²² “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly ^(A)at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And ^(B)he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. ²³ And ^(C)as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. ²⁴ And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and ^(D)greatness, and ^(E)we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man ^(F)still live. ²⁵ Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. ^(G)If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. ^26 (H)For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? ²⁷ Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and ^(I)speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’

²⁸ “And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. ^(J)They are right in all that they have spoken. ^29 (K)Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, ^(L)that it might go well with them and with their descendants^[a] forever! ³⁰ Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” ³¹ But you, stand here by me, and ^(M)I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ ³² You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. ^(N)You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ^33 (O)You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and ^(P)that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

The Greatest Commandment

6 “Now this is ^(Q)the commandment—the statutes and the rules^[b]—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, ² that ^(R)you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and ^(S)that your days may be long. ³ Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, ^(T)as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: ^(U)The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[c] 5} You ^(V)shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And ^(W)these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ^7 (X)You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ^8 (Y)You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ^9 (Z)You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Huldah Prophesies Disaster

²² So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent^[a] went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. ²³ And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, ²⁴ Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. ²⁵ Because they have forsaken me and ^(A)have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore ^(B)my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. ²⁶ But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, ²⁷ because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. ²⁸ Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.’” And they brought back word to the king.

^29 (C)Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. ³¹ And the king ^(D)stood in his place ^(E)and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. ³² Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. ³³ And Josiah took away ^(F)all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

Seek the Lord and Live

5 Hear this word that I ^(A)take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:

³ For thus says the Lord God:

⁴ For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

¹⁶ Therefore thus says the Lord, ^(AI)the God of hosts, the Lord:

⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but ^(A)I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ Yet ^(B)I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Truly, truly, ^(C)I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never ^(D)see death.” ⁵² The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! ^(E)Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet ^(F)you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never ^(G)taste death.’ ^53 (H)Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, ^(I)“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. ^(J)It is my Father who glorifies me, ^(K)of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’^{[a] 55} But ^(L)you have not known him. ^(M)I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be ^(N)a liar ^(O)like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. ^56 (P)Your father Abraham ^(Q)rejoiced ^(R)that he would see my day. ^(S)He saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷ So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”^{[b] 58} Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, ^(T)I am.” ⁵⁹ So ^(U)they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^(B)by the will of God according to ^(C)the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

² To Timothy, ^(D)my beloved child:

^(E)Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You

^3 (F)I thank God ^(G)whom I serve, as did my ancestors, ^(H)with a clear conscience, as I remember you ^(I)constantly in my prayers night and day. ^4 (J)As I remember your tears, ^(K)I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I am reminded of ^(L)your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and ^(M)your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. ⁶ For this reason I remind you ^(N)to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, ⁷ for God gave us ^(O)a spirit not of fear but ^(P)of power and love and self-control.

⁸ Therefore ^(Q)do not be ashamed of ^(R)the testimony about our Lord, nor of ^(S)me his prisoner, but ^(T)share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, ^9 (U)who saved us and ^(V)called us to^[a] a holy calling, ^(W)not because of our works but because of ^(X)his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus ^(Y)before the ages began,^[b]