Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Wishing to Be Near God
A psalm of David when he was in the ·desert [wilderness] of Judah [C fleeing from a jealous Saul; 1 Sam. 21–31].
63 God, you are my God.
I ·search for [am intent on] you.
I thirst for you [42:1–2]
·like someone [or my flesh yearns for you] in a dry, ·empty [exhausted; weary] land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in ·the Temple [L the Holy Place; or holiness]
and have seen your strength and glory.
3 Because your ·love [loyalty] is better than life,
·I [L My lips] will praise you.
4 I will ·praise [bless] you ·as long as I live [L with my life].
I will lift up my hands in your name [C in prayer].
5 I will be ·content as if I had eaten the best foods [L satisfied as with fat and fatness].
My lips will sing, and my mouth will praise you.
6 I remember you while I’m lying in bed;
I ·think about [meditate on] you through the watches of the night [C the night was divided into four watches of three hours each].
7 You are my help.
·Because of your protection [L In the shadow of your wings; C an image of compassion or perhaps a reference to the cherubim whose wings covered the Ark of the Covenant; Ex. 25:20], I sing.
8 I ·stay close [cling] to you;
·you support me with your right hand [L your right hand sustains me].
9 ·Some people are trying to kill me [L They seek my life for ruin],
but they will go down to the ·grave [L underbelly of the earth].
10 They will be ·killed with swords [L handed over to the sword]
and ·eaten by wild dogs [L be the prey of jackals].
11 But the king will rejoice in his God.
All who ·make promises in his name [L swear by him] will praise him,
but the mouths of liars will be shut.
15 Josiah also ·broke down [demolished] the altar at Bethel—the ·place of worship [high place; 12:3] made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had led Israel to sin. Josiah burned that place, broke the stones of the altar into pieces, then ·beat [ground] them into dust. He also burned the Asherah ·idol [pole; 13:6]. 16 When he turned around, he saw the ·graves [tombs] on the ·mountain [hillside]. He had the bones taken from the graves, and he burned them on the altar to ·ruin [desecrate; defile] it. This happened ·as the Lord had said it would [L in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed] through the man of God [1 Kin. 13:1–3].
17 Josiah asked, “What is that monument I see?”
The people of the city answered, “It’s the grave of the man of God who came from Judah. This prophet announced the things you have done against the altar ·of [at] Bethel.”
18 Josiah said, “Leave the grave alone. No one may ·move [disturb] this man’s bones.” So they left his bones and the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
19 The kings of Israel had built ·temples for worshiping gods [shrines/L houses at the high places; 12:3] in the cities of Samaria, which had ·caused the Lord to be angry [aroused/provoked the Lord to anger]. Josiah removed all those ·temples [shrines; L houses] and did the same things as he had done at Bethel. 20 He ·killed [slaughtered] all the priests of ·those places of worship [the high places; 12:3]; he killed them on the altars and burned human bones on the altars. Then he went back to Jerusalem.
Josiah Celebrates the Passover(A)
21 The king commanded all the people, “·Celebrate [Observe] the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in this Book of the ·Agreement [Treaty; Covenant; Ex. 12].” 22 The Passover had not been ·celebrated [observed] like this since the judges ·led [ruled; judged] Israel. Nor had one like it happened ·while there were [in all the days/years of the] kings of Israel and kings of Judah. 23 This Passover was ·celebrated [observed] to the Lord in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s rule.
24 Josiah ·destroyed [removed; got rid of] the mediums, ·fortune-tellers [spiritualists], house gods, and idols. He also ·destroyed [removed; got rid of] all the ·hated gods [detestable/abominable practices] seen in the land of Judah and Jerusalem. This was to ·obey [fulfill; confirm] the words of the ·teachings [law; L torah] written in the ·book [scroll] Hilkiah the priest had found in the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord.
25 There was no king like Josiah before or after him. He ·obeyed [L turned to] the Lord with all his heart, soul, and strength [cf. Mark 12:30, 33; Luke 10:27], following all the ·Teachings [Law; L torah] of Moses.
The Two Witnesses
11 I was given a ·measuring stick [C a reed or cane used for measuring] like a ·rod [staff; walking stick], and I was told, ·Go [Get up] and measure the temple of God and the altar, ·and count [or including] the people worshiping there [C probably to show God’s control and protection of his people; Ezek. 40:3, 5]. 2 But do not measure the ·yard [courtyard] outside the temple. Leave it ·alone [out], because it has been given to ·those who are not God’s people [the Gentiles; the nations]. And they will trample on the holy city [C Jerusalem] for forty-two months [C a period of oppression—either literal or symbolic—equal to three and a half years; see Dan. 7:25; 12:7, 11–12]. 3 And I will ·give power to [or appoint; L give to] my two witnesses to prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days [C 42 months reckoned as 30 days each], ·and they will be dressed in rough cloth to show their sadness [L dressed in sackcloth; C mourning clothes].”
4 These two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth [C reminiscent of Zerubbabel and Joshua whom God used to build the second temple in spite of opposition; Zech. 4:2–6]. 5 And if anyone ·tries [wants] to ·hurt [harm; damage] them, fire comes from their mouths and ·kills [consumes; devours] their enemies [Jer. 5:14]. And if anyone ·tries [wants] to ·hurt [harm; damage] them in whatever way, in that same way that person ·will [or must] die. 6 These witnesses have the ·power [authority] to ·stop the sky [close the heavens] from raining during the time they are prophesying [1 Kin. 17:1]. And they have ·power [authority] to make the waters become blood [8:8; 16:3–4; Ex. 7:17–21], and they have ·power [authority] to send every kind of ·trouble [plague] to the earth as many times as they want.
7 When the two witnesses have finished ·telling their message [giving their witness/testimony], the beast [C probably the Antichrist; 13:1; 17:8; Dan. 7] that comes up from the ·bottomless pit [Abyss; 9:1] will fight a war against them. He will ·defeat [conquer] them and kill them. 8 The ·bodies [corpses] of the two witnesses will lie in the ·street [public square; C to be left unburied as a sign of disdain] of the great city where the Lord was ·killed [L crucified; C Jerusalem, perhaps here symbolic of the world’s opposition to God]. ·This city is named Sodom and Egypt, which has a spiritual meaning [L …which is figuratively/symbolically/spiritually called Sodom and Egypt; C Jerusalem is symbolically named after places judged by God for wickedness (Sodom) and for oppressing God’s people (Egypt); Gen. 19; Ex. 7—12]. 9 Those from every race of people, tribe, language, and nation will look at the bodies of the two witnesses for three and one-half days, and they will ·refuse to bury them [L not let them be placed in a tomb]. 10 People who live on the earth will rejoice and ·be happy [celebrate] because these two are dead. They will send each other gifts, because these two prophets brought much ·suffering [torment] to those who live on the earth.
11 But after [L the] three and one-half days, ·God put the breath of life into the two prophets again [L a breath/spirit of life from God entered them; Gen. 2:7]. They stood on their feet, and everyone who saw them became very afraid. 12 Then the two prophets heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Come up here!” And they went up into heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched.
13 In the same hour there was a ·great [violent] earthquake, and a tenth of the city ·was destroyed [collapsed; L fell]. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and those who did not die were very afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven [Ezek. 38:19–20; Zech. 14:4].
14 The second ·trouble [L woe] is finished. ·Pay attention [Look; T Behold]: The third ·trouble [L woe] is coming ·soon [quickly; 8:13].
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