Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord Is King

²⁰ At once he called together Hilkiah, Shaphan, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah,^[a] and his own servant Asaiah. He said, ²¹ “The Lord must be furious with me and everyone else in Israel and Judah, because our ancestors did not obey the laws written in this book. Go find out what the Lord wants us to do.”

²² Hilkiah and the four other men left at once and went to talk with Huldah the prophet. Her husband was Shallum,^[b] who was in charge of the king's clothes. Huldah lived in the northern part of Jerusalem, and when they met in her home, ²³ she said:

You were sent here by King Josiah, and this is what the Lord God of Israel says to him: ²⁴ “Josiah, I am the Lord! And I intend to punish this country and everyone in it, just as this book says. ²⁵ The people of Judah and Israel have rejected me. They have offered sacrifices to foreign gods and have worshiped their own idols. I can't stand it any longer. I am furious.

^26-27 “Josiah, listen to what I am going to do. I noticed how sad you were when you heard that this country and its people would be completely wiped out. You even tore your clothes in sorrow, and I heard you cry. ²⁸ So before I destroy this place, I will let you die in peace.”

The men left and reported to Josiah what Huldah had said.

Josiah Reads The Book of God's Law

(2 Kings 23.1-3)

²⁹ King Josiah called together the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ Then he went to the Lord's temple, together with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, the priests, and the Levites.

Finally, when everybody was there, he read aloud The Book of God's Law^[c] that had been found in the temple.

³¹ After Josiah had finished reading, he stood in the place reserved for the king. He promised in the Lord's name to faithfully obey the Lord and to follow his laws and teachings that were written in the book. ³² Then he asked the people of Jerusalem and Benjamin to make that same promise and to obey the God their ancestors had worshiped.

³³ Josiah destroyed all the idols in the territories of Israel, and he commanded everyone in Israel to worship only the Lord God. The people did not turn away from the Lord God of their ancestors for the rest of Josiah's rule as king.

²⁵ At this time a man named Simeon was living in Jerusalem. Simeon was a good man. He loved God and was waiting for him to save the people of Israel. God's Spirit came to him ²⁶ and told him that he would not die until he had seen Christ the Lord.

²⁷ When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple to do what the Law of Moses says should be done for a new baby, the Spirit told Simeon to go into the temple. ²⁸ Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God,

³³ Jesus' parents were surprised at what Simeon had said. ³⁴ Then he blessed them and told Mary, “This child of yours will cause many people in Israel to fall and others to stand. The child will be like a warning sign. Many people will reject him, ³⁵ and you, Mary, will suffer as though you had been stabbed by a dagger. But all this will show what people are really thinking.”

Anna Speaks about the Child Jesus

^36 (B) The prophet Anna was also there in the temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. In her youth she had been married for seven years, but her husband died. ³⁷ And now she was 84 years old.^[a] Night and day she served God in the temple by praying and often going without eating.^[b]

³⁸ At this time Anna came in and praised God. She spoke about the child Jesus to everyone who hoped for Jerusalem to be set free.