Jesus' Brothers Don't Have Faith in Him

John 7 Jesus decided to leave Judea and to start going through Galilee because the leaders of the people wanted to kill him. ²It was almost time for the Festival of Shelters, ³and Jesus' brothers said to him, "Why don't you go to Judea? Then your disciples can see what you are doing. ⁴No one does anything in secret, if they want others to know about them. So let the world know what you are doing!" ⁵Even Jesus' own brothers had not yet become his followers.
⁶Jesus answered, "My time hasn't yet come, but your time is always here. ⁷The people of this world cannot hate you. They hate me, because I tell them that they do evil things. ⁸Go on to the festival. My time hasn't yet come, and I am not going." ⁹Jesus said this and stayed on in Galilee.

Jesus at the Festival of Shelters

¹⁰After Jesus' brothers had gone to the festival, he went secretly, without telling anyone.
¹¹During the festival the leaders looked for Jesus and asked, "Where is he?" ¹²The crowds even got into an argument about him. Some were saying, "Jesus is a good man," while others were saying, "He is lying to everyone." ¹³But the people were afraid of their leaders, and none of them talked in public about him.
¹⁴When the festival was about half over, Jesus went into the temple and started teaching. ¹⁵The leaders were surprised and said, "How does this man know so much? He has never been taught!"
¹⁶Jesus replied:

I am not teaching something that I thought up. What I teach comes from the one who sent me. ¹⁷If you really want to obey God, you will know if what I teach comes from God or from me. ¹⁸If I wanted to bring honor to myself, I would speak for myself. But I want to honor the one who sent me. That is why I tell the truth and not a lie. ¹⁹Didn't Moses give you the Law? Yet none of you obey it! So why do you want to kill me?

²⁰The crowd replied, "You're crazy! What makes you think someone wants to kill you?"
²¹Jesus answered:

I worked one miracle, and it amazed you. ²²Moses commanded you to circumcise your sons. But it wasn't really Moses who gave you this command. It was your ancestors, and even on the Sabbath you circumcise your sons ²³in order to obey the Law of Moses. Why are you angry with me for making someone completely well on the Sabbath? ²⁴Don't judge by appearances. Judge by what is right.

²⁵Some of the people from Jerusalem were saying, "Isn't this the man they want to kill? ²⁶Yet here he is, speaking for everyone to hear. And no one is arguing with him. Do you suppose the authorities know that he is the Messiah? ²⁷But how could that be? No one knows where the Messiah will come from, but we know where this man comes from."
²⁸As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he shouted, "Do you really think you know me and where I came from? I didn't come on my own! The one who sent me is truthful, and you don't know him. ²⁹But I know the one who sent me, because I came from him."
³⁰Some of the people wanted to arrest Jesus right then. But no one even laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. ³¹A lot of people in the crowd put their faith in him and said, "When the Messiah comes, he surely won't perform more miracles than this man has done!"

David Assigns Army Commanders

1 Chronicles 27 Each month a group of twenty-four thousand men served as soldiers in Israel's army. These men, which included the family leaders, army commanders, and officials of the king, were under the command of the following men, arranged by the month of their service:
²In the first month, Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel, ³a descendant of Perez;
⁴in the second month, Dodai the Ahohite, whose assistant was Mikloth;
⁵in the third month, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada the priest, ⁶who was the leader of the Thirty Warriors, and whose son Ammizabad was also an army commander;
⁷in the fourth month, Asahel the brother of Joab, whose son Zebadiah took over command after him;
⁸in the fifth month, Shamhuth from the Izrah clan;
⁹in the sixth month, Ira the son of Ikkesh from Tekoa;
¹⁰in the seventh month, Helez from Pelon in the territory of Ephraim;
¹¹in the eighth month, Sibbecai from Hushah of the Zerah clan;
¹²in the ninth month, Abiezer from Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin;
¹³in the tenth month, Maharai from Netophah of the Zerah clan;
¹⁴in the eleventh month, Benaiah from Pirathon in the territory of Ephraim;
¹⁵in the twelfth month, Heldai from Netophah, who was a descendant of Othniel.

David Assigns Tribal Leaders

^16-22Here is a list of the leaders of each tribe in Israel:
Eliezer son of Zichri was over Reuben: Shephatiah son of Maacah was over Simeon; Hashabiah son of Kemuel was over the Levites, and Zadok the priest was over the descendants of Aaron; Elihu the brother of David was over Judah; Omri son of Michael was over Issachar; Ishmaiah son of Obadiah was over Zebulun; Jerimoth son of Azriel was over Naphtali; Hoshea son of Azaziah was over Ephraim; Joel son of Pedaiah was over West Manasseh; Iddo son of Zechariah was over East Manasseh; Jaasiel son of Abner was over Benjamin; Azarel son of Jeroham was over Dan.
²³When David decided to count the people of Israel, he gave orders not to count anyone under twenty years of age, because the LORD had promised long ago that Israel would have as many people as there are stars in the sky. ²⁴Joab the son of Zeruiah had begun to count the people, but he stopped when the LORD began punishing Israel. So the total number was never included in David's official records.

