2 Chronicles 1

SOLOMON’S REQUEST FOR WISDOM
Solomon son of David strengthened his hold on his kingdom. The Lord his God was with him and highly exalted him.
2 Then Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel ​— ​the family heads. 3 Solomon and the whole assembly with him went to the high place that was in Gibeon because God’s tent of meeting, which the Lord’s servant Moses had made in the wilderness, was there. 4 Now David had brought the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had set up for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem, 5 but he put the bronze altar, which Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, in front of the Lord’s tabernacle. Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there. 6 Solomon offered sacrifices there in the Lord’s presence on the bronze altar at the tent of meeting; he offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask. What should I give you? ”

8 And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and faithful love to my father David, and you have made me king in his place. 9 Lord God, let your promise to my father David now come true. For you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Now grant me wisdom and knowledge so that I may lead these people, for who can judge this great people of yours? ”

11 God said to Solomon, “Since this was in your heart, and you have not requested riches, wealth, or glory, or for the life of those who hate you, and you have not even requested long life, but you have requested for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may judge my people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are given to you. I will also give you riches, wealth, and glory, unlike what was given to the kings who were before you, or will be given to those after you.” 13 So Solomon went to Jerusalem from the high place that was in Gibeon in front of the tent of meeting, and he reigned over Israel.

SOLOMON’S HORSES AND WEALTH
14 Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills. 16 Solomon’s horses came from Egypt and Kue. The king’s traders would get them from Kue at the going price. 17 A chariot could be imported from Egypt for fifteen pounds of silver and a horse for nearly four pounds. In the same way, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram through their agents.

1 John 1

PROLOGUE: OUR DECLARATION
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life ​— ​
2 that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us ​— ​3 what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. 6 If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 7 If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Micah 7

ISRAEL’S MORAL DECLINE
How sad for me!
For I am like one who —
when the summer fruit has been gathered
after the gleaning of the grape harvest —
finds no grape cluster to eat,
no early fig, which I crave.
2 Faithful people have vanished from the land;
there is no one upright among the people.
All of them wait in ambush to shed blood;
they hunt each other with a net.
3 Both hands are good at accomplishing evil:
the official and the judge demand a bribe;
when the powerful man communicates his evil desire,
they plot it together.
4 The best of them is like a brier;
the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns.
The day of your watchmen,
the day of your punishment, is coming;
at this time their panic is here.
5 Do not rely on a friend;
don’t trust in a close companion.
Seal your mouth
from the woman who lies in your arms.
6 Surely a son considers his father a fool,
a daughter opposes her mother,
and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
7 But I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
ZION’S VINDICATION
8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will stand up;
though I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be my light.
9 Because I have sinned against him,
I must endure the Lord’s fury
until he champions my cause
and establishes justice for me.
He will bring me into the light;
I will see his salvation.
10 Then my enemy will see,
and she will be covered with shame,
the one who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God? ”
My eyes will look at her in triumph;
at that time she will be trampled
like mud in the streets.
11 A day will come for rebuilding your walls;
on that day your boundary will be extended.
12 On that day people will come to you
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
even from Egypt to the Euphrates River
and from sea to sea
and mountain to mountain.
13 Then the earth will become a wasteland
because of its inhabitants
and as a result of their actions.
MICAH’S PRAYER ANSWERED
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock that is your possession.
They live alone in a woodland
surrounded by pastures.
Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
as in ancient times.
15 I will perform miracles for them
as in the days of your exodus
from the land of Egypt.
16 Nations will see and be ashamed
of all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths,
and their ears will become deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like a snake;
they will come trembling out of their hiding places
like reptiles slithering on the ground.
They will tremble in the presence of the Lord our God;
they will stand in awe of you.
18 Who is a God like you,
forgiving iniquity and passing over rebellion
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not hold on to his anger forever
because he delights in faithful love.
19 He will again have compassion on us;
he will vanquish our iniquities.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
20 You will show loyalty to Jacob
and faithful love to Abraham,
as you swore to our ancestors
from days long ago.

Psalm 108

A PLEA FOR VICTORY
A song. A psalm of David.

My heart is confident, God;
I will sing; I will sing praises
with the whole of my being.
2 Wake up, harp and lyre!
I will wake up the dawn.
3 I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
4 For your faithful love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5 God, be exalted above the heavens,
and let your glory be over the whole earth.
6 Save with your right hand and answer me
so that those you love may be rescued.
7 God has spoken in his sanctuary:
“I will celebrate!
I will divide up Shechem.
I will apportion the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine,
and Ephraim is my helmet;
Judah is my scepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin;
I throw my sandal on Edom.
I shout in triumph over Philistia.”
10 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 God, haven’t you rejected us?
God, you do not march out with our armies.
12 Give us aid against the foe,
for human help is worthless.
13 With God we will perform valiantly;
he will trample our foes.

Psalm 109

PRAYER AGAINST AN ENEMY
For the choir director. A psalm of David.

God of my praise, do not be silent.
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me;
they speak against me with lying tongues.
3 They surround me with hateful words
and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
but I continue to pray.
5 They repay me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
6 Set a wicked person over him;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is judged, let him be found guilty,
and let his prayer be counted as sin.
8 Let his days be few;
let another take over his position.
9 Let his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow.
10 Let his children wander as beggars,
searching for food far from their demolished homes.
11 Let a creditor seize all he has;
let strangers plunder what he has worked for.
12 Let no one show him kindness,
and let no one be gracious to his fatherless children.
13 Let the line of his descendants be cut off;
let their name be blotted out in the next generation.
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers
be remembered before the Lord,
and do not let his mother’s sin be blotted out.
15 Let their sins always remain before the Lord,
and let him remove all memory of them from the earth.
16 For he did not think to show kindness,
but pursued the suffering, needy, and brokenhearted
in order to put them to death.
17 He loved cursing ​— ​let it fall on him;
he took no delight in blessing ​— ​let it be far from him.
18 He wore cursing like his coat —
let it enter his body like water
and go into his bones like oil.
19 Let it be like a robe he wraps around himself,
like a belt he always wears.
20 Let this be the Lord’s payment to my accusers,
to those who speak evil against me.
21 But you, Lord, my Lord,
deal kindly with me for your name’s sake;
because your faithful love is good, rescue me.
22 For I am suffering and needy;
my heart is wounded within me.
23 I fade away like a lengthening shadow;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak from fasting,
and my body is emaciated.
25 I have become an object of ridicule to my accusers;
when they see me, they shake their heads in scorn.
26 Help me, Lord my God;
save me according to your faithful love
27 so they may know that this is your hand
and that you, Lord, have done it.
28 Though they curse, you will bless.
When they rise up, they will be put to shame,
but your servant will rejoice.
29 My accusers will be clothed with disgrace;
they will wear their shame like a cloak.
30 I will fervently thank the Lord with my mouth;
I will praise him in the presence of many.
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy
to save him from those who would condemn him.

— 2 Chronicles 1, 1 John 1, Micah 7, Psalm 108-109 (CSB)