Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
You Are My God
Psalm 63
1 A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
2 O God, You are my God,
earnestly I seek You.
My soul thirsts for You.
My flesh longs for You
in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.
3 So, I looked for You in the Sanctuary,
to see Your power and Your glory.
4 Since Your lovingkindness is better than life,
my lips will praise You.
5 So I will bless You as long as I live.
In Your name I lift up my hands.[a]
6 My soul is satisfied as with fat and oil,
so my mouth praises You with joyful lips.
7 When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You through the night watches.
8 For You have been my help,
and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.
9 My soul clings to You—
Your right hand upholds me.
10 But those who seek my soul to destroy it
will go down to the depths of the earth.
11 They will be gutted by the sword,
and become a prey for jackals.
12 But the king will rejoice in God.
All who swear by Him will boast,
when the mouth speaking lies is shut.
Prophecy Fulfilled at Bethel
15 Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel and the shrine built by Jeroboam son of Nebat—who caused Israel to sin—that altar and the shrine he demolished, too. He burned the shrine and ground it to dust, and burned up the Asherah. 16 Then, as Josiah looked around, he saw the burial caves there on the mountain, so he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, thus desecrating it—as was the word of Adonai which the man of God had proclaimed, who foretold it.
17 Then he asked, “What is this monument I see?”
So the men of the town told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God, who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have just done to the altar of Bethel.”
18 “Let him rest,” he said. “Let no one disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed along with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.
19 Josiah also removed all the shrines of the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria to provoke. He did to them just as he had done in Bethel. 20 All the priests of the high places there he slaughtered on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
21 Then the king commanded all the people saying, “Celebrate the Passover to Adonai your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 For no Passover like this had been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel or 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 observed for Adonai in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover, Josiah got rid of the necromancers and the mediums, the teraphim and the idols, and all the detestable things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem—in order to confirm the words of the Torah that were written in the scroll that Hilkiah the kohen found in the House of Adonai.
25 Before him there had never been a king like him, who turned to Adonai with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Torah of Moses, nor has any king like him risen since him.
Two Witnesses
11 Then a measuring rod like a staff was given to me, saying, “Get up and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count those worshiping in it. [a] 2 But do not measure the court outside the Temple—leave it out, because it has been given to the nations, and they shall trample the holy city for forty-two months. [b] 3 And I will grant authority to My two witnesses and they will prophesy for 1,260 days,[c] dressed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two menorot that are standing before the Lord of the earth. [d] 5 If anyone wishes to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and consumes their enemies. If anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. [e] 6 These two have the power to shut the heavens, so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying.[f] And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.[g]
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the abyss will make war on them, and overcome them and kill them. [h] 8 And their corpses will lie in the open street[i] of the great city that figuratively is called Sodom and Egypt—where also their[j] Lord was crucified. 9 Some from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their corpses for three and a half days, not allowing them to be placed into a grave. [k] 10 Those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them. They will celebrate and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet;[l] and great fear fell on those who were watching them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.[m]
13 At that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed.[n] Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past. The third woe is coming soon.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.