Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Nun.

Josiah’s Covenant

23 ^(A)Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. ² The king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and ^(B)he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant ^(C)which was found in the house of the Lord. ^3 (D)The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, ^(E)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 carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people ^[a]entered into the covenant.

Reforms under Josiah

⁴ Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and ^(F)the priests of the second order and the ^[b]doorkeepers, ^(G)to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, for ^[c]Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and ^(H)he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the ^(I)host of heaven. ⁶ He brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ^(J)ground it to dust, and ^(K)threw its dust on the graves of the ^[d]common people. ⁷ He also broke down the houses of the ^(L)male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where ^(M)the women were weaving ^[e]hangings for the Asherah. ⁸ Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from ^(N)Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate.

Passover Reinstituted

²¹ Then the king commanded all the people saying, “^(A)Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God ^(B)as it is written in this book of the covenant.” ^22 (C)Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah ^[a]removed ^(D)the mediums and the spiritists and the ^(E)teraphim and ^(F)the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, ^(G)that he might ^[b]confirm the words of the law which were written ^(H)in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵ Before him there was no king ^(I)like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

Paul’s Apostolic Ministry

4 Therefore, since we have this ^(A)ministry, as we ^(B)received mercy, we ^(C)do not lose heart, ² but we have renounced the ^(D)things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or ^(E)adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth ^(F)commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even if our ^(G)gospel is ^(H)veiled, it is veiled ^[a]to ^(I)those who are perishing, ⁴ in whose case ^(J)the god of ^(K)this ^[b]world has ^(L)blinded the minds of the unbelieving ^[c]so that they might not see the ^(M)light of the gospel of the ^(N)glory of Christ, who is the ^(O)image of God. ⁵ For we ^(P)do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants ^[d]for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “^(Q)Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has ^(R)shone in our hearts to give the ^(S)Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

⁷ But we have this treasure in ^(T)earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of ^(U)the power will be of God and not from ourselves; ⁸ we are ^(V)afflicted in every way, but not ^(W)crushed; ^(X)perplexed, but not despairing; ^9 (Y)persecuted, but not ^(Z)forsaken; ^(AA)struck down, but not destroyed; ^10 (AB)always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that ^(AC)the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹² So death works in us, but life in you.