Officials in Charge of the King's Property

²⁵Azmaveth the son of Adiel was in charge of the king's personal storage rooms. Jonathan the son of Uzziah was in charge of the king's other storerooms that were in the towns, the villages, and the defense towers in Israel.
²⁶Ezri the son of Chelub was in charge of the workers who farmed the king's land.
²⁷Shimei from Ramah was in charge of the vineyards, and Zabdi from Shepham was in charge of storing the wine.
²⁸Baal Hanan from Geder was in charge of the olive and sycamore trees in the western foothills, and Joash was in charge of storing the olive oil.
²⁹Shitrai from Sharon was responsible for the cattle that were kept in Sharon Plain, and Shaphat son of Adlai was responsible for those kept in the valleys.
³⁰Obil the Ishmaelite was in charge of the camels, Jehdeiah from Meronoth was in charge of the donkeys, and Jaziz the Hagrite was in charge of the sheep and goats.
³¹These were the men in charge of David's royal property.

David's Personal Advisors

³²David's uncle Jonathan was a wise and intelligent advisor. He and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni taught David's sons.
³³Ahithophel and Hushai the Archite were two of David's advisors. ³⁴Jehoiada the son of Benaiah was the king's advisor after Ahithophel, and later, Abiathar was his advisor.
Joab was commander of Israel's army.

David Gives Solomon the Plans for the Temple

1 Chronicles 28 David called a meeting in Jerusalem for all of Israel's leaders, including the tribal leaders, the government officials, the army commanders, the officials in charge of the royal property and livestock, the palace officials, and the brave warriors.
²After everyone was there, David stood up and said:

Listen to me, my people. I wanted to build a place where the sacred chest would be kept, so we could go there and worship the LORD our God. I have prepared all the supplies for building a temple, ³but the LORD has refused to let me build it, because he said I have killed too many people in battle.

⁴The LORD God chose Judah to be the leading tribe in Israel. Then from Judah, he chose my father's family, and from that family, he chose me to be the king of Israel, and he promised that my descendants will also rule as kings. ⁵The LORD has blessed me with many sons, but he chose my son Solomon to be the next king of Israel. ⁶The LORD said to me, "Your son Solomon will build my temple, and it will honor me. Solomon will be like a son to me, and I will be like a father to him. ⁷If he continues to obey my laws and commands, his kingdom will never end."

⁸My friends, you are the LORD's people. And now, with God as your witness, I want you to promise that you will do your best to obey everything the LORD God has commanded us. Then this land will always belong to you and your descendants.

⁹Solomon, my son, worship God and obey him with all your heart and mind, just as I have done. He knows all your thoughts and your reasons for doing things, and so if you turn to him, he will hear your prayers. But if you ignore him, he will reject you forever. ¹⁰The LORD has chosen you to build a temple for worshiping him. Be confident and do the work you have been assigned.

¹¹After David finished speaking, he gave Solomon the plans for building the main rooms of the temple, including the porch, the storerooms, the rooms upstairs and downstairs, as well as the most holy place. ¹²He gave Solomon his plans for the courtyards and the open areas around the temple, and for the rooms to store the temple treasures and gifts that had been dedicated to God.
¹³David also gave Solomon his plans for dividing the priests and the Levites into groups, as well as for the work that needed to be done at the temple and for taking care of the objects used for worship. ¹⁴He told Solomon how much gold and silver was to be used in making the sacred objects, ¹⁵including the lampstands and lamps, ¹⁶the gold table which held the sacred loaves of bread, the tables made of silver, ¹⁷the meat forks, the bowls and cups, ¹⁸the gold incense altar, and the gold statue of a chariot for the winged creatures which were on the lid of the sacred chest.
¹⁹David then said to Solomon:

The LORD showed me how his temple is to be built. ²⁰But you must see that everything is done according to these plans. Be confident, and never be afraid of anything or get discouraged. The LORD my God will help you do everything needed to finish the temple, so it can be used for worshiping him. ²¹The priests and Levites have been assigned their duties, and all the skilled workers are prepared to do their work. The people and their leaders will do anything you tell them.

Victory for Jerusalem

Zechariah 12 This is a message from the LORD about Israel:

I am the LORD! I stretched out the heavens; I put the earth on its foundations and gave breath to humans. ²I have decided that Jerusalem will become a bowl of wine that makes the neighboring nations drunk. And when Jerusalem is attacked, Judah will also be attacked. ³But I will turn Jerusalem into a heavy stone that crushes anyone who tries to lift it.

When all nations on earth surround Jerusalem, ⁴I will make every horse panic and every rider confused. But at the same time, I will watch over Judah. ⁵Then every clan in Judah will realize that I, the LORD All-Powerful, am their God, and that I am the source of their strength.

⁶At that time I will let the clans of Judah be like a ball of fire in a wood pile or a fiery torch in a hay stack. Then Judah will send the surrounding nations up in smoke. And once again the city of Jerusalem will be filled with people.

⁷But I will first give victory to Judah, so the kingdom of David and the city of Jerusalem in all of their glory won't be thought of more highly than Judah itself. ⁸I, the LORD God, will protect Jerusalem. Even the weakest person there will be as strong as David, and David's kingdom will rule as though my very own angel were its leader. ⁹I am determined to wipe out every nation that attacks Jerusalem.

Mourning for the One Pierced with a Spear

¹⁰I, the LORD, will make the descendants of David and the people of Jerusalem feel deep sorrow and pray when they see the one they pierced with a spear. They will mourn and weep for him, as parents weep over the death of their only child or their first-born. ¹¹On that day the people of Jerusalem will mourn as much as everyone did for Hadad Rimmon on the flatlands near Megiddo. ¹²Everyone of each family in the land will mourn, and the men will mourn separately from the women. This includes those from the family of David, and the families of Nathan, ¹³Levi, Shimei, ¹⁴and all other families as well.