⁴⁰ “If a man loses his hair and his head becomes bald, he is still ceremonially clean.

¹³ Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Good News.

¹⁰ And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life^[a] because you have been made right with God.

¹⁹ Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

¹² Do not let sin control the way you live;^[a] do not give in to sinful desires.

²³ Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. “Go away, baldy!” they chanted. “Go away, baldy!”

⁴¹ And if he loses hair on his forehead, he simply has a bald forehead; he is still clean.