Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord Reigns

²⁰ And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, ²¹ “Go, enquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is ^(A)the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.”

Huldah Prophesies Disaster

²² So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent^[a] went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. ²³ And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, ²⁴ Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. ²⁵ Because they have forsaken me and ^(B)have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore ^(C)my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. ²⁶ But to the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that 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, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. ²⁸ Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.’” And they brought back word to the king.

^29 (D)Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. ³¹ And the king ^(E)stood in his place ^(F)and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. ³² Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. ³³ And Josiah took away ^(G)all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was ^(A)righteous and ^(B)devout, ^(C)waiting for ^(D)the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^(E)see death before he had seen ^(F)the Lord's Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when ^(G)the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸ he took him up in his arms and ^(H)blessed God and said,

³³ And ^(Q)his father and his mother marvelled at what was said about him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed ^(R)for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign ^(S)that is opposed ³⁵ (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶ And there was ^(T)a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, ³⁷ and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.^[b] She did not depart from the temple, ^(U)worshipping with ^(V)fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸ And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were ^(W)waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.