Laws for Cleansing Lepers

14 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. ^(A)He shall be brought to the priest, ³ and the priest shall go ^(B)out of the camp, and the priest shall look. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, ⁴ the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live^[a] clean birds and ^(C)cedarwood and ^(D)scarlet yarn and ^(E)hyssop. ⁵ And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh^[b] water. ⁶ He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. ⁷ And he shall ^(F)sprinkle it ^(G)seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall ^(H)let the living bird go ^(I)into the open field. ⁸ And he who is to be cleansed ^(J)shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into the camp, but ^(K)live outside his tent seven days. ⁹ And ^(L)on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair, and then he ^(M)shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.

¹⁰ “And on the eighth day he ^(N)shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and a ^(O)grain offering of three tenths of an ephah^[c] of fine flour mixed with oil, and one log^[d] of oil. ¹¹ And the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and these things before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ¹² And the priest shall take one of the male lambs and ^(P)offer it for a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and ^(Q)wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. ¹³ And he shall kill the lamb ^(R)in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary. For ^(S)the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; ^(T)it is most holy. ¹⁴ The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it ^(U)on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ¹⁵ Then the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand ¹⁶ and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. ¹⁷ And some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. ¹⁸ And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. ^(V)Then the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord. ¹⁹ The priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. ²⁰ And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the ^(W)grain offering on the altar. ^(X)Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

²¹ “But ^(Y)if he is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering ^(Z)to be waved, to make atonement for him, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil; ^22 (AA)also two turtledoves or two pigeons, whichever he can afford. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. ^23 (AB)And on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the Lord. ^24 (AC)And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁵ And he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering. ^(AD)And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁶ And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, ²⁷ and shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord. ²⁸ And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, in the place where the blood of the guilt offering was put. ²⁹ And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord. ³⁰ And he shall offer, of the ^(AE)turtledoves or pigeons, whichever he can afford, ³¹ one^[e] for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a grain offering. ^(AF)And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for him who is being cleansed. ³² This is the law for him in whom is a case of leprous disease, who cannot afford ^(AG)the offerings for his cleansing.”

Resh

Godlessness in the Last Days

3 But understand this, that ^(A)in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ² For people will be ^(B)lovers of self, ^(C)lovers of money, ^(D)proud, ^(E)arrogant, abusive, ^(F)disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ^3 (G)heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, ^(H)not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, ^(I)swollen with conceit, ^(J)lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but ^(K)denying its power. ^(L)Avoid such people. ⁶ For among them are ^(M)those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, ⁷ always learning and never able to ^(N)arrive at a knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as ^(O)Jannes and Jambres ^(P)opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, ^(Q)men corrupted in mind and ^(R)disqualified regarding the faith. ⁹ But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, ^(S)as was that of those two men.

All Scripture Is Breathed Out by God

^10 (T)You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, ¹¹ my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me ^(U)at Antioch, ^(V)at Iconium, and ^(W)at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet ^(X)from them all ^(Y)the Lord rescued me. ¹² Indeed, all who desire to ^(Z)live a godly life in Christ Jesus ^(AA)will be persecuted, ¹³ while ^(AB)evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and ^(AC)being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, ^(AD)continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom^[a] you learned it ¹⁵ and how ^(AE)from childhood you have been acquainted with ^(AF)the sacred writings, ^(AG)which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ^16 (AH)All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that ^(AI)the man of God^[b] may be complete, ^(AJ)equipped ^(AK)for every good work.

Preach the Word

4 ^(AL)I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, ^(AM)who is to judge the living and the dead, and by ^(AN)his appearing and his kingdom: ² preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; ^(AO)reprove, rebuke, and ^(AP)exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ^3 (AQ)For the time is coming when people will not endure ^(AR)sound^[c] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴ and ^(AS)will turn away from listening to the truth and ^(AT)wander off into myths. ⁵ As for you, ^(AU)always be sober-minded, ^(AV)endure suffering, do the work of ^(AW)an evangelist, ^(AX)fulfill your ministry.

⁶ For ^(AY)I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my ^(AZ)departure has come. ^7 (BA)I have fought the good fight, ^(BB)I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Henceforth there is ^(BC)laid up for me ^(BD)the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, ^(BE)the righteous judge, will award to me on ^(BF)that day, and not only to me but also to all ^(BG)who have loved his appearing.

Personal Instructions

^9 (BH)Do your best to come to me soon. ¹⁰ For ^(BI)Demas, ^(BJ)in love with ^(BK)this present world, ^(BL)has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,^{[d] (BM)}Titus to Dalmatia. ^11 (BN)Luke alone is with me. Get ^(BO)Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. ^12 (BP)Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. ¹³ When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. ^14 (BQ)Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; ^(BR)the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. ¹⁵ Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. ¹⁶ At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. ^(BS)May it not be charged against them! ¹⁷ But ^(BT)the Lord stood by me and ^(BU)strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and ^(BV)all the Gentiles might hear it. So ^(BW)I was rescued ^(BX)from the lion's mouth. ¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. ^(BY)To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

¹⁹ Greet ^(BZ)Prisca and Aquila, and ^(CA)the household of Onesiphorus. ²⁰ Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left ^(CB)Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. ^21 (CC)Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.^[e]

²² The Lord be ^(CD)with your spirit. ^(CE)Grace be with you.^[f]