Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Nun

Josiah’s Covenant

23 ^(A)Then the king sent messengers, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ² And the king went up to the house of the Lord and every man of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, the prophets, and all the people, from the small to the great; and ^(B)he read in their ^[a]presence all the words of the Book of the Covenant ^(C)which was found in the house of the Lord. ³ And ^(D)the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, ^(E)to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments, His provisions, and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people ^[b]entered into the covenant.

Reforms under Josiah

⁴ Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, ^(F)the priests of the second order, and the ^[c]doorkeepers ^(G)to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the utensils that had been made for Baal, for ^[d]Asherah, and for all the heavenly ^[e]lights; and ^(H)he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ Then he did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the remaining ^(I)heavenly ^[f]lights. ⁶ He also brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ^(J)ground it to dust, and ^(K)threw its dust on the graves of the ^[g]common people. ⁷ And he tore down the cubicles of the ^(L)male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where ^(M)the women were weaving ^[h]hangings for the Asherah. ⁸ Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from ^(N)Geba to Beersheba; and he tore down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate.

Passover Reinstituted

²¹ Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “^(A)Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God ^(B)as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ^22 (C)Truly such a Passover had not been celebrated since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor 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 celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah removed ^(D)the mediums, the spiritists, the ^[a](E)household idols, ^(F)the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, ^(G)so that he might ^[b]fulfill the words of the Law which were written ^(H)in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵ Before him there was no king ^(I)like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and all his might, in conformity to all the Law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

Paul’s Apostolic Ministry

4 Therefore, since we have this ^(A)ministry, as we ^(B)received mercy, we ^(C)do not lose heart, ² but we have renounced the ^(D)things hidden because of shame, not walking in trickery nor ^(E)distorting the word of God, but by the open proclamation of the truth ^(F)commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even if our ^(G)gospel is ^(H)veiled, it is veiled ^[a]to ^(I)those who are perishing, ⁴ in whose case ^(J)the god of ^(K)this ^[b]world has ^(L)blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that ^[c]they will not see the ^(M)light of the gospel of the ^(N)glory of Christ, who is the ^(O)image of God. ⁵ For we ^(P)do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants ^[d]on account of Jesus. ⁶ For God, who said, “^(Q)Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has ^(R)shone in our hearts to give the ^(S)Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

⁷ But we have this treasure in ^[e](T)earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of ^(U)the power will be of God and not from ourselves; ⁸ we are ^(V)afflicted in every way, but not ^(W)crushed; ^(X)perplexed, but not despairing; ^9 (Y)persecuted, but not ^(Z)abandoned; ^(AA)struck down, but not destroyed; ^10 (AB)always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that ^(AC)the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are constantly being handed over to death because of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. ¹² So death works in us, but life in you.