Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Prayer for Mercy

A song for going up to worship.

Hezekiah Purifies the Temple

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

³ Hezekiah opened the doors of the Temple of the Lord and repaired them in the first month of the first year he was king. ⁴ Hezekiah brought in the priests and Levites and gathered 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 holy the Temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove from the Temple everything that makes it impure. ⁶ Our ancestors were unfaithful to God and did what the Lord said was wrong. They left the Lord and stopped worshiping at the Temple where he lives. They rejected him. ⁷ They shut the doors of the porch of the Temple, and 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 people are frightened and shocked by what he did to them. So they insult the people of Judah. You know these things are true. ⁹ That is why our ancestors were killed in battle and our sons, daughters, and wives were taken captive. ¹⁰ Now I, Hezekiah, have decided to make an agreement with the Lord, the God of Israel, so he will not be angry with us anymore. ¹¹ My sons, don’t waste any more time. The Lord chose you to stand before him, to serve him, to be his servants, and to 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 and made themselves holy for service in the Temple. Then they went into the Temple of the Lord to purify it. They obeyed the king’s command that had come from the Lord. ¹⁶ When 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 put them in the Temple courtyard. Then the Levites took these things out to the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ Beginning on the first day of the first month, they made the Temple holy for the Lord’s service. On the eighth day of the month, they came to the porch of the Temple, and for eight more days they made the Temple of the Lord holy. So they finished on the sixteenth day of the first month.

¹⁸ Then they went to King Hezekiah and said, “We have purified the entire Temple of the Lord, the altar for burnt offerings and its utensils, and the table for the holy bread and all its utensils. ¹⁹ When Ahaz was king, he was unfaithful to God and 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 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 are you trying to make it complete by your own power? That is foolish. ⁴ Were all your experiences wasted? I hope not! ⁵ Does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you because you follow the law? No, he does these things 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, telling what would happen in the future, 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} So all who believe as Abraham believed are blessed just as Abraham was.