Psalm 12^[a]

For the director of music. According to sheminith.^[b] A psalm of David.

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy^(A)

8 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. ² A man with leprosy^[a](B) came and knelt before him^(C) and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. ⁴ Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone.^(D) But go, show yourself to the priest^(E) and offer the gift Moses commanded,^(F) as a testimony to them.”

The Faith of the Centurion^(G)

⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed,^(H) suffering terribly.”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.^{(I) 9} For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.^{(J) 11} I say to you that many will come from the east and the west,^(K) and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.^{(L) 12} But the subjects of the kingdom^(M) will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”^(N)

¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”^(O) And his servant was healed at that moment.

Simon the Sorcerer

⁹ Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery^(A) in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,^{(B) 10} and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”^{(C) 11} They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God^(D) and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized,^(E) both men and women. ¹³ Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles^(F) he saw.

¹⁴ When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria^(G) had accepted the word of God,^(H) they sent Peter and John^(I) to Samaria. ¹⁵ When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,^{(J) 16} because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them;^(K) they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.^{(L) 17} Then Peter and John placed their hands on them,^(M) and they received the Holy Spirit.^(N)

¹⁸ When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money ¹⁹ and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!^{(O) 21} You have no part or share^(P) in this ministry, because your heart is not right^(Q) before God. ²² Repent^(R) of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. ²³ For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

²⁴ Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me^(S) so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

²⁵ After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord^(T) and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.^(U)