Laws for Cleansing Houses

³³ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ³⁴ “When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you ^(A)for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, ³⁵ then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘There seems to me to be some case of ^(B)disease in my house.’ ³⁶ Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, lest all that is in the house be declared unclean. And afterward the priest shall go in to see the house. ³⁷ And he shall examine the disease. And if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, ³⁸ then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days. ³⁹ And the priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the disease has spread in the walls of the house, ⁴⁰ then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the disease and throw them into an unclean place outside the city. ⁴¹ And he shall have the inside of the house scraped all around, and the plaster that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city. ⁴² Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other plaster and plaster the house.

⁴³ “If the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it, ⁴⁴ then the priest shall go and look. And if the disease has spread in the house, it is a ^(C)persistent leprous disease in the house; it is unclean. ⁴⁵ And he shall break down the house, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them out of the city to an unclean place. ⁴⁶ Moreover, whoever enters the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening, ⁴⁷ and whoever sleeps in the house ^(D)shall wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes.

⁴⁸ “But if the priest comes and looks, and if the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the disease is healed. ⁴⁹ And for the ^(E)cleansing of the house he shall take ^(F)two small birds, with cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop, ⁵⁰ and shall kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water ⁵¹ and shall take the cedarwood and the hyssop and the scarlet yarn, along with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² Thus he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the fresh water and with the live bird and with the cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn. ⁵³ And he shall let the live bird go out of the city ^(G)into the open country. So he shall ^(H)make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.”

⁵⁴ This is the law for any case of leprous disease: for ^(I)an itch, ⁵⁵ for ^(J)leprous disease in a garment or in ^(K)a house, ⁵⁶ and ^(L)for a swelling or an eruption or a spot, ⁵⁷ to ^(M)show when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law for leprous disease.

Sin and Shin

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]