Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

²² So Hilkiyahu and those the king had ordered went to Huldah the prophet, the wife of Shalum the son of Tok’hat, the son of Hasrat, keeper of the wardrobe — she lived in the Second Quarter of Yerushalayim — and spoke with her about this. ²³ She told them, “Adonai the God of Isra’el says to tell the man who sent you to me ²⁴ that Adonai says this: ‘I am going to bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses written in the scroll they read to the king of Y’hudah; ²⁵ because they have abandoned me and offered to other gods, in order to provoke me with everything they do. Therefore my anger is poured out on this place and will not be quenched.’

²⁶ “But you are to tell the king of Y’hudah, who sent you to consult Adonai, that Adonai the God of Isra’el also says this: ‘In regard to the words you have heard, ²⁷ because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants — you humbled yourself before me, tore your clothes and cried before me — I have also heard you,’ says Adonai. ²⁸ ‘Here, I will gather you to your ancestors; you will go to your grave in peace; and your eyes will not see all the calamity I am going to bring on this place and its inhabitants.’” So they brought back word to the king.

²⁹ Then the king summoned and assembled all the leaders of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim. ³⁰ The king went up to the house of Adonai with all the men of Y’hudah, those living in Yerushalayim, the cohanim, the L’vi’im and all the people, both great and small; and he read in their hearing everything written in the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the house of Adonai. ³¹ The king stood in his place and made a covenant in the presence of Adonai to live following Adonai, observing his mitzvot, instructions and laws wholeheartedly and with all his being, so as to perform the words of the covenant written in this scroll. ³² Then, after he had all the people in Yerushalayim and Binyamin stand in affirmation of it, the inhabitants of Yerushalayim acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

³³ Yoshiyahu removed all the abominable idols from all the territories belonging to the people of Isra’el, and he made everyone in Isra’el serve Adonai their God. Throughout his lifetime, they did not stop following Adonai, the God of their ancestors.

¹⁷ By trusting, Avraham, when he was put to the test, offered up Yitz’chak as a sacrifice. Yes, he offered up his only son, he who had received the promises, ¹⁸ to whom it had been said, “What is called your ‘seed’ will be in Yitz’chak.”^{[a] 19} For he had concluded that God could even raise people from the dead! And, figuratively speaking, he did so receive him.

²⁰ By trusting, Yitz’chak in his blessings over Ya‘akov and Esav made reference to events yet to come.

²¹ By trusting, Ya‘akov, when he was dying, blessed each of Yosef’s sons, leaning on his walking-stick as he bowed in prayer.^[b]

²² By trusting, Yosef, near the end of his life, remembered about the Exodus of the people of Isra’el and gave instructions about what to do with his bones.

²³ By trusting, the parents of Moshe hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw that he was a beautiful child,^[c] and they weren’t afraid of the king’s decree.

²⁴ By trusting, Moshe, after he had grown up,^[d] refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵ He chose being mistreated along with God’s people rather than enjoying the passing pleasures of sin. ²⁶ He had come to regard abuse suffered on behalf of the Messiah as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes fixed on the reward.

²⁷ By trusting, he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered as one who sees the unseen.

²⁸ By trusting, he obeyed the requirements for the Pesach, including the smearing of the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Isra’el.