Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

John 9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been born blind. ²His disciples asked him, "Teacher, whose sin caused him to be born blind? Was it his own or his parents' sin?"
³Jesus answered, "His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents' sins. He is blind so that God's power might be seen at work in him. ⁴As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me; night is coming when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light for the world."
⁶After he said this, Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with the spittle; he rubbed the mud on the man's eyes ⁷and told him, "Go and wash your face in the Pool of Siloam." (This name means "Sent.") So the man went, washed his face, and came back seeing.
⁸His neighbors, then, and the people who had seen him begging before this, asked, "Isn't this the man who used to sit and beg?"
⁹Some said, "He is the one," but others said, "No he isn't; he just looks like him."
So the man himself said, "I am the man."
¹⁰"How is it that you can now see?" they asked him.
¹¹He answered, "The man called Jesus made some mud, rubbed it on my eyes, and told me to go to Siloam and wash my face. So I went, and as soon as I washed, I could see."
¹²"Where is he?" they asked.
"I don't know," he answered.

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

¹³Then they took to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. ¹⁴The day that Jesus made the mud and cured him of his blindness was a Sabbath. ¹⁵The Pharisees, then, asked the man again how he had received his sight. He told them, "He put some mud on my eyes; I washed my face, and now I can see."
¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, "The man who did this cannot be from God, for he does not obey the Sabbath law."
Others, however, said, "How could a man who is a sinner perform such miracles as these?" And there was a division among them.
¹⁷So the Pharisees asked the man once more, "You say he cured you of your blindness--well, what do you say about him?"
"He is a prophet," the man answered.
¹⁸The Jewish authorities, however, were not willing to believe that he had been blind and could now see, until they called his parents ¹⁹and asked them, "Is this your son? You say that he was born blind; how is it, then, that he can now see?"
²⁰His parents answered, "We know that he is our son, and we know that he was born blind. ²¹But we do not know how it is that he is now able to see, nor do we know who cured him of his blindness. Ask him; he is old enough, and he can answer for himself !" ²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, who had already agreed that anyone who said he believed that Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. ²³That is why his parents said, "He is old enough; ask him!"

Solomon's Address to the People
(1 Kings 8.12-21)

2 Chronicles 6 Then King Solomon prayed,
"LORD, you have chosen to live in clouds and darkness.
²Now I have built a majestic temple for you,
a place for you to live in forever."
³All the people of Israel were standing there. The king turned to face them and asked God's blessing on them. ⁴He said, "Praise the LORD God of Israel! He has kept the promise he made to my father David when he said to him, ⁵'From the time I brought my people out of Egypt until now, I did not choose any city in the land of Israel as the place to build a temple where I would be worshiped, and I did not choose anyone to lead my people Israel. ⁶But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place where I will be worshiped, and you, David, to rule my people.'"
⁷And Solomon continued, "My father David planned to build a temple for the worship of the LORD God of Israel, ⁸but the LORD said to him, 'You were right in wanting to build a temple for me, ⁹but you will never build it. It is your son, your own son, who will build my temple.'
¹⁰"Now the LORD has kept his promise: I have succeeded my father as king of Israel, and I have built a temple for the worship of the LORD God of Israel. ¹¹I have placed in the Temple the Covenant Box, which contains the stone tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with the people of Israel."

Solomon's Prayer
(1 Kings 8.22-53)

