighty flood." So he named the place "The Lord Broke Through." ¹²Then David ordered his troops to burn the idols that the Philistines had left behind.
¹³Some time later, the Philistines came back into the hill country and camped in Rephaim Valley. ¹⁴David asked God what he should do, and God answered, "Don't attack them from the front. Circle around behind them where the balsam trees are. ¹⁵Wait there until you hear the treetops making the sound of marching troops. That sound will mean I have marched out ahead of you to fight the Philistine army. So you must then attack quickly!"
¹⁶David obeyed God and he defeated the Philistines. He even chased them all the way from Gibeon to the entrance to Gezer.
¹⁷From then on, David became even more famous, and the LORD made all the nations afraid of him.

Fourth Vision: Joshua and Satan

Zechariah 3 I was given another vision. This time Joshua the high priest was standing in front of the LORD's angel. And there was Satan, standing at Joshua's right side, ready to accuse him. ²But the LORD said, "Satan, you are wrong. Jerusalem is my chosen city, and this man was rescued like a stick from a flaming fire."
³Joshua's clothes were filthy. ⁴So the angel told some of the people to remove Joshua's filthy clothes. Then he said to Joshua, "This means you are forgiven. Now I will dress you in priestly clothes."
⁵I spoke up and said, "Also put a clean priestly turban on his head." Then they dressed him in priestly clothes and put the turban on him, while the LORD's angel stood there watching.
⁶After this, the angel encouraged Joshua by telling him that the LORD All-Powerful had promised:

⁷If you truly obey me, I will put you in charge of my temple, including the courtyard around it, and you will be allowed to speak at any time with the angels standing beside me. ⁸Listen carefully, High Priest Joshua and all of you other priests. You are a sign of things to come, because I am going to bring back my servant, the Chosen King.

⁹Joshua, I have placed in front of you a stone with seven sides. I will engrave something on that stone, and in a single day I will forgive this guilty country. ¹⁰Then each of you will live at peace and entertain your friends in your own vineyard and under your own fig trees.