Jesus at a Wedding in Cana

2 Three days later Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at a wedding feast in the village of Cana in Galilee. ² Jesus and his disciples had also been invited and were there.

³ When the wine was all gone, Mary said to Jesus, “They don't have any more wine.”

⁴ Jesus replied, “Mother, my time hasn't yet come!^[a] You must not tell me what to do.”

⁵ Mary then said to the servants, “Do whatever Jesus tells you to do.”

⁶ At the feast there were six stone water jars that were used by the people for washing themselves in the way that their religion said they must. Each jar held about 100 liters. ⁷ Jesus told the servants to fill them to the top with water. Then after the jars had been filled, ⁸ he said, “Now take some water and give it to the man in charge of the feast.”

The servants did as Jesus told them, ⁹ and the man in charge drank some of the water that had now turned into wine. He did not know where the wine had come from, but the servants did. He called the bridegroom over ¹⁰ and said, “The best wine is always served first. Then after the guests have had plenty, the other wine is served. But you have kept the best until last!”

¹¹ This was Jesus' first miracle,^[b] and he did it in the village of Cana in Galilee. There Jesus showed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. ^12 (A) After this, he went with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples to the town of Capernaum, where they stayed for a few days.

Jesus in the Temple

(Matthew 21.12,13; Mark 11.15-17; Luke 19.45,46)

^13 (B) Not long before the Jewish festival of Passover, Jesus went to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ There he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves in the temple. He also saw moneychangers sitting at their tables. ¹⁵ So he took some rope and made a whip. Then he chased everyone out of the temple, together with their sheep and cattle. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins.

¹⁶ Jesus said to the people who had been selling doves, “Get those doves out of here! Don't make my Father's house a marketplace.”

^17 (C) The disciples then remembered that the Scriptures say, “My love for your house burns in me like a fire.”

¹⁸ The Jewish leaders asked Jesus, “What miracle^[c] will you work to show us why you have done this?”

^19 (D) “Destroy this temple,” Jesus answered, “and in three days I will build it again!”

²⁰ The leaders replied, “It took 46 years to build this temple. What makes you think you can rebuild it in three days?”

²¹ But Jesus was talking about his body as a temple. ²² And when he was raised from death, his disciples remembered what he had told them. Then they believed the Scriptures and the words of Jesus.

Jesus Knows What People Are Like

²³ In Jerusalem during Passover many people put their faith in Jesus, because they saw him work miracles.^{[d] 24} But Jesus knew what was in their hearts, and he would not let them have power over him. ²⁵ No one had to tell him what people were like. He already knew.

King Saul and His Sons Die

(1 Samuel 31.1-13)

10 The Philistines fought against Israel in a battle at Mount Gilboa. Israel's soldiers ran from the Philistines, and many of them were killed. ² The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons and killed three of them: Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³ The fighting was fierce around Saul, and he was badly wounded by enemy arrows.

⁴ Saul told the soldier who carried his weapons, “Kill me with your sword! I don't want those godless Philistines to torture and make fun of me.”

But the soldier was afraid to kill him. Then Saul stuck himself in the stomach with his own sword and fell on the blade. ⁵ When the soldier realized that Saul was dead, he killed himself in the same way.

⁶ Saul, three of his sons, and all his male relatives were dead. ⁷ The Israelites who lived in Jezreel Valley^[a] learned that their army had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead. They ran away too, and the Philistines moved into the towns the Israelites left behind.

⁸ The next day the Philistines came back to the battlefield to carry away the weapons of the dead Israelite soldiers. When they found the bodies of Saul and his sons on Mount Gilboa, ⁹ they took Saul's weapons, pulled off his armor, and cut off his head. Then they sent messengers everywhere in Philistia to spread the news among their people and to thank the idols of their gods. ¹⁰ They put Saul's armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of their god Dagon.

¹¹ When the people who lived in Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² some brave men went to get his body and the bodies of his three sons. The men brought the bodies back to Jabesh, where they buried them under an oak tree. Then for seven days, they went without eating to show their sorrow.

^13 (A) Saul died because he was unfaithful and disobeyed the Lord. He even asked advice from a woman who talked to spirits of the dead, ¹⁴ instead of asking the Lord. So the Lord had Saul killed and gave his kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.

David Becomes King of Israel

(2 Samuel 5.1-3)

11 Israel's leaders met with David at Hebron and said, “We are your relatives, ² and we know that you have led our army into battle, even when Saul was still our king. The Lord God has promised that you would rule our country and take care of us like a shepherd. ³ So we have come to crown you king of Israel.”

David made an agreement with the leaders and asked the Lord to be their witness. Then the leaders poured olive oil on David's head to show that he was now king of Israel. This happened just as the Lord's prophet Samuel had said.

David Captures Jerusalem

(2 Samuel 5.6-10)

^4 (B) Jerusalem was called Jebus at the time, and David led Israel's army to attack the town. ⁵ The Jebusites said, “You won't be able to get in here!” But David captured the fortress of Mount Zion, which is now called the City of David.

⁶ David had told his troops, “The first soldier to kill a Jebusite will become my army commander.” And since Joab son of Zeruiah attacked first, he became commander.

⁷ Later, David moved to the fortress—that's why it's called the City of David. ⁸ He had the city rebuilt, starting at the landfill on the east side.^[b] Meanwhile, Joab supervised the repairs to the rest of the city.

⁹ David became a great and strong ruler, because the Lord All-Powerful was on his side.

The Three Warriors

(2 Samuel 23.8-17)

¹⁰ The Lord had promised that David would become king, and so everyone in Israel gave David their support. Certain warriors also helped keep his kingdom strong.

¹¹ The first of these warriors was Jashobeam the son of Hachmoni, the leader of the Three Warriors.^[c] In one battle he killed 300 men with his spear.

