This last section of the lectionary, going to the end of the year, will cover the post-Exilic books of 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Esther, and Malachi.  Also included in these readings as an interlude in the account of Solomon in 2 Chronicles is the Songs of Songs, traditionally understood to have been written by Solomon.  The Book of Deuteronomy anticipated that God’s People would apostatize from Him, which He would punish by driving them into Exile.  The post-Exilic books addressed the issues and questions God's people had when they returned to the land, while pointing the way forward to Christ and the New Covenant.