Josiah Reigns in Judah
1 aJosiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of bBozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, cand he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
Josiah Repairs the Temple
3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, 4 “Go up to dHilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money ethat has been brought into the house of the Lord, which fthe keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. 5 gAnd let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house 6 (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7 But hno accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found ithe Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.
11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, jhe tore his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and kAhikam the son of Shaphan, and lAchbor the son of lMicaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is mthe wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of nTikvah, son of nHarhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in othe Second Quarter), and they talked with her. 15 And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 pBecause they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore mmy wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 qbecause your heart was penitent, and you rhumbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become sa desolation and ta curse, and you uhave torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and vyou shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.
1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem nto have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because othey were not united by faith with those who listened.1 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
p“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: q“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said,
r“They shall not enter my rest.”
6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news sfailed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
t“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God2 would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also urested from his works as God did from his.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so vthat no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For wthe word of God is living and xactive, ysharper than any ztwo-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and adiscerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And bno creature is hidden from his sight, but all are cnaked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Jesus the Great High Priest
14 Since then we have da great high priest ewho has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, flet us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest gwho is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been dtempted as we are, hyet without sin. 16 iLet us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
An Invasion of Locusts
give ear, ball inhabitants of the land!
cHas such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?
3 dTell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation.
4 What ethe cutting locust left,
fthe swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
gthe hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
hthe destroying locust has eaten.
5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
and iwail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of jthe sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For ka nation has come up against my land,
kpowerful and beyond number;
lits teeth are lions’ teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste my vine
and splintered my mfig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin1 nwearing sackcloth
for the bridegroom of her youth.
9 oThe grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
from the house of the Lord.
pThe priests mourn,
pthe ministers of the Lord.
10 The fields are destroyed,
qthe ground mourns,
because rthe grain is destroyed,
rthe wine dries up,
the oil languishes.
11 sBe ashamed,2 O tillers of the soil;
wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
tbecause the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine dries up;
uthe fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
all the trees of the field are dried up,
and vgladness dries up
from the children of man.
A Call to Repentance
13 wPut on sackcloth and lament, pO priests;
xwail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, wpass the night in sackcloth,
pO ministers of my God!
yBecause grain offering and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 zConsecrate a fast;
zcall a solemn assembly.
Gather athe elders
and aall the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 Alas for the day!
bFor the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty3 it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
cjoy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17 dThe seed shrivels under the clods;4
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
because ethe grain has dried up.
18 How fthe beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep suffer.5
19 To you, gO Lord, I call.
hFor fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness,
hand flame has burned
all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field ipant for you
because the water brooks are dried up,
hand fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness.
Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 yDeliver me, O Lord, from evil men;
preserve me from zviolent men,
2 who plan evil things in their heart
and astir up wars continually.
4 Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
preserve me from zviolent men,
who have planned to trip up my feet.
5 The arrogant have fhidden a trap for me,
and with cords they have spread ga net;1
beside the way they have set hsnares for me. Selah
6 iI say to the Lord, You are my God;
give ear to jthe voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!
7 O Lord, my Lord, kthe strength of my salvation,
you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8 lGrant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
do not further their2 evil plot, or mthey will be exalted! Selah
9 As for the head of those who surround me,
let nthe mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
10 Let oburning coals fall upon them!
Let them be cast into fire,
into miry pits, no more to rise!
11 Let not the slanderer be established in the land;
let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!
12 I know that the Lord will pmaintain the cause of the afflicted,
and qwill execute justice for the needy.
13 Surely rthe righteous shall give thanks to your name;
sthe upright shall dwell in your presence.
Give Ear to My Voice
A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, I call upon you; thasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
2 Let umy prayer be counted as incense before you,
3 xSet a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
ykeep watch over the door of my lips!
4 zDo not let my heart incline to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who awork iniquity,
and blet me not eat of their delicacies!
5 cLet a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;
let my head not refuse it.
Yet dmy prayer is continually against their evil deeds.
6 When their judges are ethrown over the cliff,3
then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.
7 As when one plows and breaks up the earth,
8 But gmy eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord;
hin you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!5
9 Keep me from ithe trap that they have laid for me
and from the snares of evildoers!
10 Let the wicked jfall into their own nets,
while I pass by safely.
