Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

נ Nun

Covenant Renewal

23 So the king sent messengers,^(A) and they gathered all the elders^(B) of Jerusalem and Judah to him. ² Then the king went to the Lord’s temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people from the youngest to the oldest. As they listened, he read all the words of the book of the covenant^(C) that had been found in the Lord’s temple.^{(D) 3} Next, the king stood by the pillar^[a](E) and made a covenant^(F) in the presence of the Lord to follow the Lord and to keep His commands, His decrees, and His statutes with all his mind and with all his heart,^(G) and to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book; all the people agreed to^[b] the covenant.^(H)

Josiah’s Reforms

⁴ Then the king commanded Hilkiah^(I) the high priest and the priests of the second rank^(J) and the doorkeepers to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and the whole heavenly host.^(K) He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.^{(L) 5} Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the high places^(M) in the cities of Judah and in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, moon, constellations, and the whole heavenly host.^{(N) 6} He brought out the Asherah pole^(O) from the Lord’s temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it at the Kidron Valley,^(P) beat it to dust,^(Q) and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.^{[c](R) 7} He also tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutes^(S) that were in the Lord’s temple, in which the women were weaving tapestries^[d] for Asherah.^(T)

⁸ Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the high places^(U) from Geba^(V) to Beer-sheba,^(W) where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city (on the left at the city gate).

Passover Observed

²¹ The king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover of the Lord your God as written in the book of the covenant.”^{(A) 22} No such Passover had ever been kept from the time of the judges who judged Israel through the entire time of the kings of Israel and Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the Lord in Jerusalem.^(B)

Further Zeal for the Lord

²⁴ In addition, Josiah removed the mediums, the spiritists,^(C) household idols,^(D) images, and all the detestable things^(E) that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this in order to carry out the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the Lord’s temple.^{(F) 25} Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his mind and with all his heart and with all his strength^(G) according to all the law of Moses, and no one like him arose after him.^(H)

The Light of the Gospel

4 Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy,^(A) we do not give up.^{(B) 2} Instead, we have renounced shameful secret things, not walking^(C) in deceit or distorting God’s message,^(D) but commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in God’s sight by an open display of the truth.^{(E) 3} But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ In their case, the god of this age^(F) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,^[a](G) who is the image of God.^{(H) 5} For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord,^(I) and ourselves as your slaves because of Jesus. ⁶ For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^(J) has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge^(K) of God’s glory^(L) in the face of Jesus Christ.

Treasure in Clay Jars

⁷ Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power^(M) may be from God and not from us. ⁸ We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; ⁹ we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry the death of Jesus^(N) in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are always given over to death^(O) because of Jesus, so that Jesus’ life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. ¹² So death works in us, but life in you.