The Wedding in Cana

John 2 Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, ²and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine had given out, Jesus' mother said to him, "They are out of wine."
⁴"You must not tell me what to do," Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come."
⁵Jesus' mother then told the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
⁶The Jews have rules about ritual washing, and for this purpose six stone water jars were there, each one large enough to hold between twenty and thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to the servants, "Fill these jars with water." They filled them to the brim, ⁸and then he told them, "Now draw some water out and take it to the man in charge of the feast." They took him the water, ⁹which now had turned into wine, and he tasted it. He did not know where this wine had come from (but, of course, the servants who had drawn out the water knew); so he called the bridegroom ¹⁰and said to him, "Everyone else serves the best wine first, and after the guests have drunk a lot, he serves the ordinary wine. But you have kept the best wine until now!"
¹¹Jesus performed this first miracle in Cana in Galilee; there he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
¹²After this, Jesus and his mother, brothers, and disciples went to Capernaum and stayed there a few days.

Jesus Goes to the Temple
(Matthew 21.12, 13; Mark 11.15-17; Luke 19.45, 46)

¹³It was almost time for the Passover Festival, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. ¹⁴There in the Temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons, and also the moneychangers sitting at their tables. ¹⁵So he made a whip from cords and drove all the animals out of the Temple, both the sheep and the cattle; he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins; ¹⁶and he ordered those who sold the pigeons, "Take them out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" ¹⁷His disciples remembered that the scripture says, "My devotion to your house, O God, burns in me like a fire."
¹⁸The Jewish authorities came back at him with a question, "What miracle can you perform to show us that you have the right to do this?"
¹⁹Jesus answered, "Tear down this Temple, and in three days I will build it again."
²⁰"Are you going to build it again in three days?" they asked him. "It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple!"
²¹But the temple Jesus was speaking about was his body. ²²So when he was raised from death, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and what Jesus had said.

Jesus' Knowledge of Human Nature

²³While Jesus was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in him as they saw the miracles he performed. ²⁴But Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew them all. ²⁵There was no need for anyone to tell him about them, because he himself knew what was in their hearts.

The Death of King Saul
(1 Samuel 31.1-13)

1 Chronicles 10 The Philistines fought a battle against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. Many Israelites were killed there, and the rest of them, including King Saul and his sons, fled. ²But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded. ⁴He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, to keep these godless Philistines from gloating over me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. ⁵The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his sword and died. ⁶So Saul and his three sons all died together, and none of his descendants ever ruled. ⁷When the Israelites who lived in Jezreel Valley heard that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and ran off. Then the Philistines came and occupied them.
⁸The day after the battle the Philistines went to plunder the corpses, and they found the bodies of Saul and his sons lying on Mount Gilboa. ⁹They cut off Saul's head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers with them throughout Philistia to tell the good news to their idols and to their people. ¹⁰They put his weapons in one of their temples and hung his head in the temple of their god Dagon. ¹¹When the people of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²the bravest men went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons and took them to Jabesh. They buried them there under an oak and fasted for seven days.
¹³Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD. He disobeyed the LORD's commands; he tried to find guidance by consulting the spirits of the dead ¹⁴instead of consulting the LORD. So the LORD killed him and gave control of the kingdom to David son of Jesse.

David Becomes King of Israel and Judah
(2 Samuel 5.1-10)

1 Chronicles 11 All the people of Israel went to David at Hebron and said to him, "We are your own flesh and blood. ²In the past, even when Saul was still our king, you led the people of Israel in battle, and the LORD your God promised you that you would lead his people and be their ruler." ³So all the leaders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. He made a sacred alliance with them, they anointed him, and he became king of Israel, just as the LORD had promised through Samuel.
⁴King David and all the Israelites went and attacked the city of Jerusalem. It was then known as Jebus, and the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of the land, were still living there. ⁵The Jebusites told David he would never get inside the city, but David captured their fortress of Zion, and it became known as "David's City." ⁶David said, "The first man to kill a Jebusite will be commander of the army!" Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, led the attack and became commander. ⁷Because David went to live in the fortress, it came to be called "David's City." ⁸He rebuilt the city, starting at the place where land was filled in on the east side of the hill, and Joab restored the rest of the city. ⁹David grew stronger and stronger, because the LORD Almighty was with him.

David's Famous Soldiers
(2 Samuel 23.8-39)

