Marriage and Divorce^(A)

19 Now it came to pass, ^(B)when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. ^2 (C)And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.

³ The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

⁴ And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who ^[a]made them at the beginning ^(D)‘made them male and female,’ ⁵ and said, ^(E)‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and ^(F)the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

⁷ They said to Him, ^(G)“Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”

⁸ He said to them, “Moses, because of the ^(H)hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your ^(I)wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ^9 (J)And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for ^[b]sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

¹⁰ His disciples said to Him, ^(K)“If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

Jesus Teaches on Celibacy

¹¹ But He said to them, ^(L)“All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: ¹² For there are ^[c]eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and ^(M)there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children^(N)

^13 (O)Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for ^(P)of such is the kingdom of heaven.” ¹⁵ And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.

Paul’s Early Life

26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.”

So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: ² “I think myself ^(A)happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer ^(B)for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am ^(C)accused by the Jews, ³ especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

⁴ “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. ⁵ They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to ^(D)the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. ^6 (E)And now I stand and am judged for the hope of ^(F)the promise made by God to our fathers. ⁷ To this promise ^(G)our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God ^(H)night and day, ^(I)hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. ⁸ Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?

^9 (J)“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things ^[a]contrary to the name of ^(K)Jesus of Nazareth. ^10 (L)This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority ^(M)from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ^11 (N)And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Recounts His Conversion^(O)

^12 (P)“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, ¹³ at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴ And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^(Q)to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. ¹⁷ I will ^[b]deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, ^(R)to whom I ^[c]now send you, ^18 (S)to open their eyes, in order ^(T)to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, ^(U)that they may receive forgiveness of sins and ^(V)an inheritance among those who are ^(W)sanctified^[d] by faith in Me.’

Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses

To the Chief Musician. A ^[a]Contemplation of the sons of Korah.

The Ritual for Cleansing Healed Lepers^(A)

14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “This shall be the law of the ^[a]leper for the day of his cleansing: He ^(B)shall be brought to the priest. ³ And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the ^[b]leprosy is healed in the leper, ⁴ then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, ^(C)cedar wood, ^(D)scarlet, and ^(E)hyssop. ⁵ And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. ⁶ As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. ⁷ And he shall ^(F)sprinkle it ^(G)seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. ⁸ He who is to be cleansed ^(H)shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and ^(I)wash himself in water, that he may be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, and ^(J)shall stay outside his tent seven days. ⁹ But on the ^(K)seventh day he shall shave all the hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows—all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean.

¹⁰ “And on the eighth day ^(L)he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as ^(M)a grain offering, and one log of oil. ¹¹ Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things, before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ¹² And the priest shall take one male lamb and ^(N)offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and ^(O)wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. ¹³ Then he shall kill the lamb ^(P)in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place; for ^(Q)as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. ^(R)It is most holy. ¹⁴ The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it ^(S)on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ¹⁵ And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. ¹⁶ Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall ^(T)sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. ¹⁷ And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering. ¹⁸ 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. ^(U)So the priest shall make ^[c]atonement for him before the Lord.

¹⁹ “Then the priest shall offer ^(V)the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. ²⁰ And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be ^(W)clean.

²¹ “But ^(X)if he is poor and cannot afford it, then he shall take one male lamb as a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, ^[d]one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, a log of oil, ^22 (Y)and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford: one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. ^23 (Z)He shall bring them to the priest on the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, before the Lord. ^24 (AA)And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁵ Then he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, ^(AB)and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, 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 Then the priest 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 tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering. ²⁹ 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 one of ^(AC)the turtledoves or young pigeons, such as he can afford— ³¹ such as he is able to afford, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, with the grain offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the Lord. ³² This is the law for one who had a leprous sore, who cannot afford ^(AD)the usual cleansing.”