¹² Another one of the Three Warriors was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite. ¹³ During a battle against the Philistines at Pas-Dammim, all the Israelite soldiers ran away, ¹⁴ except Eleazar, who stayed with David. They took their positions in a nearby barley field and defeated the Philistines! The Lord gave Israel a great victory that day.

¹⁵ One time the Three Warriors^[d] went to meet David among the rocks at Adullam Cave. The Philistine army had set up camp in Rephaim Valley ¹⁶ and had taken over Bethlehem. David was in a fortress, ¹⁷ and he said, “I'm very thirsty. I wish I had a drink of water from the well by the gate to Bethlehem.”

¹⁸ The Three Warriors sneaked through the Philistine camp and got some water from the well near Bethlehem's gate. They took it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured out the water as a sacrifice to the Lord ¹⁹ and said, “Drinking this water would be like drinking the blood of these men who risked their lives to get it for me.”

The Three Warriors did these brave deeds.

The Thirty Warriors

(2 Samuel 23.18-39)

²⁰ Joab's brother Abishai was the leader of the Thirty Warriors,^[e] and in one battle he killed 300 men with his spear. He was just as famous as the Three Warriors ²¹ and was more famous than the rest of the Thirty Warriors. He was their commander, but he never became one of the Three Warriors.^[f]

²² Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a brave man from Kabzeel who did some amazing things. One time he killed two of Moab's best fighters, and one snowy day he went into a pit and killed a lion. ²³ Another time he killed an Egyptian who was over two meters tall and was armed with a spear. Benaiah only had a club, so he grabbed the spear from the Egyptian and killed him with it. ²⁴ Benaiah did things like that; he was just as brave as the Three Warriors, ²⁵ even though he never became one of them. And he was certainly as famous as the rest of the Thirty Warriors. So David made him the leader of his own bodyguard.

^26-47 Here is a list of the other famous warriors:

Asahel the brother of Joab; Elhanan the son of Dodo from Bethlehem; Shammoth from Haror; Helez from Pelon; Ira the son of Ikkesh from Tekoa; Abiezer from Anathoth; Sibbecai the Hushathite; Ilai^[g] the Ahohite; Maharai from Netophah; Heled the son of Baanah from Netophah; Ithai the son of Ribai from Gibeah in Benjamin; Benaiah from Pirathon; Hurai^[h] from near the streams on Mount Gaash; Abiel from Arbah; Azmaveth from Baharum; Eliahba from Shaalbon; Hashem^[i] the Gizonite; Jonathan the son of Shagee from Harar; Ahiam the son of Sachar the Hararite; Eliphal the son of Ur; Hepher from Mecherah; Ahijah from Pelon; Hezro from Carmel; Naarai the son of Ezbai; Joel the brother of Nathan; Mibhar the son of Hagri; Zelek from Ammon; Naharai from Beeroth who carried Joab's weapons; Ira the Ithrite; Gareb the Ithrite; Uriah the Hittite; Zabad the son of Ahlai; Adina the son of Shiza, a leader in the Reuben tribe, and 30 of his soldiers; Hanan the son of Maacah; Joshaphat from Mithan; Uzzia from Ashterah; Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham from Aroer; Jediael and Joha the sons of Shimri from Tiz; Eliel from Mahavah; Jeribai and Joshaviah the sons of Elnaam; Ithmah from Moab; Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel from Mezobah.

Turn to the Lord

1 ^(A) I am the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah and the grandson of Iddo.

In the eighth month of the second year that Darius was king of Persia,^[a] the Lord told me to say:

^2-3 Israel, I, the Lord All-Powerful, was very angry with your ancestors. But if you people will return to me, I will turn and help you. ⁴ Don't be stubborn like your ancestors. They were warned by the earlier prophets^[b] to give up their evil and turn back to me, but they paid no attention.

⁵ Where are your ancestors now? Not even prophets live forever. ⁶ But my warnings and my words spoken by the prophets caught up with your ancestors. So they turned back to me and said, “Lord All-Powerful, you have punished us for our sins, just as you had planned.”

First Vision: Horses and Riders

^7-8 (B) On the twenty-fourth day of Shebat,^[c] which was the eleventh month of that same year,^[d] the Lord spoke to me in a vision during the night: In a valley among myrtle trees,^[e] I saw someone on a red horse, with riders on red, brown, and white horses behind him. ⁹ An angel was there to explain things to me, and I asked, “Sir, who are these riders?”

“I'll tell you,” the angel answered.

¹⁰ At once, the man standing among the myrtle trees said, “These are the ones the Lord has sent to find out what's happening on earth.”

¹¹ Then the riders spoke to the Lord's angel, who was standing among the myrtle trees, and they said, “We have gone everywhere and have discovered that the whole world is at peace.”

¹² At this, the angel said, “Lord All-Powerful, for 70 years you have been angry with Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. When are you ever going to have mercy on them?”

¹³ The Lord's answer was kind and comforting. ¹⁴ So the angel told me to announce:

I, the Lord All-Powerful, am very protective of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ For a while I was angry at the nations, but now I am furious, because they have made things worse for Jerusalem and are not the least bit concerned. ¹⁶ And so, I will have pity on Jerusalem. The city will be completely rebuilt, and my temple will stand again. ¹⁷ I also promise that my towns will prosper—Jerusalem will once again be my chosen city, and I will comfort the people of Zion.

Second Vision: Animal Horns

¹⁸ Next, I saw four animal horns.^{[f] 19-21} The angel who was sent to explain was there, and so I asked, “What do these mean?”

His answer was, “These horns are the nations that scattered the people of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, and took away their freedom.”

Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths, and I asked, “What are they going to do?”

He replied, “They are going to terrify and crush those horns.”