Jesus and His Brothers

John 7 After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee; he did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jewish authorities there were wanting to kill him. ²The time for the Festival of Shelters was near, ³so Jesus' brothers said to him, "Leave this place and go to Judea, so that your followers will see the things that you are doing. ⁴People don't hide what they are doing if they want to be well known. Since you are doing these things, let the whole world know about you!" ( ⁵Not even his brothers believed in him.)
⁶Jesus said to them, "The right time for me has not yet come. Any time is right for you. ⁷The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I keep telling it that its ways are bad. ⁸You go on to the festival. I am not going to this festival, because the right time has not come for me." ⁹He said this and then stayed on in Galilee.

Jesus at the Festival of Shelters

¹⁰After his brothers had gone to the festival, Jesus also went; however, he did not go openly, but secretly. ¹¹The Jewish authorities were looking for him at the festival. "Where is he?" they asked.
¹²There was much whispering about him in the crowd. "He is a good man," some people said. "No," others said, "he fools the people." ¹³But no one talked about him openly, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities.
¹⁴The festival was nearly half over when Jesus went to the Temple and began teaching. ¹⁵The Jewish authorities were greatly surprised and said, "How does this man know so much when he has never been to school?"
¹⁶Jesus answered, "What I teach is not my own teaching, but it comes from God, who sent me. ¹⁷Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority. ¹⁸Those who speak on their own authority are trying to gain glory for themselves. But he who wants glory for the one who sent him is honest, and there is nothing false in him. ¹⁹Moses gave you the Law, didn't he? But not one of you obeys the Law. Why are you trying to kill me?"
²⁰"You have a demon in you!" the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?"
²¹Jesus answered, "I performed one miracle, and you were all surprised. ²²Moses ordered you to circumcise your sons (although it was not Moses but your ancestors who started it), and so you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. ²³If a boy is circumcised on the Sabbath so that Moses' Law is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? ²⁴Stop judging by external standards, and judge by true standards."

Is He the Messiah?

²⁵Some of the people of Jerusalem said, "Isn't this the man the authorities are trying to kill? ²⁶Look! He is talking in public, and they say nothing against him! Can it be that they really know that he is the Messiah? ²⁷But when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from. And we all know where this man comes from."
²⁸As Jesus taught in the Temple, he said in a loud voice, "Do you really know me and know where I am from? I have not come on my own authority. He who sent me, however, is truthful. You do not know him, ²⁹but I know him, because I come from him and he sent me."
³⁰Then they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. ³¹But many in the crowd believed in him and said, "When the Messiah comes, will he perform more miracles than this man has?"

Military and Civil Organization

1 Chronicles 27 This is the list of the Israelite heads of families and clan leaders and their officials who administered the work of the kingdom. Each month of the year a different group of twenty-four thousand men was on duty under the commander for that month.
^2-15The following were the commanders for each month:
First month: Jashobeam son of Zabdiel (he was a member of the clan of Perez, a part of the tribe of Judah)
Second month: Dodai, a descendant of Ahohi (Mikloth was his second in command)
Third month: Benaiah son of Jehoiada the priest; he was the leader of "The Thirty" (his son Ammizabad succeeded him as commander of this group)
Fourth month: Asahel, brother of Joab (his son Zebadiah succeeded him)
Fifth month: Shamhuth, a descendant of Izhar
Sixth month: Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa
Seventh month: Helez, an Ephraimite from Pelon
Eighth month: Sibbecai from Hushah (he was a member of the clan of Zerah, a part of the tribe of Judah)
Ninth month: Abiezer from Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin
Tenth month: Maharai from Netophah (he was a member of the clan of Zerah)
Eleventh month: Benaiah from Pirathon in the territory of the tribe of Ephraim
Twelfth month: Heldai from Netophah (he was a descendant of Othniel)

Administration of the Tribes of Israel

^16-22This is the list of the administrators of the tribes of Israel:
²³King David did not take a census of the people who were under the age of twenty, because of the LORD's promise to make the people of Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky. ²⁴Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, began to take a census, but he did not complete it. God punished Israel because of this census, so the final figures were never recorded in King David's official records.

Administrators of the Royal Property

^25-31This is the list of those who administered the royal property:
Royal storerooms: Azmaveth son of Adiel
Local storerooms: Jonathan son of Uzziah
Farm labor: Ezri son of Chelub
Vineyards: Shimei from Ramah
Wine cellars: Zabdi from Shepham
Olive and sycamore trees (in the western foothills): Baal Hanan from Geder
Olive oil storage: Joash
Cattle in the Plain of Sharon: Shitrai from Sharon
Cattle in the valleys: Shaphat son of Adlai
Camels: Obil, an Ishmaelite
Donkeys: Jehdeiah from Meronoth
Sheep and goats: Jaziz, a Hagrite

David's Personal Advisers

³²Jonathan, King David's uncle, was a skillful adviser and a scholar. He and Jehiel son of Hachmoni were in charge of the education of the king's sons. ³³Ahithophel was adviser to the king, and Hushai the Archite was the king's friend and counselor. ³⁴After Ahithophel died, Abiathar and Jehoiada son of Benaiah became advisers. Joab was commander of the royal army.

