2 Kings 22; 2 Kings 23; John 4:31-54

2 Kings 22

1 Josias was eight years old when he began to reign: he reigned one and thirty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Idida, the daughter of Hadaia, of Besecath.

2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David, his father: he turned not aside to the right hand, or to the left.

3 And in the eighteenth year of king Josias, the king sent Saphan, the son of Assia, the son of Messulam, the scribe of the temple of the Lord, saying to him:

4 .Go to Helcias, the high priest, that the money may be put together which is brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers of the temple have gathered of the people.

5 And let it be given to the workmen by the overseers of the house of the Lord: and let them distribute it to those that work in the temple of the Lord, to repair the temple:

6 That is, to carpenters and masons, and to such as mend breaches: and that timber may be bought, and stones out of the quarries, to repair the temple of the Lord.

7 But let there be no reckoning made with them of the money which they receive, but let them have it in their power, and in their trust.

8 And Helcias, the high priest, said to Saphan, the scribe: I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord: and Helcias gave the book to Saphan, and he read it.

9 And Saphan, the scribe, came to the king, and brought him word again concerning that which he had commanded, and said: Thy servants have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the Lord: and they have given it to be distributed to the workmen, by the overseers of the works of the temple of the Lord.

10 And Saphan, the scribe, told the king, saying: Helcias, the priest, hath delivered to me a book. And when Saphan had read it before the king,

11 And the king had heard the words of the law of the Lord, he rent his garments.

12 And he commanded Helcias, the priest, and Ahicam, the son of Saphan, and Achobor, the son of Micha, and Saphan, the scribe, and Asaia, the king’s servant, saying:

13 Go and consult the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Juda, concerning the words of this book which is found: for the great wrath of the Lord is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book, to do all that is written for us.

14 So Helcias, the priest, and Ahicam, and Achobor, and Sapham, and Asaia, went to Holda, the prophetess, the wife of Sellum, the son of Thecua, the son of Araas, keeper of the wardrobe, who dwelt in Jerusalem, in the Second: and they spoke to her.

15 And she said to them: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me:

16 Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring evils upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, all the words of the law which the king of Juda hath read:

17 Because they have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange gods, provoking me by all the works of their hands: therefore my indignation shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

18 But to the king of Juda, who sent you to consult the Lord, thus shall you say: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: for as much as thou hast heard the words of the book,

19 And thy heart hath been moved to fear, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, hearing the words against this place, and the inhabitants thereof, to wit, that they should become a wonder and a curse: and thou hast rent thy garments, and wept before me; I also have heard thee; saith the Lord.

20 Therefore I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy sepulchre in peace; that thy eyes may not see all the evils which I will bring upon this place.

2 Kings 23

1 And they brought the king word again what she had said. And he sent: and all the ancients of Juda and Jerusalem were assembled to him.

2 And the king went up to the temple of the Lord, and all the men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both little and great: and in the hearing of them all he read all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the Lord.

3 And the king stood upon the step: and he made a covenant with the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his ceremonies, with all their heart, and with all their soul, and to perform the words of this covenant, which were written in that book: and the people agreed to the covenant.

4 And the king commanded Helcias, the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to cast out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that had been made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burnt them without Jerusalem, in the valley of Cedron, and he carried the ashes of them to Bethel

5 And he destroyed the soothsayers, whom the kings of Juda had appointed to sacrifice in the high places in the cities of Juda, and round about Jerusalem: them also that burnt incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to the twelve signs, and to all the host of heaven.

6 And he caused the grove to be carried out from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, to the valley of Cedron, and he burnt it there, and reduced it to dust, and cast the dust upon the graves of the common people.

7 He destroyed also the pavilions of the effeminate, which were in the house of the Lord, for which the women wove as it were little dwellings for the grove.

8 And he gathered together all the priests out of the cities of Juda: and he defiled the high places, where the priests offered sacrifice, from Gabaa to Bersabee: and he broke down the altars of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Josue, governor of the city, which was on the left hand of the gate of the city.

9 However, the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord, in Jerusalem: but only eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.

10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Ennom: that no man should consecrate there his son, or his daughter, through fire, to Moloch.

11 And he took away the horses which the kings of Juda had given to the sun, at the entering in of the temple of the Lord, near the chamber of Nathanmelech the eunuch, who was in Pharurim: and he burnt the chariots of the sun with fire.

12 And the altars that were upon the top of the upper chamber of Achaz, which the kings of Juda had made, and the altars which Manasses had made in the two courts of the temple of the Lord, the king broke down: and he ran from thence, and cast the ashes of them into the torrent Cedron.

13 The high places also that were at Jerusalem, on the right side of the Mount of Offence, which Solomon, king of Israel, had built to Astaroth, the idol of the Sidonians, and to Chamos, the scandal of Moab, and to Melchom, the abomination of the children of Ammon, the king defiled.

