1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath. 2 He did what the Lord approved and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.
3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, the king sent the scribe Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple with these orders: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door. 5 Have them hand it over to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple. They in turn should pay the temple workers to repair it, 6 including craftsmen, builders, and masons, and should buy wood and chiseled stone for the repair work. 7 Do not audit the foremen who disburse the silver, for they are honest.”
8 Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe, “I found the scroll of the law in the Lord’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it. 9 Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported, “Your servants melted down the silver in the temple and handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king. 11 When the king heard the words of the law scroll, he tore his clothes. 12 The king ordered Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, 13 “Go, seek an oracle from the Lord for me and the people—for all Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord’s great fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.”
14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shullam son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the supervisor of the wardrobe. (She lived in Jerusalem in the Mishneh district.) They stated their business, 15 and she said to them: “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘Say this to the man who sent you to me: 16 “This is what the Lord has said: ‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, all the things in the scroll that the king of Judah has read. 17 This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’” 18 Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said concerning the words you have heard: 19 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I intended to make this place and its residents into an appalling example of an accursed people. You tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the Lord. 20 ‘Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. You will not have to witness all the disaster I will bring on this place.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.
1 Therefore we must be wary that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in with those who heard it in faith. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” And yet God’s works were accomplished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” 5 but to repeat the text cited earlier: “They will never enter my rest!” 6 Therefore it remains for some to enter it, yet those to whom it was previously proclaimed did not enter because of disobedience. 7 So God again ordains a certain day, “Today,” speaking through David after so long a time, as in the words quoted before, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken afterward about another day. 9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10 For the one who enters God’s rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. 11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.
1 This is the Lord’s message that came to Joel the son of Pethuel:
2 Listen to this, you elders;
pay attention, all inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your whole life
or in the lifetime of your ancestors?
3 Tell your children about it,
have your children tell their children,
and their children the following generation.
4 What the gazam-locust left the ‘arbeh-locust consumed,
what the ‘arbeh-locust left the yeleq-locust consumed,
and what the yeleq-locust left the hasil-locust consumed.
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you wine drinkers,
because the sweet wine has been taken away from you.
6 For a nation has invaded my land,
mighty and without number.
Their teeth are lion’s teeth;
they have the fangs of a lioness.
7 They have destroyed my vines;
they have turned my fig trees into mere splinters.
They have completely stripped off the bark and thrown it aside;
the twigs are stripped bare.
8 Wail like a young virgin clothed in sackcloth,
lamenting the death of her husband to be.
9 No one brings grain offerings or drink offerings
to the temple of the Lord anymore.
So the priests, those who serve the Lord, are in mourning.
10 The crops of the fields have been destroyed.
The ground is in mourning because the grain has perished.
The fresh wine has dried up;
the olive oil languishes.
11 Be distressed, farmers;
wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley.
For the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine has dried up;
the fig tree languishes—
the pomegranate, date, and apple as well.
In fact, all the trees of the field have dried up.
Indeed, the joy of the people has dried up!
13 Get dressed and lament, you priests.
Wail, you who minister at the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God,
because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings
to the temple of your God anymore.
14 Announce a holy fast;
proclaim a sacred assembly.
Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land
to the temple of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 How awful that day will be!
For the day of the Lord is near;
it will come as destruction from the Divine Destroyer.
16 Our food has been cut off right before our eyes!
There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God.
17 The grains of seed have shriveled beneath their shovels.
Storehouses have been decimated,
and granaries have been torn down,
because the grain has dried up.
18 Listen to the cattle groan!
The herds of livestock wander around in confusion
because they have no pasture.
Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
19 To you, O Lord, I call out for help,
for fire has burned up the pastures of the wilderness,
flames have razed all the trees in the fields.
20 Even the wild animals cry out to you,
for the river beds have dried up;
fire has destroyed the pastures of the wilderness.
1 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men.
Protect me from violent men,
2 who plan ways to harm me.
All day long they stir up conflict.
3 Their tongues wound like a serpent;
a viper’s venom is behind their lips. (Selah)
4 O Lord, shelter me from the power of the wicked.
Protect me from violent men,
who plan to knock me over.
5 Proud men hide a snare for me;
evil men spread a net by the path.
They set traps for me. (Selah)
6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
O Lord, pay attention to my plea for mercy.
7 O Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer,
you shield my head in the day of battle.
8 O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way.
Do not allow their plan to succeed when they attack. (Selah)
9 As for the heads of those who surround me—
may the harm done by their lips overwhelm them.
10 May he rain down fiery coals upon them.
May he throw them into the fire.
From bottomless pits they will not escape.
11 A slanderer will not endure on the earth;
calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down.
12 I know that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed
and vindicates the poor.
13 Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;
the morally upright will live in your presence.
1 O Lord, I cry out to you. Come quickly to me.
Pay attention to me when I cry out to you.
2 May you accept my prayer like incense,
my uplifted hands like the evening offering.
3 O Lord, place a guard on my mouth.
Protect the opening of my lips.
4 Do not let me have evil desires,
or participate in sinful activities
with men who behave wickedly.
I will not eat their delicacies.
5 May the godly strike me in love and correct me.
May my head not refuse choice oil.
Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds.
6 They will be thrown over the side of a cliff by their judges.
They will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.
7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil,
so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
8 Surely I am looking to you, O Sovereign Lord.
In you I take shelter.
Do not expose me to danger.
9 Protect me from the snare they have laid for me,
and the traps the evildoers have set.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I escape.