David's Instructions for the Temple

1 Chronicles 28 King David commanded all the officials of Israel to assemble in Jerusalem. So all the officials of the tribes, the officials who administered the work of the kingdom, the leaders of the clans, the supervisors of the property and livestock that belonged to the king and his sons--indeed all the palace officials, leading soldiers, and important men--gathered in Jerusalem.
²David stood before them and addressed them: "My friends, listen to me. I wanted to build a permanent home for the Covenant Box, the footstool of the LORD our God. I have made preparations for building a temple to honor him, ³but he has forbidden me to do it, because I am a soldier and have shed too much blood. ⁴The LORD, the God of Israel, chose me and my descendants to rule Israel forever. He chose the tribe of Judah to provide leadership, and out of Judah he chose my father's family. From all that family it was his pleasure to take me and make me king over all Israel. ⁵He gave me many sons, and out of them all he chose Solomon to rule over Israel, the LORD's kingdom.
⁶"The LORD said to me, 'Your son Solomon is the one who will build my Temple. I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. ⁷I will make his kingdom last forever if he continues to obey carefully all my laws and commands as he does now.'
⁸"So now, my people, in the presence of our God and of this assembly of all Israel, the LORD's people, I charge you to obey carefully everything that the LORD our God has commanded us, so that you may continue to possess this good land and so that you may hand it on to succeeding generations forever."
⁹And to Solomon he said, "My son, I charge you to acknowledge your father's God and to serve him with an undivided heart and a willing mind. He knows all our thoughts and desires. If you go to him, he will accept you; but if you turn away from him, he will abandon you forever. ¹⁰You must realize that the LORD has chosen you to build his holy Temple. Now do it--and do it with determination."
¹¹David gave Solomon the plans for all the Temple buildings, for the storerooms and all the other rooms, and for the Most Holy Place, where sins are forgiven. ¹²He also gave him the plans for all he had in mind for the courtyards and the rooms around them, and for the storerooms for the Temple equipment and the gifts dedicated to the LORD. ¹³David also gave him the plans for organizing the priests and Levites to perform their duties, to do the work of the Temple, and to take care of all the Temple utensils. ¹⁴He gave instructions as to how much silver and gold was to be used for making the utensils, ¹⁵for each lamp and lampstand, ¹⁶for the silver tables, and for each gold table on which were placed the loaves of bread offered to God. ¹⁷He also gave instructions as to how much pure gold was to be used in making forks, bowls, and jars, how much silver and gold in making dishes, ¹⁸and how much pure gold in making the altar on which incense was burned and in making the chariot for the winged creatures that spread their wings over the LORD's Covenant Box. ¹⁹King David said, "All this is contained in the plan written according to the instructions which the LORD himself gave me to carry out."
²⁰King David said to his son Solomon, "Be confident and determined. Start the work and don't let anything stop you. The LORD God, whom I serve, will be with you. He will not abandon you, but he will stay with you until you finish the work to be done on his Temple. ²¹The priests and the Levites have been assigned duties to perform in the Temple. Workers with every kind of skill are eager to help you, and all the people and their leaders are at your command."

The Future Deliverance of Jerusalem

Zechariah 12 This is a message about Israel from the LORD, the LORD who spread out the skies, created the earth, and gave life to man. He says, ²"I will make Jerusalem like a cup of wine; the nations around her will drink and stagger like drunks. And when they besiege Jerusalem, the cities of the rest of Judah will also be besieged. ³But when that time comes, I will make Jerusalem like a heavy stone--any nation that tries to lift it will be hurt. All the nations of the world will join forces to attack her. ⁴At that time I will terrify all their horses and make all their riders go crazy. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will make the horses of their enemies blind. ⁵Then the clans of Judah will say to themselves, 'The LORD God Almighty gives strength to his people who live in Jerusalem.'
⁶"At that time I will make the clans of Judah like a fire in a forest or in a field of ripe grain--they will destroy all the surrounding nations. The people of Jerusalem will remain safe in the city.
⁷"I, the LORD, will give victory to the armies of Judah first, so that the honor which the descendants of David and the people of Jerusalem will receive will be no greater than that of the rest of Judah. ⁸At that time the LORD will protect those who live in Jerusalem, and even the weakest among them will become as strong as David was. The descendants of David will lead them like the angel of the LORD, like God himself. ⁹At that time I will destroy every nation that tries to attack Jerusalem.
¹⁰"I will fill the descendants of David and the other people of Jerusalem with the spirit of mercy and the spirit of prayer. They will look at the one whom they stabbed to death, and they will mourn for him like those who mourn for an only child. They will mourn bitterly, like those who have lost their first-born son. ¹¹At that time the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ^12-14Each family in the land will mourn by itself: the family descended from David, the family descended from Nathan, the family descended from Levi, the family descended from Shimei, and all the other families. Each family will mourn by itself, and the men of each family will mourn separately from the women.