The Happiness of Those Who Trust in God

A Psalm of David ^(A)when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

Josiah Keeps the Passover^(A)

35 Now ^(B)Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the ^(C)fourteenth day of the first month. ² And he set the priests in their ^(D)duties and ^(E)encouraged them for the service of the house of the Lord. ³ Then he said to the Levites ^(F)who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord: ^(G)“Put the holy ark ^(H)in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. ^(I)It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. ⁴ Prepare yourselves ^(J)according to your fathers’ ^[a]houses, according to your divisions, following the ^(K)written instruction of David king of Israel and the ^(L)written instruction of Solomon his son. ⁵ And ^(M)stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brethren the lay people, and according to the division of the father’s house of the Levites. ⁶ So slaughter the Passover offerings, ^(N)consecrate yourselves, and prepare them for your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.”

⁷ Then Josiah ^(O)gave the lay people lambs and young goats from the flock, all for Passover offerings for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, as well as three thousand cattle; these were from the king’s ^(P)possessions. ⁸ And his ^(Q)leaders gave willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand six hundred from the flock, and three hundred cattle. ⁹ Also ^(R)Conaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave to the Levites for Passover offerings five thousand from the flock and five hundred cattle.

¹⁰ So the service was prepared, and the priests ^(S)stood in their places, and the ^(T)Levites in their divisions, according to the king’s command. ¹¹ And they slaughtered the Passover offerings; and the priests ^(U)sprinkled the blood with their hands, while the Levites ^(V)skinned the animals. ¹² Then they removed the burnt offerings that they might give them to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of the lay people, to offer to the Lord, as it is written ^(W)in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the cattle. ¹³ Also they ^(X)roasted the Passover offerings with fire according to the ordinance; but the other holy offerings they ^(Y)boiled in pots, in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them quickly among all the lay people. ¹⁴ Then afterward they prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy in offering burnt offerings and fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. ¹⁵ And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places, according to the ^(Z)command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. Also the gatekeepers ^(AA)were at each gate; they did not have to leave their position, because their brethren the Levites prepared portions for them.

¹⁶ So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. ¹⁷ And the children of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of ^(AB)Unleavened Bread for seven days. ^18 (AC)There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests and the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow ^[a]we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? ^(A)It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, ^(B)“If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you boast in your arrogance. ^(C)All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷ Therefore, ^(D)to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

5 Come now, you ^(E)rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! ² Your ^(F)riches ^[b]are corrupted, and ^(G)your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^(H)You have heaped up treasure in the last days. ⁴ Indeed ^(I)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and ^(J)the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of ^[c]Sabaoth. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in pleasure and ^[d]luxury; you have ^[e]fattened your hearts ^[f]as in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.