14 And he broke in pieces the statues, and cut down the groves: and he filled their places with the bones of dead men

15 Moreover, the altar also that was at Bethel, and the high place, which Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, had made: both the altar, and the high place, he broke down and burnt, and reduced to powder, and burnt the grove.

16 And as Josias turned himself, he saw there the sepulchres that were in the mount: and he sent and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burnt them upon the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the Lord, which the man of God spoke, who had foretold these things.

17 And he said: What is that monument which I see? And the men of that city answered: It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came from Juda, and foretold these things which thou hast done upon the altar of Bethel.

18 And he said: Let him alone, let no man move his bones. So his bones were left untouched with the bones of the prophet, that came out of Samaria.

19 Moreover all the temples of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord, Josias took away: and he did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel

20 And he slew all the priests of the high places, that were there, upon the altars; and he burnt men’s bones upon them: and returned to Jerusalem.

21 And he commanded all the people, saying: Keep the Phase to the Lord your God, according as it is written in the book of this covenant

22 Now there was no such a Phase kept from the days of the judges, who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Juda,

23 As was this Phase, that was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem, in the eighteenth year of king Josias.

24 Moreover the diviners by spirits, and soothsayers, and the figures of idols, and the uncleannesses, and the abominations, that had been in the land of Juda and Jerusalem, Josias took away: that he might perform the words of the law, that were written in the book, which Helcias the priest had found in the temple of the Lord.

25 There was no king before him like unto him, that returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, according to all the law of Moses: neither after him did there arise any like unto him.

26 But yet the Lord turned not away from the wrath of his great indignation, wherewith his anger was kindled against Juda: because of the provocations, wherewith Manasses had provoked him.

27 And the Lord said: I will remove Juda also from before my face, as I have removed Israel: and I will cast off this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the house, of which I said: My name shall be there.

28 Now the rest of the acts of Josias, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

29 In his days Pharao Nechao, king of Egypt, went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josias went to meet him: and was slain at Mageddo, when he had seen him.

30 And his servants carried him dead from Mageddo: and they brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Joachaz, the son of Josias: and they anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.

31 Joachaz was three and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Amital, the daughter of Jeremias, of Lobna.

32 And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

33 And Pharao Nechao bound him at Rebla, which is in the land of Emath, that he should not reign in Jerusalem: and he set a fine upon the land, of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

34 And Pharao Nechao made Eliacim, the son of Josias, king in the room of Josias his father: and turned his name to Joakim. And he took Joachaz away and carried him into Egypt, and he died there.

35 And Joakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharao, after he had taxed the land for every man, to contribute according to the commandment of Pharao: and he exacted both the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every man according to his ability: to give to Pharao Nechao.

36 Joakim was five and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Zebida, the daughter of Phadaia, of Ruma

37 And he did evil before the Lord according to all that his fathers had done.

John 4:31-54

31 In the mean time, the disciples prayed him, saying: Rabbi, eat.

32 But he said to them: I have meat to eat which you know not.

33 The disciples therefore said one to another: Hath any man brought him to eat?

34 Jesus saith to them: My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, that I may perfect his work.

35 Do not you say: There are yet four months, and then the harvest cometh? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and see the countries. For they are white already to harvest.

36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life everlasting: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

37 For in this is the saying true: That it is one man that soweth, and it is another that reapeth.

38 I have sent you to reap that in which you did not labour. Others have laboured: and you have entered into their labours.

39 Now of that city many of the Samaritans believed in him, for the word of the woman giving testimony: He told me all things whatsoever I have done.

40 So when the Samaritans were come to him, they desired that he would tarry there. And he abode there two days.

41 And many more believed in him, because of his own word.

42 And they said to the woman: We now believe, not for thy saying: for we ourselves have heard him and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.

43 Now after two days, he departed thence and went into Galilee.

44 For Jesus himself gave testimony that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.

45 And when he was come into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things he had done at Jerusalem on the festival day: for they also went to the festival day.

46 He came again therefore into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain ruler, whose son was sick at Capharnaum.

47 He having heard that Jesus was come from Judea into Galilee, sent to him and prayed him to come down and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.

48 Jesus therefore said to him: Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not.

49 The ruler saith to him: Lord, come down before that my son die.

50 Jesus saith to him: Go thy way. Thy son liveth. The man believed the word which Jesus said to him and went his way.

51 And as he was going down, his servants met him: and they brought word, saying, that his son lived.

52 He asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better. And they said to him: Yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him.

53 The father therefore knew that it was at the same hour that Jesus said to him: Thy son liveth. And himself believed, and his whole house.

54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judea. into Galilee.