¹⁰This is the list of David's famous soldiers. Together with the rest of the people of Israel, they helped him become king, as the LORD had promised, and they kept his kingdom strong.
¹¹First was Jashobeam of the clan of Hachmon, the leader of "The Three." He fought with his spear against three hundred men and killed them all in one battle. ¹²Next among the famous "Three" was Eleazar son of Dodo, of the clan of Ahoh. ¹³He fought on David's side against the Philistines at the battle of Pas Dammim. He was in a barley field when the Israelites started to run away, ¹⁴so he and his men took a stand in the middle of the field and fought the Philistines. The LORD gave him a great victory.
¹⁵One day three of the thirty leading soldiers went to a rock where David was staying near Adullam Cave, while a band of Philistines was camping in Rephaim Valley. ¹⁶At that time David was on a fortified hill, and a group of Philistines had occupied Bethlehem. ¹⁷David got homesick and said, "How I wish someone would bring me a drink of water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem!" ¹⁸The three famous soldiers forced their way through the Philistine camp, drew some water from the well, and brought it back to David. But he would not drink it; instead he poured it out as an offering to the LORD ¹⁹and said, "I could never drink this! It would be like drinking the blood of these men who risked their lives!" So he refused to drink it. These were the brave deeds of the three famous soldiers.
²⁰Joab's brother Abishai was the leader of "The Famous Thirty." He fought with his spear against three hundred men and killed them, and became famous among "The Thirty." ²¹He was the most famous of "The Thirty" and became their leader, but he was not as famous as "The Three."
²²Benaiah son of Jehoiada from Kabzeel was a famous soldier; he did many brave deeds, including killing two great Moabite warriors. He once went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ²³He also killed an Egyptian, a huge man seven and a half feet tall, who was armed with a gigantic spear. Benaiah attacked him with a club, snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand, and killed him with it. ²⁴Those were the brave deeds of Benaiah, who was one of "The Thirty." ²⁵He was outstanding among "The Thirty," but not as famous as "The Three." David put him in charge of his bodyguard.
^26-47These are the other outstanding soldiers:
Asahel, Joab's brother
Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem
Shammoth from Harod
Helez from Pelet
Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa
Abiezer from Anathoth
Sibbecai from Hushah
Ilai from Ahoh
Maharai from Netophah
Heled son of Baanah from Netophah
Ithai son of Ribai from Gibeah in Benjamin
Benaiah from Pirathon
Hurai from the valleys near Gaash
Abiel from Arbah
Azmaveth from Bahurum
Eliahba from Shaalbon
Hashem from Gizon
Jonathan son of Shagee from Harar
Ahiam son of Sachar from Harar
Eliphal son of Ur
Hepher from Mecherah
Ahijah from Pelon
Hezro from Carmel
Naarai son of Ezbai
Joel brother of Nathan
Mibhar son of Hagri
Zelek from Ammon
Naharai, Joab's armorbearer, from Beeroth
Ira and Gareb from Jattir
Uriah the Hittite
Zabad son of Ahlai
Adina son of Shiza (a leading member of the tribe of Reuben, with his own group of thirty soldiers)
Hanan son of Maacah
Joshaphat from Mithan
Uzzia from Ashterah
Shamma and Jeiel, sons of Hotham, from Aroer
Jediael and Joha, sons of Shimri, from Tiz
Eliel from Mahavah
Jeribai and Joshaviah, sons of Elnaam
Ithmah from Moab
Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel from Zobah

The Book of
ZECHARIAH

The LORD Calls His People to Return to Him

Zechariah 1 In the eighth month of the second year that Darius was emperor of Persia, the LORD gave this message to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo. ²The LORD Almighty told Zechariah to say to the people, "I, the LORD, was very angry with your ancestors, ³but now I say to you, 'Return to me, and I will return to you. ⁴Do not be like your ancestors. Long ago the prophets gave them my message, telling them not to live evil, sinful lives any longer. But they would not listen to me or obey me. ⁵Your ancestors and those prophets are no longer alive. ⁶Through my servants the prophets I gave your ancestors commands and warnings, but they disregarded them and suffered the consequences. Then they repented and acknowledged that I, the LORD Almighty, had punished them as they deserved and as I had determined to do.'"

The Prophet's Vision of the Horses

⁷In the second year that Darius was emperor, on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month (the month of Shebat), the LORD gave me a message in a vision at night. ⁸I saw someone riding a red horse. He had stopped among some myrtle trees in a valley, and behind him were other horses--red, dappled, and white. ⁹I asked him, "Sir, what do these horses mean?"
He answered, "I will show you what they mean. ¹⁰The LORD sent them to go and inspect the earth."
¹¹They reported to the angel: "We have been all over the world and have found that the whole world lies helpless and subdued."
¹²Then the angel said, "Almighty LORD, you have been angry with Jerusalem and the cities of Judah for seventy years now. How much longer will it be before you show them mercy?"
¹³The LORD answered the angel with comforting words, ¹⁴and the angel told me to proclaim what the LORD Almighty had said: "I have a deep love and concern for Jerusalem, my holy city, ¹⁵and I am very angry with the nations that enjoy quiet and peace. For while I was holding back my anger against my people, those nations made the sufferings of my people worse. ¹⁶So I have come back to Jerusalem to show mercy to the city. My Temple will be restored, and the city will be rebuilt."
¹⁷The angel also told me to proclaim: "The LORD Almighty says that his cities will be prosperous again and that he will once again help Jerusalem and claim the city as his own."

The Vision of the Horns

¹⁸In another vision I saw four ox horns. ¹⁹I asked the angel that had been speaking to me, "What do these horns mean?"
He answered, "They stand for the world powers that have scattered the people of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."
²⁰Then the LORD showed me four workers with hammers. ²¹I asked, "What have they come to do?"
He answered, "They have come to terrify and overthrow the nations that completely crushed the land of Judah and scattered its people."