Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 132[a]
A song of ascents.[b]
132 O Lord, for David’s sake remember
all his strenuous effort,[c]
2 and how he made a vow to the Lord,
and swore an oath to the Powerful One of Jacob.
3 He said,[d] “I will not enter my own home,[e]
or get into my bed.[f]
4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep,
or my eyelids to slumber,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a fine dwelling place[g] for the Powerful One of Jacob.”[h]
6 Look, we heard about it[i] in Ephrathah;[j]
we found it in the territory of Jaar.[k]
7 Let us go to his dwelling place.
Let us worship[l] before his footstool.
8 Ascend, O Lord, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength.
9 May your priests be clothed with integrity.[m]
May your loyal followers shout for joy.
10 For the sake of David, your servant,
do not reject your chosen king.[n]
11 The Lord made a reliable promise to David;[o]
he will not go back on his word.[p]
He said,[q] “I will place one of your descendants[r] on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and the rules I teach them,
their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 Certainly[a] the Lord has chosen Zion;
he decided to make it his home.[b]
14 He said,[c] “This will be my resting place forever;
I will live here, for I have chosen it.[d]
15 I will abundantly supply what she needs;[e]
I will give her poor all the food they need.[f]
16 I will protect her priests,[g]
and her godly people will shout exuberantly.[h]
17 There I will make David strong;[i]
I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue.[j]
18 I will humiliate his enemies,[k]
and his crown will shine.”
The King Institutes Religious Reform
23 The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.[a] 2 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud[b] all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed[c] the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow[d] the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being,[e] by carrying out the terms[f] of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant.[g]
4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests,[h] and the guards[i] to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of[j] Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky.[k] The king[l] burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces[m] of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 He eliminated[n] the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices[o] on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the area right around Jerusalem. (They offered sacrifices[p] to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the constellations, and all the stars in the sky.) 6 He removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it.[q] He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard.[r] 7 He tore down the quarters[s] of the male cultic prostitutes in the Lord’s temple, where women were weaving shrines[t] for Asherah.
8 He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and ruined[u] the high places where the priests had offered sacrifices, from Geba to Beer Sheba.[v] He tore down the high place of the goat idols[w] situated at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the city official, on the left side of the city gate. 9 (Now the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened cakes among their fellow priests.)[x] 10 The king[y] ruined Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that no one could pass his son or his daughter through the fire to Molech.[z] 11 He removed from the entrance to the Lord’s temple the statues of horses[aa] that the kings of Judah had placed there in honor of the sun god. (They were kept near the room of Nathan Melech the eunuch, which was situated among the courtyards.)[ab] He burned up the chariots devoted to the sun god.[ac] 12 The king tore down the altars the kings of Judah had set up on the roof of Ahaz’s upper room, as well as the altars Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple. He crushed them[ad] and threw the dust in the Kidron Valley. 13 The king ruined the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Destruction,[ae] that King Solomon of Israel had built for the detestable Sidonian goddess Astarte, the detestable Moabite god Chemosh, and the horrible Ammonite god Milcom. 14 He smashed the sacred pillars to bits, cut down the Asherah poles, and filled those shrines[af] with human bones.
31 The one who comes from above is superior to all.[a] The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things.[b] The one who comes from heaven[c] is superior to all.[d] 32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 The one who has accepted his testimony has confirmed clearly that God is truthful.[e] 34 For the one whom God has sent[f] speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly.[g] 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed all things under his authority.[h] 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects[i] the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath[j] remains[k] on him.
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