Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord does great things^[a]

Rules for a house that has a disease called mildew

³³ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ³⁴ ‘Canaan is my gift to you, to belong to you for ever. When you go into that land, I may put a disease called mildew^[a] in a house there. ³⁵ If a person finds mildew in his house, he must tell the priest. He must say, “I have found something like mildew in my house.” ³⁶ The priest will tell the person what he should do. The person must take everything out of the house. If he does, those things will still be clean. Then the priest will go into the house. ³⁷ He will look at the walls of the house. He will look for a green or red mark. If the mark goes into the wall, ³⁸ the priest will leave the house. He will shut it up for seven days. ³⁹ On the seventh day, the priest will return to the house. The mildew may be bigger. ⁴⁰ The priest must say, “You must remove the stones that have mildew.” The person must put the stones outside the town. He must put them in a special place. ⁴¹ The person must cut the clay from inside the walls of the house. The person must put the clay from the walls outside the town. The person must put it in a place for things that are not clean. ⁴² The person who lives in the house must get some more stones. He must get some more clay. Then he can mend the wall.

⁴³ A person might find mildew on the wall that he has mended. He must tell the priest. ⁴⁴ The priest will look at the house. If the mildew is on more of the mended wall, the house is not clean. ⁴⁵ The person must break the house into pieces. The person who lives in the house must put the stones outside the town. He must put the wood and the clay outside the town. He must put them in the place for things that are not clean.

⁴⁶ A person may go into the house while it is shut up. If he does, he will not become clean until evening. ⁴⁷ Any person who sleeps in a house with mildew must wash his clothes. And any person who eats in a house with mildew must wash his clothes.

⁴⁸ If a person mends his house, the priest must look at it. There may not be any mildew. The priest will then say that it is clean. ⁴⁹ The person must take two birds and some wood from the cedar tree. He must take red wool and hyssop. ⁵⁰ The priest will bring a pot with water in it. He will hold one of the birds over the pot and he will kill it. ⁵¹ The priest will take the other bird and the wood from the cedar tree. He will take the red wool and the hyssop. He will put all of them into the blood of the dead bird. He will shake the blood and water over the house seven times. This will make the house clean. ⁵² The priest will use the birds and the wood from the cedar tree. And he will use the wool and the hyssop to make the house clean. ⁵³ Then the priest will take the living bird outside the town. He will let the bird fly away. That will make atonement for the house. The person may then live in the house again.’

¹³ You have heard me tell you about God's true message. Let those words be an example to you, so that you also teach what is true. Do this because you belong to Christ Jesus. Continue to trust him and to love his people. ¹⁴ God has given you his good message to keep safe. God's Holy Spirit, who lives in us, will help you to keep it safe.

Onesiphorus

¹⁵ You know that almost all the believers in Asia region have turned against me. They include Phygelus and Hermogenes.^[a]

¹⁶ But Onesiphorus has stayed to help me. I pray that the Lord will be kind to his family. He often came to help me not to be sad. I am in prison, but he was not ashamed to help me. ¹⁷ When he came here to Rome, he looked carefully for me until he found me. ¹⁸ I pray that the Lord will be kind to Onesiphorus on that great day when he judges people.^[b] You know very well how much Onesiphorus helped me in Ephesus.