Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

By David.

King Hezekiah of Judah^(A)

18 King Hoshea, son of Elah, had been king in Israel for three years when King Hezekiah, son of Ahaz of Judah, began to rule as king. ² Hezekiah was 25 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abi, daughter of Zechariah.

³ He did what the Lord considered right, as his ancestor David had done. ⁴ He got rid of the illegal places of worship, crushed the sacred stones, and cut down the poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah. He even crushed the bronze snake that Moses had made because up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. They called it Nehushtan. ⁵ Hezekiah trusted the Lord God of Israel. No king among all the kings of Judah was like Hezekiah. ⁶ He was loyal to the Lord and never turned away from him. He obeyed the commands that the Lord had given through Moses, ⁷ so the Lord was with him. He succeeded in everything he tried: He rebelled against the king of Assyria and wouldn’t serve him anymore. ⁸ He conquered the Philistines from the ⌞smallest⌟ watchtower to the ⌞largest⌟ fortified city all the way to Gaza and its territory.

²⁸ Then the field commander stood and shouted loudly in the Judean language, “Listen to the great king, the king of Assyria. ²⁹ This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He can’t rescue you from me. ³⁰ Don’t let Hezekiah get you to trust the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will certainly rescue us, and this city will not be put under the control of the king of Assyria.’ ³¹ Don’t listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me! Come out and give yourselves up to me! Everyone will eat from his own grapevine and fig tree and drink from his own cistern. ³² Then I will come and take you away to a country like your own. It’s a country with grain and new wine, a country with bread and vineyards, a country with olive trees, olive oil, and honey. Live! Don’t die! Don’t listen to Hezekiah when he tries to mislead you by saying to you, ‘The Lord will rescue us.’ ³³ Did any of the gods of the nations rescue their countries from the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did they rescue Samaria from my control? ³⁵ Did the gods of those countries rescue them from my control? Could the Lord then rescue Jerusalem from my control?”

³⁶ But the people were silent and didn’t say anything to him because the king commanded them not to answer him.

A Letter to the Church in Smyrna

⁸ “To the messenger of the church in Smyrna, write: The first and the last, who was dead and became alive, says:

⁹ I know how you are suffering, how poor you are—but you are rich. I also know that those who claim to be Jews slander you. They are the synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Don’t be afraid of what you are going to suffer. The devil is going to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested. Your suffering will go on for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹ Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Everyone who wins the victory will never be hurt by the second death.