Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Davidic Psalm, while he was in the Judean wilderness.

Joyful Trust in God

¹⁵ Furthermore, he even broke down the altar that had been at Bethel as well as the high place constructed by Nebat’s son Jeroboam, who had caused Israel to sin. He demolished its stones, pulverized them to dust, and burned the Asherah. ¹⁶ As Josiah turned around, he observed the graves located there on the mountain, so he sent for and recovered the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar to defile it, in keeping with the message from the Lord that the godly man had proclaimed when he was declaring these things. ¹⁷ He asked, “What is this monument that I’m looking at?”

The men who lived in that city answered him, “It’s the grave of that godly man who came from Judah and predicted these things that you’ve done against the altar at Bethel!”

¹⁸ Josiah^[a] replied, “Leave him alone. No one is to disturb his bones.” So they preserved his bones undisturbed, along with the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria. ¹⁹ Josiah also removed all of the temples on the high places that had been in the cities of Samaria and that the kings of Israel had erected, thereby provoking the Lord.^[b] He treated Samaria^[c] just as he had Bethel. ²⁰ After he had slaughtered all the priests who served at the high places and burned their bones on those high places, he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Reinstates the Passover

²¹ After this, the king commanded all of the people, “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, just as it’s prescribed in this Book of the Covenant.” ²² From the days of the judges who ruled in Israel, no Passover had been celebrated like this, not even in all the reigns of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. ²³ In the eighteenth year of the reign of^[d] King Josiah, this Passover was observed in Jerusalem to honor the Lord. ²⁴ Furthermore, Josiah removed the mediums, the necromancers, the household gods,^[e] the idols, and every despicable thing that could be seen in the territory of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might confirm the words of the Law that had been written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s Temple. ²⁵ There had been no king like him before him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength, in obeying everything in the Law of Moses. No king arose like Josiah after him.

The Vision of the Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a stick like a measuring rod. I was told, “Stand up and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count^[a] those who worship there. ² But don’t measure the courtyard outside the Temple. Leave that out, because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the Holy City^[b] for 42 months. ³ I will give my two witnesses who wear sackcloth the authority to prophesy for 1,260 days.”

⁴ These witnesses^[c] are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands standing in the presence of the Lord of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone should want to hurt them, fire comes out of their mouths and burns up their enemies. If anyone wants to hurt them, he must be killed in this manner. ⁶ These witnesses^[d] have authority to close the heavens in order to keep rain from falling while they are^[e] prophesying. They also have authority to turn bodies of water into blood and to strike the earth with any plague, as often as they desire.

⁷ When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit^[f] will wage war against them, conquer them, and kill them. ⁸ Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. ⁹ For three and a half days some members of the people, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead bodies and will not allow them to be placed in a tomb. ¹⁰ Those living on earth will gloat over them, celebrate, and send gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those living on earth.

The Resurrection of the Witnesses

¹¹ But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Those who watched them were terrified. ¹² Then the witnesses^[g] heard a loud voice from heaven calling to them, “Come up here!” So they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³ At that moment a powerful earthquake struck. One-tenth of the city collapsed, 7,000 people were killed by the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second catastrophe is over. The third catastrophe is coming very soon.