¹²Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar and raised his arms in prayer. (¹³Solomon had made a bronze platform and put it in the middle of the courtyard. It was eight feet square and five feet high. He mounted this platform, knelt down where everyone could see him, and raised his hands toward heaven.) ¹⁴He prayed, "LORD God of Israel, in all heaven and earth there is no god like you. You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. ¹⁵You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled. ¹⁶Now, LORD God of Israel, keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided that they carefully obeyed your Law just as he did. ¹⁷So now, LORD God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to your servant David.
¹⁸"But can you, O God, really live on earth among men and women? Not even all of heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough? ¹⁹LORD my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer and grant the requests I make to you. ²⁰Watch over this Temple day and night. You have promised that this is where you will be worshiped, so hear me when I face this Temple and pray. ²¹Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people Israel when they face this place and pray. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us.
²²"When people are accused of wronging others and are brought to your altar in this Temple to take an oath that they are innocent, ²³O LORD, listen in heaven and judge your servants. Punish the guilty ones as they deserve and acquit the innocent.
²⁴"When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you and then when they turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness, ²⁵listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people and bring them back to the land which you gave to them and to their ancestors.
²⁶"When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you, ²⁷O LORD, listen to them in heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, the people of Israel, and teach them to do what is right. Then, O LORD, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession.
²⁸"When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them, ²⁹listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer toward this Temple, ³⁰hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven and forgive them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each of us as we deserve, ³¹so that your people may honor you and obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors.
³²"When foreigners who live in a distant land hear how great and powerful you are and how you are always ready to act, and then they come to pray at this Temple, ³³listen to their prayers. In heaven, where you live, hear them and do what they ask you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is where you are to be worshiped.
³⁴"When you command your people to go into battle against their enemies and they pray to you, wherever they are, facing this city which you have chosen and this Temple which I have built for you, ³⁵listen to their prayers. Hear them in heaven and give them victory.
³⁶"When your people sin against you--and there is no one who does not sin--and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, ³⁷listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O LORD. ³⁸If in that land they truly and sincerely repent and pray to you as they face toward this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, ³⁹then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them and forgive all the sins of your people.
⁴⁰"Now, O my God, look on us and listen to the prayers offered in this place. ⁴¹Rise up now, LORD God, and with the Covenant Box, the symbol of your power, enter the Temple and stay here forever. Bless your priests in all they do, and may all your people be happy because of your goodness to them. ⁴²LORD God, do not reject the king you have chosen. Remember the love you had for your servant David."

The Day of Judgment Is Near

Malachi 2 ¹⁷You have tired the LORD out with your talk. But you ask, "How have we tired him?" By saying, "The LORD Almighty thinks all evildoers are good; in fact he likes them." Or by asking, "Where is the God who is supposed to be just?"
Malachi 3 The LORD Almighty answers, "I will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim my covenant."
²But who will be able to endure the day when he comes? Who will be able to survive when he appears? He will be like strong soap, like a fire that refines metal. ³He will come to judge like one who refines and purifies silver. As a metalworker refines silver and gold, so the LORD's messenger will purify the priests, so that they will bring to the LORD the right kind of offerings. ⁴Then the offerings which the people of Judah and Jerusalem bring to the LORD will be pleasing to him, as they used to be in the past.
⁵The LORD Almighty says, "I will appear among you to judge, and I will testify at once against those who practice magic, against adulterers, against those who give false testimony, those who cheat employees out of their wages, and those who take advantage of widows, orphans, and foreigners--against all who do not respect me.

The Payment of Tithes

⁶"I am the LORD, and I do not change. And so you, the descendants of Jacob, are not yet completely lost. ⁷You, like your ancestors before you, have turned away from my laws and have not kept them. Turn back to me, and I will turn to you. But you ask, 'What must we do to turn back to you?' ⁸I ask you, is it right for a person to cheat God? Of course not, yet you are cheating me. 'How?' you ask. In the matter of tithes and offerings. ⁹A curse is on all of you because the whole nation is cheating me. ¹⁰Bring the full amount of your tithes to the Temple, so that there will be plenty of food there. Put me to the test and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven and pour out on you in abundance all kinds of good things. ¹¹I will not let insects destroy your crops, and your grapevines will be loaded with grapes. ¹²Then the people of all nations will call you happy, because your land will be a good place to live.

God's Promise of Mercy

¹³"You have said terrible things about me," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'What have we said about you?' ¹⁴You have said, 'It's useless to serve God. What's the use of doing what he says or of trying to show the LORD Almighty that we are sorry for what we have done? ¹⁵As we see it, proud people are the ones who are happy. Evil people not only prosper, but they test God's patience with their evil deeds and get away with it.'"
¹⁶Then the people who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard what they said. In his presence, there was written down in a book a record of those who feared the LORD and respected him. ¹⁷"They will be my people," says the LORD Almighty. "On the day when I act, they will be my very own. I will be merciful to them as parents are merciful to the children who serve them. ¹⁸Once again my people will see the difference between what happens to the righteous and to the wicked, to the person who serves me and the one who does not."