Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
נ nun
105 Your word is a lamp before my feet
and a light for my journey.
106 I have sworn, and I fully mean it:
I will keep your righteous rules.
107 I have been suffering so much—
Lord, make me live again according to your promise.
108 Please, Lord, accept my spontaneous gifts of praise.
Teach me your rules!
109 Though my life is constantly in danger,
I won’t forget your Instruction.
110 Though the wicked have set a trap for me,
I won’t stray from your precepts.
111 Your laws are my possession forever
because they are my heart’s joy.
112 I have decided to keep your statutes forever, every last one.
3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s rule, he sent the secretary Shaphan, Azaliah’s son and Meshullam’s grandson, to the Lord’s temple with the following orders: 4 “Go to the high priest Hilkiah. Have him carefully count[a] the money that has been brought to the Lord’s temple and that has been collected from the people by the doorkeepers. 5 It should be given to the supervisors in charge of the Lord’s temple, who in turn should pay it to those who are in the Lord’s temple, repairing the temple— 6 the carpenters, the builders, and the masons. It should be used to pay for lumber and quarried stone to repair the temple. 7 But there’s no need to check on them regarding the money they receive, because they are honest workers.”
8 The high priest Hilkiah told Shaphan the secretary: “I have found the Instruction scroll in the Lord’s temple.” Then Hilkiah turned the scroll over to Shaphan, who read it.
9 Shaphan the secretary then went to the king and reported this to him: “Your officials have released the money that was found in the temple and have handed it over to those who supervise the work in the Lord’s temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll,” and he read it out loud before the king.
11 As soon as the king heard what the Instruction scroll said, he ripped his clothes. 12 The king ordered the priest Hilkiah, Shaphan’s son Ahikam, Micaiah’s son Achbor, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the royal officer as follows: 13 “Go and ask the Lord on my behalf, and on behalf of the people, and on behalf of all Judah concerning the contents of this scroll that has been found. The Lord must be furious with us because our ancestors failed to obey the words of this scroll and do everything written in it about us.”
14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah. She was married to Shallum, Tikvah’s son and Harhas’ grandson, who was in charge of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the second district. When they spoke to her, 15 she replied, “This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says: Tell this to the man who sent you to me: 16 This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and its citizens—all the words in the scroll that Judah’s king has read! 17 My anger burns against this place, never to be quenched, because they’ve deserted me and have burned incense to other gods, angering me by everything they have done.[b] 18 But also say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to question the Lord: This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says about the message you’ve just heard: 19 Because your heart was broken and you submitted before the Lord when you heard what I said about this place and its citizens—that they will become a horror and a curse—and because you ripped your clothes and cried before me, I have listened to you, declares the Lord. 20 That’s why I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will go to your grave in peace. You won’t experience the disaster I am about to bring on this place.”
Josiah’s reform
When they reported Huldah’s words to the king,
2 God hasn’t rejected his people, whom he knew in advance. Or don’t you know what the scripture says in the case of Elijah, when he pleads with God against Israel? 3 Lord, they have killed your prophets, and they have torn down your altars. I’m the only one left, and they are trying to take my life.[a] 4 But what is God’s reply to him? I have kept for myself seven thousand people who haven’t bowed their knees to Baal.[b] 5 So also in the present time there is a remaining group by the choice of God’s grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it isn’t by what’s done anymore. If it were, God’s grace wouldn’t be grace.
7 So what? Israel didn’t find what it was looking for. Those who were chosen found it, but the others were resistant. 8 As it is written, God gave them a dull spirit, so that their eyes would not see and their ears not hear, right up until the present day.[c] 9 And David says,
Their table should become a pitfall and a trap,
a stumbling block and payback to them for what they have done.
10 Their eyes should be darkened so they can’t see,
and their backs always bent.[d]
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible