Purification After Childbirth

12 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then ^(A)she shall be unclean seven days. ^(B)As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. ³ And on the ^(C)eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴ Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. ⁵ But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.

^6 (D)“And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, ⁷ and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. ⁸ And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take ^(E)two turtledoves or two pigeons,^{[a] (F)}one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. ^(G)And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”

Laws About Leprosy

13 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “When a person has on the skin of his body a ^(H)swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous^[b] disease on the skin of his body, ^(I)then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, ³ and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean. ⁴ But if the spot is white in the skin of his body and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, ^(J)the priest shall shut up the diseased person for seven days. ⁵ And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the ^(K)priest shall shut him up for another seven days. ⁶ And the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the diseased area has faded and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption. And ^(L)he shall wash his clothes and be clean. ⁷ But if the eruption spreads in the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest. ⁸ And the priest shall look, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease.

⁹ “When a man is afflicted with a leprous disease, he shall be brought to the priest, ¹⁰ and the priest shall look. And if there is a ^(M)white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, ¹¹ it is a chronic leprous disease in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. ^(N)He shall not shut him up, for he is unclean. ¹² And if the leprous disease breaks out in the skin, so that the leprous disease covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, ¹³ then the priest shall look, and if the leprous disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean. ¹⁴ But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. ¹⁵ And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease. ¹⁶ But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest, ¹⁷ and the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean; he is clean.

¹⁸ “If there is in the skin of one's body a ^(O)boil and it heals, ¹⁹ and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a ^(P)reddish-white spot, then it shall be shown to the priest. ²⁰ And the priest shall look, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a case of leprous disease that has broken out in the boil. ²¹ But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall shut him up seven days. ²² And if it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease. ²³ But ^(Q)if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

²⁴ “Or, when the body has a burn on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, ^(R)reddish-white or white, ²⁵ the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, then it is a leprous disease. It has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. ²⁶ But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot and it is no deeper than the skin, but has faded, the priest shall shut him up seven days, ²⁷ and the priest shall examine him the seventh day. If it is spreading in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. ²⁸ But if the spot remains ^(S)in one place and does not spread in the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar of the burn.

²⁹ “When a man or woman has a disease on the head or the beard, ³⁰ the priest shall examine the disease. And if it appears deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an itch, a leprous disease of the head or the beard. ³¹ And if the priest examines the itching disease and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for seven days, ³² and on the seventh day the priest shall examine the disease. If the itch has not spread, and there is in it no yellow hair, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin, ³³ then he shall shave himself, but the itch he shall not shave; and the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for another seven days. ³⁴ And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch, and if the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And ^(T)he shall wash his clothes and be clean. ³⁵ But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, ³⁶ then the priest shall examine him, and if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest need not seek for the yellow hair; he is unclean. ³⁷ But if in his eyes the itch is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed and he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

³⁸ “When a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, white spots, ³⁹ the priest shall look, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is leukoderma that has broken out in the skin; he is clean.

⁴⁰ “If a man's hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean. ⁴¹ And if a man's hair falls out from his forehead, he has baldness of the forehead; he is clean. ⁴² But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased area, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. ⁴³ Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprous disease in the skin of the body, ⁴⁴ he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.

⁴⁵ “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and ^(U)let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall ^(V)cover his upper lip^[c] and cry out, ^(W)‘Unclean, unclean.’ ⁴⁶ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be ^(X)outside the camp.

⁴⁷ “When there is a case of leprous disease in a ^(Y)garment, whether a woolen or a linen garment, ⁴⁸ in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin, ⁴⁹ if the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin or in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, it is a case of leprous disease, and it shall be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰ And the priest shall examine the disease and shut up that which has the disease for seven days. ⁵¹ Then he shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, the disease is a ^(Z)persistent leprous disease; it is unclean. ⁵² And he shall burn the garment, or the warp or the woof, the wool or the linen, or any article made of skin that is diseased, for it is a persistent leprous disease. It shall be burned in the fire.

⁵³ “And if the priest examines, and if the disease has not spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, ⁵⁴ then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the disease, and he shall shut it up for another seven days. ⁵⁵ And the priest shall examine the diseased thing after it has been washed. And if the appearance of the diseased area has not changed, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean. You shall burn it in the fire, whether the rot is on the back or on the front.

⁵⁶ “But if the priest examines, and if the diseased area has faded after it has been washed, he shall tear it out of the garment or the skin or the warp or the woof. ⁵⁷ Then if it appears again in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire whatever has the disease. ⁵⁸ But the garment, or the warp or the woof, or any article made of skin from which the disease departs when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and be clean.”

⁵⁹ This is the law for a case of leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, to determine whether it is clean or unclean.

Paul in Ephesus

19 And it happened that while ^(A)Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed ^(B)through the inland^[a] country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. ² And he said to them, ^(C)“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, ^(D)we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³ And he said, ^(E)“Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into ^(F)John's baptism.” ⁴ And Paul said, ^(G)“John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people ^(H)to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” ⁵ On hearing this, ^(I)they were baptized in^[b] the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And ^(J)when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and ^(K)they began speaking in tongues and ^(L)prophesying. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.

⁸ And ^(M)he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them ^(N)about the kingdom of God. ^9 (O)But when some became stubborn and ^(P)continued in unbelief, speaking evil of ^(Q)the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.^{[c] 10} This continued for ^(R)two years, so that ^(S)all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

The Sons of Sceva

¹¹ And ^(T)God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, ^12 (U)so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and ^(V)the evil spirits came out of them. ¹³ Then some of the itinerant Jewish ^(W)exorcists ^(X)undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ^(Y)“I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵ But the evil spirit answered them, ^(Z)“Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” ¹⁶ And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all^[d] of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷ And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and ^(AA)the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. ¹⁸ Also many of those who were now believers came, ^(AB)confessing and divulging their practices. ¹⁹ And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰ So the word of the Lord ^(AC)continued to increase and prevail mightily.

A Riot at Ephesus

²¹ Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit ^(AD)to pass through ^(AE)Macedonia and Achaia and ^(AF)go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, ^(AG)I must also see Rome.” ²² And having sent into Macedonia two of ^(AH)his helpers, ^(AI)Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia ^(AJ)for a while.

²³ About that time ^(AK)there arose no little disturbance concerning ^(AL)the Way. ²⁴ For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, ^(AM)brought no little business to the craftsmen. ^25 (AN)These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. ²⁶ And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, ^(AO)saying that ^(AP)gods made with hands are not gods. ²⁷ And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the ^(AQ)great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸ When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, ^(AR)“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹ So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and ^(AS)Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's ^(AT)companions in travel. ³⁰ But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. ³¹ And even some of the Asiarchs,^[e] who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. ^32 (AU)Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³ Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, ^(AV)motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. ³⁴ But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, ^(AW)“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵ And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from ^(AX)the sky?^{[f] 36} Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. ³⁷ For you have brought ^(AY)these men here who are neither ^(AZ)sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. ³⁸ If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are ^(BA)proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹ But if you seek anything further,^[g] it shall be settled in the regular assembly. ⁴⁰ For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” ⁴¹ And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.