Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Thirsting Soul Satisfied in God.

A Psalm of David, ^[a]when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

¹⁵ Furthermore, ^(A)the altar that was at Bethel and the ^(B)high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who misled Israel into sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he ^(C)burned the high place, ground the remains to dust, and burned the Asherah. ¹⁶ Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent men and took the bones from the graves, and burned them on the altar and defiled it ^(D)in accordance with the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, the one who proclaimed these things. ¹⁷ Then he said, “What is this gravestone there that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “^(E)It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Leave him alone; no one is to disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed ^(F)with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. ¹⁹ Then Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were ^(G)in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had constructed, ^[a]provoking the Lord to anger; and he did to them ^[b]just as he had done in Bethel. ²⁰ And ^(H)he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars, and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

Passover Reinstituted

²¹ Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “^(I)Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God ^(J)as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ^22 (K)Truly such a Passover had not been celebrated since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah removed ^(L)the mediums, the spiritists, the ^[c](M)household idols, ^(N)the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, ^(O)so that he might ^[d]fulfill the words of the Law which were written ^(P)in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵ Before him there was no king ^(Q)like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and all his might, in conformity to all the Law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

The Two Witnesses

11 Then there was given to me a ^[a](A)measuring rod like a staff; ^[b]and ^(B)someone said, “Get up and measure the ^[c]temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. ^2 [d]Leave out the ^(C)courtyard which is outside the ^[e]temple and do not measure it, because ^(D)it has been given to the nations; and they will ^(E)trample ^(F)the holy city for ^(G)forty-two months. ³ And I will grant authority to my two ^(H)witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^(I)1,260 days, clothed in ^(J)sackcloth.” ⁴ These are the ^(K)two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone wants to harm them, ^(L)fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and so if anyone wants to harm them, ^(M)he must be killed in this way. ⁶ These have the power to ^(N)shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during ^(O)the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to ^(P)turn them into blood, and ^(Q)to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

⁷ When they have finished their testimony, ^(R)the beast that comes up out of the ^(S)abyss will ^(T)make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. ⁸ And their dead bodies will lie on the street of the ^(U)great city which ^[f]spiritually is called ^(V)Sodom and ^(W)Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ Those from ^(X)the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead ^[g]bodies for three and a half days, and ^[h](Y)will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. ¹⁰ And ^(Z)those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will ^(AA)send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented ^(AB)those who live on the earth.

¹¹ And after the three and a half days, ^(AC)the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. ¹² And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “^(AD)Come up here.” And they ^(AE)went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³ And ^[i]at that time there was a great ^(AF)earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; ^[j]seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and ^(AG)gave glory to the ^(AH)God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second ^(AI)woe has passed; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.