Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer for the House of God

132 O Lord, remember David and all of his suffering. ² Remember how he swore to the Lord, and how he made a promise to the Powerful One of Jacob: ³ “For sure I will not go into my house or lie on my bed, ⁴ or let sleep come and close my eyes, ⁵ until I find a place for the Lord, a house of worship for the Powerful One of Jacob.”

⁶ See, we heard about it in Ephrathah. We found it in the field of Jaar. ⁷ Let us go into the House of God. Let us worship at His feet. ⁸ Rise up, O Lord. Go to the place where You can rest, You and the special box of the Way of Worship which is Your strength. ⁹ Let Your religious leaders be dressed with what is right and good. And let those who belong to You sing for joy.

¹⁰ Because of David Your servant, do not turn away from Your chosen one. ¹¹ The Lord has made a sure promise to David that He will never break: “I will set upon your throne your own children. ¹² If your sons will keep My Law and My Word which I will teach them, then their sons will sit upon your throne forever.”

¹³ For the Lord has chosen Zion. He has wanted it for a place to live: ¹⁴ “This is the place where I can rest forever. Here I will live, for I have wanted it. ¹⁵ I will give her many good things. I will give her poor people much bread. ¹⁶ I will dress her religious leaders with saving power. And those in her that belong to Me will sing for joy. ¹⁷ There I will make the horn of David grow and will make a lamp ready for My chosen one. ¹⁸ I will dress those who hate him with shame. But the crown on him will shine.”

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. ⁹ The religious leaders of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem. But they ate bread without yeast among their brothers. ¹⁰ The king made Topheth unclean, which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom. He did this so no one might give his son or daughter there as a burnt gift to the false god Molech. ¹¹ Josiah got rid of the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun. They had given them at the door of the Lord’s house, by the room of Nathan-melech the leader. And the king burned the war-wagons of the sun with fire. ¹² King Josiah broke down the altars which were on the roof of Ahaz’s room on the second floor. They had been made by the kings of Judah. And he broke down the altars which Manasseh had made in the two open spaces of the Lord’s house. He broke them there and threw their dust into the river Kidron. ¹³ The king made the high places sinful which were east of Jerusalem and south of the Mount of Destruction. King Solomon of Israel had built them for Ashtoreth the sinful goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the hated false god of Moab, and Milcom the hated god of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁴ And Josiah broke in pieces the pillars used in worship and cut down the Asherim. He filled their places with human bones.

³¹ “He Who comes from above is above all. He who comes from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. He Who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He tells of what He has seen and heard. But no one believes what He says. ³³ Whoever receives His words proves that God is true. ³⁴ He was sent by God and He speaks God’s Word. God gives Him all of His Spirit. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. ³⁶ He who puts his trust in the Son has life that lasts forever. He who does not put his trust in the Son will not have life, but the anger of God is on him.”