¹⁴ And on the eighth day he shall take two ^(A)turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. ¹⁵ And the priest shall use them, ^(B)one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ^(C)And the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge.

^16 (D)“If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening. ¹⁷ And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. ¹⁸ If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water and ^(E)be unclean until the evening.

¹⁹ “When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. ^20 (F)And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean. ²¹ And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ²² And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ²³ Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. ²⁴ And ^(G)if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

²⁵ “If ^(H)a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. ²⁶ Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. ²⁷ And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ²⁸ But ^(I)if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. ²⁹ And on the eighth day she shall take two ^(J)turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. ³⁰ And the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.

³¹ “Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by ^(K)defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.”

³² This is the law ^(L)for him who has a discharge and ^(M)for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby; ^33 (N)also for her who is unwell with her menstrual impurity, that is, for anyone, ^(O)male or ^(P)female, who has a discharge, and for the ^(Q)man who lies with a woman who is unclean.

The Axe Head Recovered

6 Now ^(A)the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. ² Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.” And he answered, “Go.” ³ Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” ⁴ So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. ⁵ But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.” ⁶ Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, ^(B)he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. ⁷ And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

Horses and Chariots of Fire

⁸ Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” ⁹ But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.” ¹⁰ And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice.

¹¹ And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” ¹² And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” ¹³ And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in ^(C)Dothan.” ¹⁴ So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵ When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” ¹⁶ He said, “Do not be afraid, ^(D)for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please ^(E)open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of ^(F)horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸ And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” ^(G)So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. ¹⁹ And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.

²⁰ As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, ^(H)open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. ²¹ As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, ^(I)“My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” ²² He answered, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive ^(J)with your sword and with your bow? ^(K)Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” ²³ So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again ^(L)on raids into the land of Israel.

The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple

10 Then I looked, and behold, ^(A)on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something ^(B)like a sapphire,^[a] in appearance like a throne. ² And he said to ^(C)the man clothed in linen, “Go in among ^(D)the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with ^(E)burning coals from between the cherubim, and ^(F)scatter them over the city.”

And he went in ^(G)before my eyes. ³ Now the cherubim were standing ^(H)on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and ^(I)a cloud filled ^(J)the inner court. ⁴ And ^(K)the glory of the Lord ^(L)went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house ^(M)was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with ^(N)the brightness of the glory of the Lord. ⁵ And ^(O)the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, ^(P)like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

⁶ And when he commanded ^(Q)the man clothed in linen, ^(R)“Take fire from between ^(S)the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. ⁷ And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸ The cherubim appeared to have ^(T)the form of a human hand under their wings.

^9 (U)And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and ^(V)the appearance of the wheels was ^(W)like sparkling ^(X)beryl. ¹⁰ And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. ^11 (Y)When they went, they went in any of their four directions^{[b] (Z)}without turning as they went, ^(AA)but in whatever direction the front wheel^[c] faced, the others followed without turning as they went. ^12 (AB)And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings,^[d] and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. ¹³ As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing ^(AC)“the whirling wheels.” ^14 (AD)And every one had four faces: ^(AE)the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was ^(AF)a human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

^15 (AG)And the cherubim mounted up. These were ^(AH)the living creatures that I saw by ^(AI)the Chebar canal. ^16 (AJ)And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And ^(AK)when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. ^17 (AL)When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures^[e] was in them.

^18 (AM)Then ^(AN)the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. ^19 (AO)And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth ^(AP)before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the ^(AQ)east gate of the house of the Lord, and ^(AR)the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

^20 (AS)These were the living creatures that I saw ^(AT)underneath the God of Israel by ^(AU)the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. ^21 (AV)Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings ^(AW)the likeness of human hands. ^22 (AX)And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. ^(AY)Each one of them went straight forward.

Let Us Sing Songs of Praise

Jesus Raises a Widow's Son

¹¹ Soon afterward^[a] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. ¹² As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, ^(A)the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³ And when the Lord saw her, ^(B)he had compassion on her and ^(C)said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴ Then he came up and touched ^(D)the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, ^(E)arise.” ¹⁵ And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^{[b] (F)}gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear seized them all, and ^(G)they glorified God, saying, ^(H)“A great prophet has arisen among us!” and ^(I)“God has visited his people!” ¹⁷ And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

The Collection for the Saints

16 Now concerning^{[a] (A)}the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. ² On ^(B)the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, ^(C)as he may prosper, ^(D)so that there will be no collecting when I come. ³ And when I arrive, I will send ^(E)those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. ⁴ If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

Plans for Travel

^5 (F)I will visit you after passing through ^(G)Macedonia, for ^(H)I intend to pass through Macedonia, ⁶ and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may ^(I)help me on my journey, wherever I go. ⁷ For I do not want to see you now ^(J)just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, ^(K)if the Lord permits. ⁸ But I will stay in Ephesus until ^(L)Pentecost, ⁹ for ^(M)a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and ^(N)there are many adversaries.

^10 (O)When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for ^(P)he is doing ^(Q)the work of the Lord, as I am. ¹¹ So ^(R)let no one despise him. ^(S)Help him on his way ^(T)in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

Final Instructions

¹² Now concerning ^(U)our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will^[b] to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.