Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Nun

Josiah’s Covenantal Reforms

23 So the king sent word, and all of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him. ² Then the king went up to the temple of Yahweh, and all of the men of Judah and all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were with him, including the priests, the prophets, and all of the people from smallest to greatest; and in their hearing^[a] he read all of the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the temple of Yahweh. ³ Then the king stood by the pillar, and he made^[b] a covenant before Yahweh, to go after Yahweh and to keep his commands and his warnings and his statutes, with all of his heart and with his all of his soul, to keep the words of this covenant written on this scroll. Then all of the people joined^[c] in the covenant.

⁴ Then the king^[d] commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the second priests, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all of the objects made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and then he carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ He removed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem and who offered incense to, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. ⁶ He brought out the Asherah image from the temple of Yahweh outside of Jerusalem to the Wadi of the Kidron and burnt it there;^[e] then he pulverized it to dust and threw its dust upon the tombs of the children of the people. ⁷ He tore down the shrines of the male shrine prostitutes which were in the temple of Yahweh, where the women were weaving shrines for the Asherah. ⁸ Then he brought all of the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests from Geba up to Beersheba burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city, which were on the left of each gate of the city.

Passover Renewed

²¹ Then the king commanded all of the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to Yahweh your God, as has been written on the scroll of this covenant.” ²² For they had not kept this Passover from the days of the judges who had judged over Israel or^[a] during the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was kept for Yahweh in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, the mediums and the spiritists, the household gods and the idols, and all of the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah removed in order to establish the words of the law written on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the temple of Yahweh. ²⁵ There was not a king like him before him, who turned to Yahweh with all of his heart and with all of his soul and with all of his might according to the law^[b] of Moses, nor did one arise like him afterwards.

Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord

4 Because of this, since we^[a] have this ministry, just as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart, ² but we have renounced shameful hidden things, not behaving with craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but with the open proclamation of the truth commending ourselves to every person’s conscience before God. ³ But if indeed our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, ⁴ among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they would not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus^[b] as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. ⁶ For God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,”^[c] is the one who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.^[d]

Treasure in Earthenware Jars

⁷ But we have this treasure in earthenware jars, in order that the extraordinary degree of the power may be from God and not from us. ⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying around the death of Jesus in our body, in order that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who are alive are continually being handed over to death because of Jesus, in order that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. ¹² So then, death is at work in us, but life in you.