Psalm 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

Psalm 132^(I)

A song of ascents.

Psalm 133

A song of ascents. Of David.

Psalm 134

A song of ascents.

Psalm 135^(BA)

⁴ The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers^(A) to remove^(B) from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. ⁵ He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense^(C) to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.^{(D) 6} He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley^(E) outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder^(F) and scattered the dust over the graves^(G) of the common people.^{(H) 7} He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes^(I) that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.

⁸ Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba^(J) to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. ⁹ Although the priests of the high places did not serve^(K) at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

¹⁰ He desecrated Topheth,^(L) which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom,^(M) so no one could use it to sacrifice their son^(N) or daughter in the fire to Molek. ¹¹ He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah^(O) had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court^[a] near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.^(P)

¹² He pulled down^(Q) the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof^(R) near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts^(S) of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley.^{(T) 13} The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon^(U) king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable^(V) god of the people of Ammon.^{(W) 14} Josiah smashed^(X) the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.^(Y)

¹⁵ Even the altar^(Z) at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam^(AA) son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. ¹⁶ Then Josiah^(AB) looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance^(AC) with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.

¹⁷ The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”

The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”

¹⁸ “Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones^(AD).” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet^(AE) who had come from Samaria.

¹⁹ Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. ²⁰ Josiah slaughtered^(AF) all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones^(AG) on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

²¹ The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover^(AH) to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”^{(AI) 22} Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.^(AJ)

²⁴ Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists,^(AK) the household gods,^(AL) the idols and all the other detestable^(AM) things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. ²⁵ Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned^(AN) to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.^(AO)

Concerning Spiritual Gifts

12 Now about the gifts of the Spirit,^(A) brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.^{(B) 2} You know that when you were pagans,^(C) somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.^{(D) 3} Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,”^(E) and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,”^(F) except by the Holy Spirit.^(G)

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit^(H) distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone^(I) it is the same God^(J) at work.

⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.^{(K) 8} To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom,^(L) to another a message of knowledge^(M) by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith^(N) by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing^(O) by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers,^(P) to another prophecy,^(Q) to another distinguishing between spirits,^(R) to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,^[a](S) and to still another the interpretation of tongues.^{[b] 11} All these are the work of one and the same Spirit,^(T) and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman^(A)

¹⁸ While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him^(B) and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her,^(C) and she will live.” ¹⁹ Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

²⁰ Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.^{(D) 21} She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

²² Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart,^(E) daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.”^(F) And the woman was healed at that moment.^(G)

²³ When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes,^{(H) 24} he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead^(I) but asleep.”^(J) But they laughed at him. ²⁵ After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.^{(K) 26} News of this spread through all that region.^(L)