2 Kings 22, Hebrews 4, Joel 1, Psalm 140, 141

2 Kings 22,

1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.
 
2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
 
3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the LORD. He said:
 
4 "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.
 
5 Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the LORD-
 
6 the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple.
 
7 But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are acting faithfully."
 
8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD." He gave it to Shaphan, who read it.
 
9 Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: "Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the LORD and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple."
 
10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
 
11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.
 
12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king's attendant:
 
13 "Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the LORD's anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us."
 
14 Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophetess Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.
 
15 She said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me,
 
16 'This is what the LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read.
 
17 Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and provoked me to anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.'
 
18 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard:
 
19 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people, that they would become accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the LORD.
 
20 Therefore I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.' " So they took her answer back to the king.
 

Hebrews 4,

1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
 
2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
 
3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' " And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.
 
4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work."
 
5 And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest."
 
6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.
 
7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."
 
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.
 
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;
 
10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.
 
11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
 
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
 
13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
 
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
 
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin.
 
16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
 

Joel 1,

1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
 
2 Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your forefathers?
 
3 Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.
 
4 What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten.
 
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips.
 
6 A nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness.
 
7 It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white.
 
8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the husband of her youth.
 
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD.
 
10 The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails.
 
11 Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
 
12 The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree-all the trees of the field-are dried up. Surely the joy of mankind is withered away.
 
13 Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.
 
14 Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
 
15 Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
 
16 Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes-joy and gladness from the house of our God?
 
17 The seeds are shriveled beneath the clods. The storehouses are in ruins, the granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up.
 
18 How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
 
19 To you, O LORD, I call, for fire has devoured the open pastures and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
 
20 Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the open pastures.
 

Psalm 140, 141

1 Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men; protect me from men of violence,
 
2 who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day.
 
3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's; the poison of vipers is on their lips. Selah
 
4 Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from men of violence who plan to trip my feet.
 
5 Proud men have hidden a snare for me; they have spread out the cords of their net and have set traps for me along my path. Selah
 
6 O LORD, I say to you, "You are my God." Hear, O LORD, my cry for mercy.
 
7 O Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle-
 
8 do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD; do not let their plans succeed, or they will become proud. Selah
 
9 Let the heads of those who surround me be covered with the trouble their lips have caused.
 
10 Let burning coals fall upon them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise.
 
11 Let slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down men of violence.
 
12 I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.
 
13 Surely the righteous will praise your name and the upright will live before you.

1 O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you.
 
2 May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
 
3 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.
 
4 Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies.
 
5 Let a righteous man strike me-it is a kindness; let him rebuke me-it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers;
 
6 their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs, and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.
 
7 They will say, "As one plows and breaks up the earth, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave. "
 
8 But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge-do not give me over to death.
 
9 Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, from the traps set by evildoers.
 
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.