Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

(A song for worship.)

Trusting the Lord in Times of Trouble

King Hezekiah of Judah

(2 Kings 18.1-3)

29 Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled 29 years from Jerusalem. His mother was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. ² Hezekiah obeyed the Lord by doing right, just as his ancestor David had done.

The Temple Is Purified

³ In the first month^[a] of the first year of Hezekiah's rule, he unlocked the doors to the Lord's temple and had them repaired.^{[b] 4} Then he called the priests and Levites to the east courtyard of the temple ⁵ and said:

It's time to purify the temple of the Lord God of our ancestors. You Levites must first go through the ceremony to make yourselves clean, then go into the temple and bring out everything that is unclean and unacceptable to the Lord. ⁶ Some of our ancestors were unfaithful and disobeyed the Lord our God. Not only did they turn their backs on the Lord, but they also completely ignored his temple. ⁷ They locked the doors, then let the lamps go out and stopped burning incense and offering sacrifices to him. ⁸ The Lord became terribly angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and everyone was shocked and horrified at what he did to punish them. Not only were ⁹ our ancestors killed in battle, but our own children and wives were taken captive.

¹⁰ So I have decided to renew our agreement with the Lord God of Israel. Maybe then he will stop being so angry with us. ¹¹ Let's not waste any time, my friends. You are the ones who were chosen to be the Lord's priests and to offer him sacrifices.

^12-14 When Hezekiah finished talking, the following Levite leaders went to work:

Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohath clan; Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merari clan; Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah from the Gershon clan; Shimri and Jeuel from the Elizaphan clan; Zechariah and Mattaniah from the Asaph clan; Jehuel and Shimei from the Heman clan; Shemaiah and Uzziel from the Jeduthun clan.

¹⁵ These leaders gathered together the rest of the Levites, and they all went through the ceremony to make themselves clean. Then they began to purify the temple according to the Law of the Lord, just as Hezekiah had commanded.

¹⁶ The priests went into the temple and carried out everything that was unclean. They put these things in the courtyard, and from there, the Levites carried them outside the city to Kidron Valley.

¹⁷ The priests and Levites began their work on the first day of the first month.^[c] It took them one week to purify the courtyards of the temple and another week to purify the temple. So on the sixteenth day of that same month ¹⁸ they went back to Hezekiah and said:

Your Majesty, we have finished our work. The entire temple is now pure again, and so is the altar and its utensils, as well as the table for the sacred loaves of bread and its utensils. ¹⁹ And we have brought back all the things that King Ahaz took from the temple during the time he was unfaithful to God. We purified them and put them back in front of the altar.

Faith Is the Only Way

3 You stupid Galatians! I told you exactly how Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. Has someone now put an evil spell on you? ² I want to know only one thing. How were you given God's Spirit? Was it by obeying the Law of Moses or by hearing about Christ and having faith in him? ³ How can you be so stupid? Do you think that by yourself you can complete what God's Spirit started in you? ⁴ Have you gone through all of this for nothing? Is it all really for nothing? ⁵ God gives you his Spirit and works miracles in you. But does he do this because you obey the Law of Moses or because you have heard about Christ and have faith in him?

^6 (A) The Scriptures say that God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith. ^7 (B) And so, you should understand that everyone who has faith is a child of Abraham.^{[a] 8 (C)} Long ago the Scriptures said God would accept the Gentiles because of their faith. This is why God told Abraham the good news that all nations would be blessed because of him. ⁹ This means everyone who has faith will share in the blessings given to Abraham because of his faith.