The Second Book of Chronicles 36: 14-16, 19-23
| 36:14 | Then too, all the leaders of the priests, with the people, transgressed iniquitously, in accord with all the abominations of the Gentiles. And they polluted the house of the Lord, which he had sanctified to himself in Jerusalem. |
| 36:15 | Then the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent to them, by the hand of his messengers, rising in the night and daily admonishing them. For he was lenient to his people and to his habitation. |
| 36:16 | But they ridiculed the messengers of God, and they gave little weight to his words, and they mocked the prophets, until the fury of the Lord ascended against his people, and there was no remedy. |
| 36:19 | The enemies set fire to the house of God, and they destroyed the wall of Jerusalem. They burned down all the towers. And whatever was precious, they demolished. |
| 36:20 | If anyone had escaped from the sword, he was led into Babylon. And he served the king and his sons, until the king of Persia would command, |
| 36:21 | and the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah would be fulfilled, and the land would celebrate her Sabbaths. For during all the days of the desolation, she kept a Sabbath, until the seventy years were completed. |
| 36:22 | Then, in the first year of Cyrus, the king of the Persians, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the heart of Cyrus, the king of the Persians, who commanded this to be proclaimed throughout his entire kingdom, and also in writing, saying: |
| 36:23 | “Thus says Cyrus, the king of the Persians: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. And he has instructed me that I should build for him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Who among you is from his entire people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him ascend.” |
The Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians 2: 4-10
| 2:4 | Yet still, God, who is rich in mercy, for the sake of his exceedingly great charity with which he loved us, |
| 2:5 | even when we were dead in our sins, has enlivened us together in Christ, by whose grace you have been saved. |
| 2:6 | And he has raised us up together, and he has caused us to sit down together in the heavens, in Christ Jesus, |
| 2:7 | so that he may display, in the ages soon to arrive, the abundant wealth of his grace, by his goodness toward us in Christ Jesus. |
| 2:8 | For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves, for it is a gift of God. |
| 2:9 | And this is not of works, so that no one may glory. |
| 2:10 | For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which God has prepared and in which we should walk. |
John 3: 14- 21
| 3:14 | And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so also must the Son of man be lifted up, |
| 3:15 | so that whoever believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. |
| 3:16 | For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. |
| 3:17 | For God did not send his Son into the world, in order to judge the world, but in order that the world may be saved through him. |
| 3:18 | Whoever believes in him is not judged. But whoever does not believe is already judged, because he does not believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. |
| 3:19 | And this is the judgment: that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness more than light. For their works were evil. |
| 3:20 | For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not go toward the Light, so that his works may not be corrected. |
| 3:21 | But whoever acts in truth goes toward the Light, so that his works may be manifested, because they have been accomplished in God.” |