Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Samekh

Chapter 23

Josiah the Reformer. ¹ The king then sent and assembled all of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ² The king went up to the temple of the Lord, and all of the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went with him, including the priests, the prophets, and all of the people, both the humble and the important. He read aloud all of the words from the book of the covenant that had been found in the temple of the Lord.

³ The king stood by the pillar, and he made a covenant before the Lord to follow the Lord and to observe his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, fulfilling the words of this covenant that were written in this book. All of the people joined in the covenant.

⁴ The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doormen to carry out of the temple of the Lord all of the utensils that had been used for Baal, for Asherah, and for the heavenly host. He burned them outside of Jerusalem in a field in the Kidron Valley, and they took their ashes to Bethel.

⁵ He expelled the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and those that surrounded Jerusalem, those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the planets, and to all of the hosts of heaven. ⁶ He brought the Asherah out of the temple of the Lord, taking it outside of Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley. He smashed it to pieces, tossing its dust upon the graves of the common people.

⁷ He also tore down the quarters that housed the male prostitutes in the temple of the Lord, and where the women did the weavings for the Asherah. ⁸ He brought all of the priests from the cities of Judah, and he desecrated all of the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba where the priests had burned incense. He demolished the shrines at the gates, at the entrance to the gate of Joshua, the leader of the city, which was to the left of the city gate.

²¹ The king then commanded all of the people saying, “Observe the Passover of the Lord, your God, according to what is written in this book of this covenant.” ²² Passover had not been observed from the days of the judges who governed Israel nor all throughout the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. ²³ This Passover of the Lord was celebrated in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of the reign of King Josiah.

²⁴ Josiah also expelled the mediums and the wizards. He did away with the household gods, the idols, and all the other abominations that were to be found in the land of Judah and Jerusalem. He did this to fulfill the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the temple of the Lord.

²⁵ There had never before been any king like him nor will there ever be one after him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and all his soul and all his might according to the law of Moses.

Chapter 4

The Gospel of the Glory of Christ.^{[a] 1} Therefore, since we are engaged in this ministry through the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. ² Rather, we have renounced all shameful and hidden ways. We do not engage in deception or falsify the word of God. By stating the truth in an open manner, we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.

³ If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, ⁴ those unbelievers whose minds have been blinded by the god of this world to prevent them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

⁵ We do not proclaim ourselves. Rather we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for the sake of Jesus. ⁶ For the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has enabled his light to shine in our hearts in order to enlighten them with the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The State of an Apostle.^{[b] 7} However, we hold this treasure in earthen vessels so that it may be clear that this immense power belongs to God and does not derive from us. ⁸ We are afflicted on all sides but not crushed, bewildered but not sunk in despair, ⁹ persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed.

¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. ¹¹ For in our lives we are constantly being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh. ¹² As a result, death is at work in us, but life in you.