Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

My Soul Thirsts for You

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 made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he ^[a](C)demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. ¹⁶ Then Josiah turned, and he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it ^(D)according to the word of Yahweh which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. ¹⁷ Then he said, “What is this monument 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, “Let him alone; let no one move his bones.” So they ^[b]left his bones undisturbed ^(F)with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. ¹⁹ And also all the houses of the high places which were ^(G)in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking ^[c]Yahweh to anger, Josiah removed; and he did to them ^[d]just as he had done in Bethel. ²⁰ And all the priests of the high places who were there ^(H)he ^[e]slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Celebrates the Passover

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

²⁴ Moreover, ^(L)the mediums and the spiritists and the ^(M)teraphim and ^(N)the idols and all the detestable things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah purged in order ^(O)that he might ^[f]establish the words of the law which were written ^(P)in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Yahweh. ²⁵ And before him there was no king ^(Q)like him who turned to Yahweh with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

The Two Witnesses

11 Then a ^[a](A)measuring rod like a staff was given to me, ^(B)saying, “Get up and measure the sanctuary of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. ² And ^[b]leave out the ^(C)court which is outside the sanctuary and do not measure it, for ^(D)it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will ^(E)trample ^(F)the holy city under foot for ^(G)forty-two months. ³ And I will give 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 wishes to harm them, ^(L)fire comes out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wishes to harm them, ^(M)he must be killed in this way. ⁶ These have the authority to ^(N)shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during ^(O)the days of their prophesying; they also have authority over the waters to ^(P)turn them into blood, and ^(Q)to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they wish.

⁷ And when they have finished their witness, ^(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 in the street of the ^(U)great city which spiritually is called ^(V)Sodom and ^(W)Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ And those from ^(X)the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead ^[c]bodies for three and a half days, and ^[d](Y)will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. ¹⁰ And ^(Z)those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate and ^(AA)send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented ^(AB)those who dwell on the earth.

¹¹ But 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.” Then they ^(AE)went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³ And in that hour there was a great ^(AF)earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; ^[e]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 is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.