Friday in Epiphany

20Verse 20. After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt marched up to fight at Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him. 21Verse 21. But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What is the issue between you and me, O king of Judah? I have not come against you today, but I am fighting another dynasty, and God has told me to hurry. So stop opposing God, who is with me, or He will destroy you!” 22Verse 22. Josiah, however, did not turn away from him; instead, in order to engage him in battle, he disguised himself. He did not listen to Neco’s words from the mouth of God, but went to fight him on the Plain of Megiddo. 23Verse 23. There the archers shot King Josiah, who said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded!” 24Verse 24. So his servants took him out of his chariot, put him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. And Josiah was buried in the tomb of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him. 25Verse 25. Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments. 26Verse 26. As for the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of loving devotion according to what is written in the Law of the LORD— 27Verse 27. his acts from beginning to end— they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

1Verse 1. While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2Verse 2. and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3Verse 3. “Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied. 4Verse 4. Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5Verse 5. On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6Verse 6. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7Verse 7. There were about twelve men in all. 8Verse 8. Then Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9Verse 9. But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10Verse 10. This continued for two years, so that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.