Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Prayer for Mercy

A song for going up to worship.

Hezekiah Purifies the Temple

29 Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king. And he ruled 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. ² Hezekiah did what the Lord said was right. He did just as his ancestor David had done.

³ Hezekiah opened the doors of the Temple of the Lord and repaired them. He did this in the first month of the first year he was king. ⁴ Hezekiah brought the priests and Levites together in a group. He met with them in the courtyard on the east side of the Temple. ⁵ Hezekiah said, “Listen to me, Levites! Make yourselves ready for the Lord’s service. And make the Temple of the Lord holy. He is the God your ancestors obeyed. Remove from the Temple the things that make it impure. ⁶ Our ancestors were unfaithful to God. They did what the Lord said was wrong. They left the Lord. They stopped worshiping at the Temple where he lives. They rejected him. ⁷ They shut the doors of the porch of the Temple. They let the fire go out in the lamps. They stopped burning incense and offering burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸ So the Lord became very angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem. And he punished them. Other peoples are frightened and shocked by what the Lord did to Judah and Jerusalem. They insult the people of Judah. You know these things are true. ⁹ That is why our ancestors were killed in battle. That is why our sons, daughters and wives were taken prisoner. ¹⁰ So now I, Hezekiah, have decided to make an agreement with the Lord, the God of Israel. Then he will not be angry with us anymore. ¹¹ My sons, don’t waste any more time. The Lord chose you to serve him. You should serve him and burn incense to him.”

¹² These are the Levites who started to work. From the Kohathite family there were Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah. From the Merarite family there were Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel. From the Gershonite family there were Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah. ¹³ From Elizaphan’s family there were Shimri and Jeiel. From Asaph’s family there were Zechariah and Mattaniah. ¹⁴ From Heman’s family there were Jehiel and Shimei. From Jeduthun’s family there were Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵ These Levites gathered their brothers together. Then they made themselves holy for service in the Temple. They obeyed the king’s command that had come from the Lord. They went into the Temple of the Lord to purify it. ¹⁶ The priests went into the Temple of the Lord to purify it. They took out all the unclean things they found in the Temple of the Lord. And they put them in the Temple courtyard. Then the Levites took these things out to the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ They made the Temple holy for the Lord’s service. They began on the first day of the first month. On the eighth day of the month, they came to the porch of the Temple. For eight more days they made the Temple of the Lord holy. They finished on the sixteenth day of the first month.

¹⁸ Then they went to King Hezekiah. They said to him, “We have purified all the Temple of the Lord. We have purified the altar for burnt offerings and its things. We have purified the table for the holy bread and all its things. ¹⁹ When Ahaz was king, he was unfaithful to God. He removed some things from the Temple. But we have put them back and made them holy for the Lord. They are now in front of the Lord’s altar.”

Blessing Comes Through Faith

3 You people in Galatia were told very clearly about the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. But you were very foolish. You let someone trick you. ² Tell me this one thing: How did you receive the Holy Spirit? Did you receive the Spirit by following the law? No! You received the Spirit because you heard the Good News and believed it. ³ You began your life in Christ by the Spirit. Now do you try to continue it by your own power? That is foolish. ⁴ You have experienced many things. Were all those experiences wasted? I hope not! ⁵ Does God give you the Spirit because you follow the law? No! Does God work miracles among you because you follow the law? No! God gives you his Spirit and works miracles among you because you heard the Good News and believed it.

⁶ The Scriptures say the same thing about Abraham: “Abraham believed God, and God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that faith made him right with God.”^{[a] 7} So you should know that the true children of Abraham are those who have faith. ⁸ The Scriptures told what would happen in the future. They said that God would make the non-Jewish people right through their faith. This Good News was told to Abraham beforehand, as the Scripture says: “All nations will be blessed through you.”^{[b] 9} Abraham believed this, and because he believed, he was blessed. It is the same today. All who believe today are blessed just as Abraham was blessed.