Discharges Causing Uncleanness

15 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any man has an unusual bodily discharge,^(A) such a discharge is unclean. ³ Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness:

⁴ “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean. ⁵ Anyone who touches his bed must wash their clothes^(B) and bathe with water,^(C) and they will be unclean till evening.^{(D) 6} Whoever sits on anything that the man with a discharge sat on must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

⁷ “‘Whoever touches the man^(E) who has a discharge^(F) must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

⁸ “‘If the man with the discharge spits^(G) on anyone who is clean, they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

⁹ “‘Everything the man sits on when riding will be unclean, ¹⁰ and whoever touches any of the things that were under him will be unclean till evening; whoever picks up those things^(H) must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

¹¹ “‘Anyone the man with a discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

¹² “‘A clay pot^(I) that the man touches must be broken, and any wooden article^(J) is to be rinsed with water.

¹³ “‘When a man is cleansed from his discharge, he is to count off seven days^(K) for his ceremonial cleansing; he must wash his clothes and bathe himself with fresh water, and he will be clean.^(L)

Naaman Healed of Leprosy

5 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram.^(A) He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.^[a](B)

² Now bands of raiders^(C) from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet^(D) who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

⁴ Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵ “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents^[b] of silver, six thousand shekels^[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing.^{(E) 6} The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

⁷ As soon as the king of Israel read the letter,^(F) he tore his robes and said, “Am I God?^(G) Can I kill and bring back to life?^(H) Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel^(I) with me!”

⁸ When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet^(J) in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash^(K) yourself seven times^(L) in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

¹¹ But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand^(M) over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters^(N) of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.^(O)

¹³ Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father,^(P) if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times,^(Q) as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored^(R) and became clean like that of a young boy.^(S)

¹⁵ Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God^(T). He stood before him and said, “Now I know^(U) that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift^(V) from your servant.”

¹⁶ The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.^(W)

¹⁷ “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth^(X) as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. ¹⁸ But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning^(Y) on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”

¹⁹ “Go in peace,”^(Z) Elisha said.

After Naaman had traveled some distance, ²⁰ Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord^(AA) lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

²¹ So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

²² “Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent^[d] of silver and two sets of clothing.’”^(AB)

²³ “By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. ²⁴ When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.

²⁵ When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”

“Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.

²⁶ But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time^(AC) to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves?^{(AD) 27} Naaman’s leprosy^(AE) will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi^(AF) went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.^(AG)

Judgment on the Idolaters

9 Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.” ² And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen^(A) who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³ Now the glory^(B) of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim,^(C) where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side ⁴ and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem^(D) and put a mark^(E) on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament^(F) over all the detestable things that are done in it.^(G)”

⁵ As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity^(H) or compassion.^{(I) 6} Slaughter^(J) the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children,^(K) but do not touch anyone who has the mark.^(L) Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men^(M) who were in front of the temple.^(N)

⁷ Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain.^(O) Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city. ⁸ While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown,^(P) crying out, “Alas, Sovereign Lord!^(Q) Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath^(R) on Jerusalem?^(S)”

⁹ He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice.^(T) They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’^{(U) 10} So I will not look on them with pity^(V) or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.^(W)”

¹¹ Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded.”

Psalm 94

The Faith of the Centurion^(A)

7 When Jesus had finished saying all this^(B) to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. ² There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. ³ The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, ⁵ because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” ⁶ So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. ⁷ That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.^{(C) 8} For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

⁹ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” ¹⁰ Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

⁴⁶ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.^{(A) 47} The first man was of the dust of the earth;^(B) the second man is of heaven.^{(C) 48} As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.^{(D) 49} And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man,^(E) so shall we^[a] bear the image of the heavenly man.^(F)

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood^(G) cannot inherit the kingdom of God,^(H) nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.^{(I) 51} Listen, I tell you a mystery:^(J) We will not all sleep,^(K) but we will all be changed^(L)— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,^(M) the dead^(N) will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable^(O) must clothe itself with the imperishable,^(P) and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”^[b](Q)

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin,^(S) and the power of sin is the law.^{(T) 57} But thanks be to God!^(U) He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.^(V)

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,^(W) because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.^(X)