Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 132
David and Zion Chosen
A song of ascents.
1 Lord, remember David
and all the hardships he endured,(A)
2 and how he swore an oath to the Lord,
making a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:(B)
3 “I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,
4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep
or my eyelids to slumber(C)
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”(D)
6 We heard of the ark in Ephrathah;[a](E)
we found it in the fields of Jaar.[b](F)
7 Let’s go to his dwelling place;
let’s worship at his footstool.(G)
8 Rise up, Lord, come to your resting place,
you and your powerful ark.(H)
9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and may your faithful people shout for joy.(I)
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your anointed one.[c](J)
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his home:(A)
14 “This is my resting place forever;
I will make my home here
because I have desired it.(B)
15 I will abundantly bless its food;
I will satisfy its needy with bread.(C)
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation,
and its faithful people will shout for joy.(D)
17 There I will make a horn grow for David;(E)
I have prepared a lamp[a] for my anointed one.(F)
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,(G)
but the crown he wears[b] will be glorious.”(H)
Covenant Renewal
23 So the king sent messengers,(A) and they gathered all the elders(B) of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2 Then the king went to the Lord’s temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people from the youngest to the oldest. He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant(C) that had been found in the Lord’s temple.(D) 3 Next, the king stood by the pillar[a](E) and made a covenant(F) in the Lord’s presence to follow the Lord and to keep his commands, his decrees, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul(G) in order to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book; all the people agreed to[b] the covenant.(H)
Josiah’s Reforms
4 Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiah(I) and the priests of the second rank(J) and the doorkeepers to bring out of the Lord’s sanctuary all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the stars in the sky.(K) He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.(L) 5 Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the high places(M) in the cities of Judah and in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, moon, constellations, and all the stars in the sky.(N) 6 He brought out the Asherah pole(O) from the Lord’s temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it at the Kidron Valley,(P) beat it to dust,(Q) and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.[c](R) 7 He also tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutes(S) that were in the Lord’s temple, in which the women were weaving tapestries[d] for Asherah.(T)
8 Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the high places(U) from Geba(V) to Beer-sheba,(W) where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the city gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city (on the left at the city gate). 9 The priests of the high places, however, did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem; instead, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.(X)
10 He defiled Topheth,(Y) which is in Ben Hinnom Valley,(Z) so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire[e](AA) to Molech.(AB) 11 He did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They had been at the entrance of the Lord’s temple in the precincts by the chamber of Nathan-melech, the eunuch. He also burned the chariots of the sun.(AC)
12 The king tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had made on the roof(AD) of Ahaz’s upper chamber.(AE) He also tore down the altars that Manasseh had made(AF) in the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple. Then he smashed them[f] there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also defiled the high places that were across from Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the abhorrent idol of the Sidonians; for Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab; and for Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites.(AG) 14 He broke the sacred pillars into pieces,(AH) cut down the Asherah poles,(AI) then filled their places with human bones.
The One from Heaven
31 The one who comes from above(A) is above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in earthly terms.[a] The one who comes from heaven is above all.(B) 32 He testifies(C) to what he has seen and heard, and yet no one accepts his testimony. 33 The one who has accepted his testimony has affirmed that God is true.(D) 34 For the one whom God sent speaks God’s words, since he[b] gives the Spirit(E) without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son(F) and has given all things into his hands.(G) 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son[c] will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.(H)
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