Jesus Heals an Official's Son
(Matthew 8.5-13; Luke 7.1-10)

John 4 ^43-44Jesus had said, "Prophets are honored everywhere, except in their own country." Then two days later he left ⁴⁵and went to Galilee. The people there welcomed him, because they had gone to the festival in Jerusalem and had seen everything he had done.
⁴⁶While Jesus was in Galilee, he returned to the village of Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was an official in Capernaum whose son was sick. ⁴⁷And when the man heard that Jesus had come from Judea, he went and begged him to keep his son from dying.
⁴⁸Jesus told the official, "You won't have faith unless you see miracles and wonders!"
⁴⁹The man replied, "Lord, please come before my son dies!"
⁵⁰Jesus then said, "Your son will live. Go on home to him." The man believed Jesus and started back home.
⁵¹Some of the official's servants met him along the road and told him, "Your son is better!" ⁵²He asked them when the boy got better, and they answered, "The fever left him yesterday at one o'clock."
⁵³The boy's father realized that at one o'clock the day before, Jesus had told him, "Your son will live!" So the man and everyone in his family put their faith in Jesus.
⁵⁴This was the second miracle that Jesus worked after he left Judea and went to Galilee.

The LORD's Message to David
(2 Samuel 7.1-17)

1 Chronicles 17 Soon after David moved into his new palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Look around! I live in a palace made of cedar, but the sacred chest is kept in a tent."
²Nathan replied, "The LORD is with you--do what you want."
³That night, the LORD told Nathan ⁴to go to David and tell him:

David, you are my servant, so listen carefully: You are not the one to build a temple for me. ⁵I didn't live in a temple when I brought my people out of Egypt, and I don't live in one now. A tent has always been my home wherever I have gone with them. ⁶I chose special leaders and told them to be like shepherds for my people Israel. But did I ever say anything to even one of them about building a cedar temple for me?

⁷David, this is what I, the LORD All-Powerful, say to you. I brought you in from the fields where you took care of sheep, and I made you the leader of my people. ⁸Wherever you went, I helped you and destroyed your enemies right in front of your eyes. I have made you one of the most famous people in the world.

⁹I have given my people Israel a land of their own where they can live in peace. They will no longer have to tremble with fear--evil nations won't bother them, as they did ¹⁰when I let judges rule my people, and I will keep your enemies from attacking you.

Now I promise that like you, your descendants will be kings. ¹¹I'll choose one of your sons to be king when you reach the end of your life and are buried beside your ancestors. I'll make him a strong ruler, ¹²and no one will be able to take his kingdom away from him. He will be the one to build a temple for me. ¹³I will be like a father to him, and he will be like a son to me. I will never put an end to my agreement with him, as I put an end to my agreement with Saul, who was king before you. ¹⁴I will make sure that your son and his descendants will rule my people and my kingdom forever.

¹⁵Nathan told David exactly what the LORD had said.

David Gives Thanks to the LORD
(2 Samuel 7.18-29)

¹⁶David went into the tent he had set up for the sacred chest. He sat there and prayed:

LORD God, my family and I don't deserve what you have already done for us, ¹⁷and yet you have promised to do even more for my descendants. You are treating me as if I am a very important person. ¹⁸I am your servant, and you know my thoughts. What else can I say, except that you have honored me? ¹⁹It was your choice to do these wonderful things for me and to make these promises.

²⁰No other god is like you, LORD--you alone are God. Everything we have heard about you is true. ²¹And there is no other nation on earth like Israel, the nation you rescued from slavery in Egypt to be your own. You became famous by using great and wonderful miracles to force other nations and their gods out of your land, so that your people could live here. ²²You have chosen Israel to be your people forever, and you have become their God.

²³LORD God, please do what you promised me and my descendants. ²⁴Then you will be famous forever, and everyone will say, "The LORD All-Powerful rules Israel and is their God."

My kingdom will be strong, ²⁵because you are my God, and you have promised that my descendants will be kings. That's why I have the courage to pray to you like this, even though I am only your servant.

²⁶You are the LORD God, and you have made this good promise to me. ²⁷Now please bless my descendants forever, and let them always be your chosen kings. You have already blessed my family, and I know you will bless us forever.

Eighth Vision: Four Chariots

Zechariah 6 Finally, I looked up and saw four chariots coming from between two bronze mountains. ²The first chariot was pulled by red horses, and the second by black horses; ³the third chariot was pulled by white horses, and the fourth by spotted gray horses.
⁴"Sir," I asked the angel. "What do these stand for?"
⁵Then he explained, "These are the four winds of heaven, and now they are going out, after presenting themselves to the Lord of all the earth. ⁶The chariot with black horses goes toward the north, the chariot with white horses goes toward the west, and the one with spotted horses goes toward the south."
⁷The horses came out eager to patrol the earth, and the angel told them, "Start patrolling the earth."
When they had gone on their way, ⁸he shouted to me, "Those that have gone to the country in the north will do what the LORD's Spirit wants them to do there."

The Chosen Leader

⁹The LORD said to me:

^10-11Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah have returned from Babylonia. Collect enough silver and gold from them to make a crown. Then go with them to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah and put the crown on the head of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak. ^12-13Tell him that I, the LORD All-Powerful, say, "Someone will reach out from here like a branch and build a temple for me. I will name him 'Branch,' and he will rule with royal honors. A priest will stand beside his throne, and the two of them will be good friends. ¹⁴This crown will be kept in my temple as a reminder and will be taken care of by Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah."

¹⁵When people from distant lands come and help build the temple of the LORD All-Powerful, you will know that the LORD is the one who sent me. And this will happen, if you truly obey the LORD your God.