3 ^(A) Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are. But since the people of this world did not know who Christ^[a] is, they don't know who we are. ² My dear friends, we are already God's children, though what we will be hasn't yet been seen. But we do know when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is. ³ This hope makes us keep ourselves holy, just as Christ^[b] is holy.

⁴ Everyone who sins breaks God's law, because sin is the same as breaking God's law. ^5 (B) You know Christ came to take away our sins. He isn't sinful, ⁶ and people who stay one in their hearts with him won't keep on sinning. If they do keep on sinning, they don't know Christ, and they have never seen him.

⁷ Children, don't be fooled. Anyone who does right is good, just like Christ himself. ⁸ Anyone who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. He has sinned from the beginning, but the Son of God came to destroy all that he has done. ⁹ God's children cannot keep on being sinful. His life-giving power^[c] lives in them and makes them his children, so they cannot keep on sinning. ¹⁰ You can tell God's children from the devil's children, because those who belong to the devil refuse to do right or to love each other.

Love Each Other

^11 (C) From the beginning you were told we must love each other. ^12 (D) Don't be like Cain, who belonged to the devil and murdered his own brother. Why did he murder him? He did it because his brother was good, and he was evil. ¹³ My friends, don't be surprised if the people of this world hate you. ^14 (E) Our love for each other proves we have gone from death to life. But if you don't love each other, you are still under the power of death.

¹⁵ If you hate each other, you are murderers, and we know murderers do not have eternal life. ¹⁶ We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us. This is why we must give our lives for each other. ¹⁷ If we have all we need and see one of our own people in need, we must have pity on that person, or else we cannot say we love God. ¹⁸ Children, you show love for others by truly helping them, and not merely by talking about it.

¹⁹ When we love others, we know we belong to the truth, and we feel at ease in the presence of God. ²⁰ But even if we don't feel at ease, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if we feel at ease in the presence of God, we will have the courage to come near him. ²² He will give us whatever we ask, because we obey him and do what pleases him. ^23 (F) God wants us to have faith in his Son Jesus Christ and to love each other. This is also what Jesus taught us to do. ²⁴ If we obey God's commandments, we will stay one in our hearts with him, and he will stay one with us. The Spirit he has given us is proof that we are one with him.

King Jehoahaz of Judah

(2 Kings 23.30-35)

36 After the death of Josiah, the people of Judah crowned his son Jehoahaz their new king. ² He was 23 years old at the time, and he ruled only 3 months from Jerusalem. ³ King Neco of Egypt captured Jehoahaz and forced Judah to pay 3.4 tons of silver and 34 kilograms of gold as taxes. ^4 (A) Then Neco appointed Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim king of Judah and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He led Jehoahaz away to Egypt as his prisoner.

King Jehoiakim of Judah

(2 Kings 23.36—24.7)

^5 (B) Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he was appointed king, and he ruled 11 years from Jerusalem. Jehoiakim disobeyed the Lord his God by doing evil.

^6 (C) During Jehoiakim's rule, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah. He arrested Jehoiakim and put him in chains, and he sent him to the capital city of Babylon. ⁷ Nebuchadnezzar also carried off many of the valuable things in the Lord's temple, and he put them in his palace in Babylon.

⁸ Everything else Jehoiakim did while he was king, including all the disgusting and evil things, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin then became king.

King Jehoiachin of Judah

(2 Kings 24.8-17)

⁹ Jehoiachin was 18 years^[a] old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled only 3 months and 10 days from Jerusalem. Jehoiachin also disobeyed the Lord by doing evil. ^10 (D) In the spring of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had Jehoiachin arrested and taken to Babylon, along with more of the valuable items in the temple. Then Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah king of Judah.

King Zedekiah of Judah

(2 Kings 24.18-20; Jeremiah 52.1-3)

^11 (E) Zedekiah was 21 years old when he was appointed king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for 11 years. ¹² He disobeyed the Lord his God and refused to change his ways, even after a warning from Jeremiah, the Lord's prophet.

^13 (F) King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had forced Zedekiah to promise in God's name that he would be loyal. Zedekiah was stubborn and refused to turn back to the Lord God of Israel, so he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁴ The people of Judah and even the priests who were their leaders became more unfaithful. They followed the disgusting example of the nations around them and made the Lord's holy temple unfit for worship. ¹⁵ But the Lord God felt sorry for his people, and instead of destroying the temple, he sent prophets who warned the people over and over about their sins. ¹⁶ But the people only laughed and insulted these prophets. They ignored what the Lord God was trying to tell them, until he finally became so angry that nothing could stop him from punishing Judah and Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Is Destroyed

(2 Kings 25.1-21; Jeremiah 52.3-30)

^17 (G) The Lord sent King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to attack Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar killed the young men who were in the temple, and he showed no mercy to anyone, whether man or woman, young or old. God let him kill everyone in the city. ¹⁸ Nebuchadnezzar carried off everything that was left in the temple; he robbed the treasury and the personal storerooms of the king and his officials. He took everything back to Babylon.

^19 (H) Nebuchadnezzar's troops burned down the temple and destroyed every important building in the city. Then they broke down the city wall. ²⁰ The survivors were taken to Babylonia as prisoners, where they were slaves of the king and his sons, until Persia became a powerful nation.

^21 (I) Judah was an empty desert, and it stayed that way for 70 years, to make up for all the years it was not allowed to rest.^[b] These things happened just as Jeremiah the Lord's prophet had said.^[c]

Cyrus Lets the Jews Return Home

(Ezra 1.1-4)

²² In the first year that Cyrus was king of Persia,^[d] the Lord had Cyrus send a message to all parts of his kingdom. This happened just as Jeremiah the Lord's prophet had promised. ^23 (J) The message said:

I am King Cyrus of Persia.

The Lord God of heaven has made me the ruler of every nation on earth. He has also chosen me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. The Lord God will watch over any of his people who want to go back to Judah.

BOOK IV

(Psalms 90–106)

(A prayer by Moses, the man of God.)

God Is Eternal