The Law Concerning Leprous Houses

³³ And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ^34 (AE)“When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and ^(AF)I put the ^[e]leprous plague in a house in the land of your possession, ³⁵ and he who owns the house comes and tells the priest, saying, ‘It seems to me that there is ^(AG)some plague in the house,’ ³⁶ then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes into it to examine the plague, that all that is in the house may not be made unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to examine the house. ³⁷ And he shall examine the plague; and indeed if the plague is on the walls of the house with ingrained streaks, greenish or reddish, which appear to be ^[f]deep in the wall, ³⁸ then the priest shall go out of the house, to the door of the house, and ^[g]shut up the house seven days. ³⁹ And the priest shall come again on the seventh day and look; and indeed if the plague has spread on the walls of the house, ⁴⁰ then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which is the plague, and they shall cast them into an unclean place outside the city. ⁴¹ And he shall cause the house to be scraped inside, all around, and the dust 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 mortar and plaster the house.

⁴³ “Now if the plague comes back and breaks out in the house, after he has taken away the stones, after he has scraped the house, and after it is plastered, ⁴⁴ then the priest shall come and look; and indeed if the plague has spread in the house, it is ^(AH)an active leprosy in the house. It is unclean. ⁴⁵ And he shall break down the house, its stones, its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them outside the city to an unclean place. ⁴⁶ Moreover he who goes into the house at all while it is shut up shall be ^[h]unclean ^(AI)until evening. ⁴⁷ And he who lies down in the house shall ^(AJ)wash his clothes, and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.

⁴⁸ “But if the priest comes in and examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. ⁴⁹ And ^(AK)he shall take, to cleanse the house, two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. ⁵⁰ Then he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water; ⁵¹ and he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² And he shall ^[i]cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and the running water and the living bird, with the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet. ⁵³ Then he shall let the living bird loose outside the city in the open field, and ^(AL)make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.

⁵⁴ “This is the law for any ^(AM)leprous sore and scale, ⁵⁵ for the ^(AN)leprosy of a garment ^(AO)and of a house, ^56 (AP)for a swelling and a scab and a bright spot, ⁵⁷ to ^(AQ)teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.”

The Law Concerning Bodily Discharges

15 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ^(AR)‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. ³ And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge—whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. ⁴ Every bed is ^[j]unclean on which he who has the discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. ⁵ And whoever ^(AS)touches his bed shall ^(AT)wash his clothes and ^(AU)bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ⁶ He who sits on anything on which he who has the ^(AV)discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ⁷ And he who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ⁸ If he who has the discharge ^(AW)spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ⁹ Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean. ¹⁰ Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening. He who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ¹¹ And whomever the one who has the discharge touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ¹² The ^(AX)vessel of earth that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

¹³ ‘And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then ^(AY)he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water; then he shall be clean. ¹⁴ On the eighth day he shall take for himself ^(AZ)two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and give them to the priest. ¹⁵ Then the priest shall offer them, ^(BA)the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. ^(BB)So the priest shall make ^[k]atonement for him before the Lord because of his discharge.

^16 (BC)‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening. ¹⁷ And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening. ¹⁸ Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and ^(BD)be unclean until evening.

^19 (BE)‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be ^[l]set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. ²⁰ Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean. ²¹ Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ²² And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ²³ If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. ²⁴ And ^(BF)if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be ^[m]unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

²⁵ ‘If ^(BG)a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean. ²⁶ Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity. ²⁷ Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

²⁸ ‘But ^(BH)if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. ²⁹ And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ³⁰ Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a ^(BI)burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for the discharge of her uncleanness.

³¹ ‘Thus you shall ^(BJ)separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they ^(BK)defile My tabernacle that is among them. ^32 (BL)This is the law for one who has a discharge, ^(BM)and for him who emits semen and is unclean thereby, ^33 (BN)and for her who is indisposed because of her customary impurity, and for one who has a discharge, either man ^(BO)or woman, ^(BP)and for him who lies with her who is unclean.’ ”