³⁸ “When a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, white spots, ³⁹ the priest shall look, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is leukoderma that has broken out in the skin; he is clean.

⁴⁰ “If a man's hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean. ⁴¹ And if a man's hair falls out from his forehead, he has baldness of the forehead; he is clean. ⁴² But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased area, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. ⁴³ Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprous disease in the skin of the body, ⁴⁴ he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.

⁴⁵ “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and ^(A)let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall ^(B)cover his upper lip^[a] and cry out, ^(C)‘Unclean, unclean.’ ⁴⁶ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be ^(D)outside the camp.

Elijah Taken to Heaven

2 Now when the Lord was about to ^(A)take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and ^(B)Elisha were on their way from ^(C)Gilgal. ² And Elijah said to Elisha, ^(D)“Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, ^(E)“As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ And ^(F)the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, ^(G)please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to ^(H)Jericho.” But he said, ^(I)“As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ^5 (J)The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

⁶ Then Elijah said to him, ^(K)“Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. ⁷ Fifty men of ^(L)the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. ⁸ Then Elijah ^(M)took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, ^(N)and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.

⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” ¹⁰ And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” ¹¹ And as they still went on and talked, behold, ^(O)chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. ¹² And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! ^(P)The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.

Then he took hold of his own clothes ^(Q)and tore them in two pieces.

Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

5 “And you, ^(A)O son of man, take a ^(B)sharp sword. Use it as ^(C)a barber's razor and ^(D)pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. ^2 (E)A third part you shall burn in the fire ^(F)in the midst of the city, ^(G)when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. ^(H)And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and ^(I)I will unsheathe the sword after them. ^3 (J)And you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. ^4 (K)And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.

⁵ “Thus says the Lord God: ^(L)This is Jerusalem. I have set her ^(M)in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. ⁶ And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness ^(N)more than the nations, and against my statutes more than ^(O)the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are ^(P)more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, ^(Q)and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, ^(R)and have not^[a] even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, ⁸ therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, ^(S)am against you. ^(T)And I will execute judgments^[b] in your midst ^(U)in the sight of the nations. ⁹ And because of all your abominations I will do with you ^(V)what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. ¹⁰ Therefore ^(W)fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. ^(X)And I will execute judgments on you, ^(Y)and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. ¹¹ Therefore, ^(Z)as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, ^(AA)because you have defiled my sanctuary ^(AB)with all your detestable things and with all your ^(AC)abominations, ^(AD)therefore I will withdraw.^{[c] (AE)}My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. ^12 (AF)A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; ^(AG)a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; ^(AH)and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

^13 (AI)“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that ^(AJ)I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—^(AK)when I spend my fury upon them. ¹⁴ Moreover, I will make you ^(AL)a desolation and ^(AM)an object of reproach among ^(AN)the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. ¹⁵ You shall be^[d] a reproach and a taunt, a warning ^(AO)and a horror, to ^(AP)the nations all around you, ^(AQ)when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and ^(AR)with furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— ¹⁶ when I send against you^{[e] (AS)}the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon ^(AT)you and break your supply^[f] of bread. ¹⁷ I will send famine and ^(AU)wild beasts against you, ^(AV)and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and ^(AW)blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”

Book Four

From Everlasting to Everlasting

A ^(A)Prayer of Moses, the ^(B)man of God.

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

6 ^(A)On a Sabbath,^[a] while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples ^(B)plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. ² But some of the Pharisees said, ^(C)“Why are you doing ^(D)what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” ³ And Jesus answered them, ^(E)“Have you not read ^(F)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ how he entered the house of God and took and ate ^(G)the bread of the Presence, ^(H)which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” ⁵ And he said to them, ^(I)“The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

⁶ On another Sabbath, ^(J)he entered the synagogue ^(K)and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ And the scribes and the Pharisees ^(L)watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, ^(M)so that they might find a reason to accuse him. ⁸ But ^(N)he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. ⁹ And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, ^(O)is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ And ^(P)after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And ^(Q)he did so, and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they were filled with ^(R)fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Orderly Worship

²⁶ What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has ^(A)a hymn, ^(B)a lesson, ^(C)a revelation, ^(D)a tongue, or ^(E)an interpretation. ^(F)Let all things be done for building up. ²⁷ If any speak in ^(G)a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. ²⁸ But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others ^(H)weigh what is said. ³⁰ If a revelation is made to another sitting there, ^(I)let the first be silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, ³² and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of ^(J)confusion but of peace.

As in ^(K)all the churches of the saints, ^34 (L)the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but ^(M)should be in submission, as ^(N)the Law also says. ³⁵ If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

³⁶ Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? ^37 (O)If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. ³⁸ If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. ³⁹ So, my brothers, ^(P)earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ^40 (Q)But all things should be done decently and ^(R)in order.