Laws About Leprosy

13 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “When a person has on the skin of his body a ^(A)swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous^[a] disease on the skin of his body, ^(B)then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, ³ and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean. ⁴ But if the spot is white in the skin of his body and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, ^(C)the priest shall shut up the diseased person for seven days. ⁵ And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the ^(D)priest shall shut him up for another seven days. ⁶ And the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the diseased area has faded and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption. And ^(E)he shall wash his clothes and be clean. ⁷ But if the eruption spreads in the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest. ⁸ And the priest shall look, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease.

⁹ “When a man is afflicted with a leprous disease, he shall be brought to the priest, ¹⁰ and the priest shall look. And if there is a ^(F)white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, ¹¹ it is a chronic leprous disease in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. ^(G)He shall not shut him up, for he is unclean. ¹² And if the leprous disease breaks out in the skin, so that the leprous disease covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, ¹³ then the priest shall look, and if the leprous disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean. ¹⁴ But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. ¹⁵ And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease. ¹⁶ But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest,

Ahab Killed in Battle

²⁹ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. ³⁰ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ^(A)“I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. ³¹ Now the king of Syria had commanded ^(B)the thirty-two captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” ³² And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is surely the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out. ³³ And when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. ³⁴ But a certain man drew his bow at random^[a] and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, ^(C)for I am wounded.” ³⁵ And the battle continued that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died. And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot. ³⁶ And about sunset a cry went through the army, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”

³⁷ So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. ³⁸ And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, ^(D)according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken. ³⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and ^(E)the ivory house that he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁴⁰ So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah

^41 (F)Jehoshaphat the son of ^(G)Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. ⁴² Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ^43 (H)He walked in all the way of Asa his father. He did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. Yet ^(I)the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. ^44 (J)Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, are they not written ^(K)in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁴⁶ And from the land he exterminated the remnant ^(L)of the male cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father Asa.

^47 (M)There was no king in Edom; a deputy was king. ⁴⁸ Jehoshaphat made ^(N)ships of Tarshish to go to ^(O)Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at ^(P)Ezion-geber. ⁴⁹ Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships,” but Jehoshaphat was not willing. ^50 (Q)And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place.

Ahaziah Reigns in Israel

⁵¹ Ahaziah the son of Ahab ^(R)began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. ⁵² He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^(S)and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. ^53 (T)He served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger ^(U)in every way that his father had done.

^12 (A)Then the Spirit^[a] lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice^[b] of ^(B)a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!” ¹³ It was the sound of the wings of ^(C)the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of ^(D)a great earthquake. ^14 (E)The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the ^(F)hand of the Lord being strong upon me. ^15 (G)And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling ^(H)by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling.^[c] And ^(I)I sat there ^(J)overwhelmed among them ^(K)seven days.

A Watchman for Israel

^16 (L)And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: ^17 (M)“Son of man, ^(N)I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall ^(O)give them warning from me. ^18 (P)If I say to the wicked, ^(Q)‘You shall surely die,’ ^(R)and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person ^(S)shall die for^[d] his iniquity, ^(T)but his blood I will require at your hand. ^19 (U)But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, ^(V)but you ^(W)will have delivered your soul. ^20 (X)Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, ^(Y)and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. ^(Z)Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, ^(AA)and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, ^(AB)but his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹ But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

^22 (AC)And the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into ^(AD)the valley,^[e] and ^(AE)there I will speak with you.” ²³ So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, ^(AF)the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen ^(AG)by the Chebar canal, ^(AH)and I fell on my face. ^24 (AI)But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. ²⁵ And you, O son of man, behold, ^(AJ)cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. ²⁶ And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that ^(AK)you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, ^(AL)for they are a rebellious house. ^27 (AM)But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ^(AN)‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ^(AO)He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

¹² While he was in one of the cities, ^(A)there came a man full of leprosy.^[a] And when he saw Jesus, he ^(B)fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, ^(C)if you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³ And Jesus^[b] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And he charged him ^(D)to tell no one, but “go and show ^(E)yourself to the priest, and ^(F)make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, ^(G)for a proof to them.” ^15 (H)But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶ But ^(I)he would withdraw to desolate places and ^(J)pray.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹⁷ On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and ^(K)teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And ^(L)the power of the Lord was with him to heal.^{[c] 18 (M)}And behold, some men were bringing ^(N)on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹ but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on ^(O)the roof and let him down with his bed ^(P)through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰ And ^(Q)when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, ^(R)your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks ^(S)blasphemies? ^(T)Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²² When Jesus ^(U)perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that ^(V)the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, ^(W)glorifying God. ²⁶ And amazement seized them all, and they ^(X)glorified God and were filled ^(Y)with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Prophecy and Tongues

14 ^(A)Pursue love, and ^(B)earnestly desire the ^(C)spiritual gifts, especially that you may ^(D)prophesy. ² For ^(E)one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. ³ On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. ⁴ The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. ⁵ Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but ^(F)even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

⁶ Now, brothers,^[a] if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some ^(G)revelation or knowledge or prophecy or ^(H)teaching? ⁷ If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? ⁸ And ^(I)if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? ⁹ So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be ^(J)speaking into the air. ¹⁰ There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, ¹¹ but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be ^(K)a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. ¹² So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.