March 10, 2024

The Second Book of Chronicles 36: 14-16, 19-23

36:14Katahi ano, 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.
36:15Na te Ariki, 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.
36:16But 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.
36:19The 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.
36:20If 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,
36:21and 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.
36:22Na, 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, e korero ana:
36:23“Thus says Cyrus, the king of the Persians: Te Ariki, 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

2:4Yet still, te Atua, who is rich in mercy, for the sake of his exceedingly great charity with which he loved us,
2:5even when we were dead in our sins, has enlivened us together in Christ, by whose grace you have been saved.
2:6And he has raised us up together, and he has caused us to sit down together in the heavens, in Christ Jesus,
2:7so that he may display, in the ages soon to arrive, the abundant wealth of his grace, by his goodness toward us in Christ Jesus.
2:8For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves, for it is a gift of God.
2:9And this is not of works, so that no one may glory.
2:10For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which God has prepared and in which we should walk.

Hone 3: 14- 21

3:14Ka rite hoki ki ta Mohi whakairinga i te nakahi i te koraha, kia pera ano te whakairinga o te Tama a te tangata,
3:15kia kore ai e ngaro te tangata e whakapono ana ki a ia, engari kia whiwhi ki te ora tonu.
3:16I aroha mai te Atua ki te ao, homai ana e ia tana Tama kotahi, kia kore ai e ngaro te hunga katoa e whakapono ana ki a ia, engari kia whiwhi ki te ora tonu.
3:17Kihai hoki te Atua i tono mai i tana Tama ki te ao, hei whakawa mo te ao, engari kia ora ai te ao i a ia.
3:18Ko te tangata e whakapono ana ki a ia, e kore e whakahengia. Ko te tangata ia e kore e whakapono, kua tau te he ki a ia, no te mea kahore ia e whakapono ki te ingoa o te Tama kotahi a te Atua.
3:19Na ko te whakawakanga tenei: kua tae mai nei te marama ki te ao, a nui atu to nga tangata aroha ki te pouri i to te marama. He kino hoki a ratou mahi.
3:20E kino ana hoki ki te marama nga kaimahi katoa i te kino, e kore ano hoki e haere ki te marama, kei whakatikaia ana mahi.
3:21Ko te tangata e mahi pono ana, e haere ana ki te marama, kia kitea ai ana mahi, no te mea kua oti ratou i te Atua.