Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
105 Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 106 I have promised that I will keep Your Law. And I will add strength to this promise. 107 I am in much suffering. O Lord, give me life again by Your Word. 108 Take my willing gift of thanks, O Lord, and teach me Your Law. 109 My life is always in my hand, yet I do not forget Your Law. 110 The sinful have set a trap for me, yet I have not turned from Your Law. 111 I have been given Your Law forever. It is the joy of my heart. 112 I have set my heart on obeying Your Law forever, even to the end.
Josiah Brings Back True Worship
23 Then King Josiah sent men out to bring to him all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah and all the people who lived in Jerusalem. The religious leaders, the men who speak for God, and all the people went with him, both small and great. And Josiah read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Law which was found in the house of the Lord. 3 Then the king stood by the pillar. There he made an agreement before the Lord. He promised to follow the Lord and keep His Word and His Laws with all his heart and soul. He promised to obey the words of this agreement that were written in this book, and all the people joined him in the agreement.
4 Then the king spoke to Hilkiah the head religious leader, and the religious leaders who were next in power, and the door-keepers. He told them to bring out of the Lord’s house all the objects made for the false gods Baal and Asherah and for all the stars of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron. And he carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 He got rid of the religious leaders who worshiped false gods, whom the kings of Judah had chosen. They had been chosen to burn special perfume in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the land around Jerusalem. Josiah got rid of those who burned special perfume to Baal, to the sun and the moon, to groups of stars, and to all the stars of heaven. 6 He brought out the object of the false goddess Asherah from the Lord’s house to the river Kidron outside Jerusalem. There he burned it and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the people’s graves. 7 He broke down the small rooms in the Lord’s house that were used by the men who sold the use of their bodies for their false gods. The women were making special curtains for the false goddess Asherah in these rooms. 8 Then King Josiah brought all the religious leaders from the cities of Judah. And he showed how sinful the high places were where the religious leaders had burned special perfume, from Geba to Beersheba. He broke down the high places at the gate of Joshua the leader of the city, which were to the left of the city gate.
Josiah Keeps the Passover
21 King Josiah told all the people, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Law.” 22 For sure no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who ruled Israel. It had not been kept in all the days of the kings of Israel or Judah. 23 But this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of King Josiah.
24 Josiah put away the people who spoke with spirits, and people who used their secret ways. He put away the house gods and the false gods and all the sinful things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this to obey the words of the Law which were written in the book that was found in the Lord’s house by Hilkiah the religious leader. 25 Before Josiah there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the Law of Moses. And no one like him came after him.
Paul Is Faithful in Preaching the Good News
4 Through God’s loving-kindness, He has given us this job to do. So we do not give up. 2 We have put away all things that are done in secret and in shame. We do not play with the Word of God or use it in a false way. Because we are telling the truth, we want men’s hearts to listen to us. God knows our desires. 3 If the Good News we preach is hidden, it is hidden to those who are lost in sin. 4 The eyes of those who do not believe are made blind by Satan who is the god of this world. He does not want the light of the Good News to shine in their hearts. This Good News shines as the shining-greatness of Christ. Christ is as God is. 5 We do not preach about ourselves. We preach Christ Jesus the Lord. We are your servants because of Jesus. 6 It was God Who said, “The light will shine in darkness.” (A) He is the One Who made His light shine in our hearts. This brings us the light of knowing God’s shining-greatness which is seen in Christ’s face.
7 We have this light from God in our human bodies. This shows that the power is from God. It is not from ourselves. 8 We are pressed on every side, but we still have room to move. We are often in much trouble, but we never give up. 9 People make it hard for us, but we are not left alone. We are knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 We carry marks on our bodies that show the death of Jesus. This is how Jesus makes His life seen in our bodies. 11 Every day of our life we face death because of Jesus. In this way, His life is seen in our bodies. 12 Death is working in us because we work for the Lord, but His life is working in you.
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