Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

5 Na‘aman, commander of the king of Aram’s army, was highly respected and esteemed by his master; because through him Adonai had brought victory to Aram. But although he was a brave warrior, he also suffered from tzara‘at. ² Now on one of their raids into Isra’el’s territory, Aram carried away captive a little girl, who became a servant for Na‘aman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “I wish my lord could go to the prophet in Shomron! He could heal his tzara‘at.” ⁴ Na‘aman went in and told his lord, “The girl from the land of Isra’el said such-and-such.” ⁵ The king of Aram said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Isra’el.”

He set out, taking with him 660 pounds of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold and ten changes of clothes. ⁶ He brought the king of Isra’el the letter, which said, “When this letter reaches you, you will see that I have sent my servant Na‘aman to you, so that you can heal his tzara‘at.” ⁷ When the king of Isra’el finished reading the letter, he tore his clothes. “Am I God, able to kill and make alive,” he asked, “so that he sends me a man to heal of tzara‘at? You can see that he is only seeking an excuse to quarrel with me.” ⁸ But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Isra’el had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why did you tear your clothes? Just have him come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Isra’el.”

⁹ So Na‘aman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to him, who said, “Go, and bathe in the Yarden seven times. Your skin will become as it was, and you will be clean.” ¹¹ But Na‘aman became angry and left, saying, “Here now! I thought for certain that he would come out personally, that he would stand, call on the name of Adonai his God and wave his hand over the diseased place and thus heal the person with tzara‘at. ¹² Aren’t Amanah and Parpar, the rivers of Dammesek, better than all the water in Isra’el? Why can’t I bathe in them and be clean?” So he turned and went off in a rage. ¹³ But his servants approached him and said, “My father! If the prophet had asked you to do something really difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So, doesn’t it make even more sense to do what he says, when it’s only, ‘Bathe, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Yarden, as the man of God had said to do; and his skin was restored and became like the skin of a child; and he became clean.

15 But some men came down from Y’hudah to Antioch and began teaching the brothers, “You can’t be saved unless you undergo b’rit-milah in the manner prescribed by Moshe.” ² This brought them into no small measure of discord and dispute with Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba. So the congregation assigned Sha’ul, Bar-Nabba and some of themselves to go and put this sh’eilah before the emissaries and the elders up in Yerushalayim.

³ After being sent off by the congregation, they made their way through Phoenicia and Shomron, recounting in detail how the Gentiles had turned to God; and this news brought great joy to all the brothers.

⁴ On arrival in Yerushalayim, they were welcomed by the Messianic community, including the emissaries and the elders; and they reported what God had done through them. ⁵ But some of those who had come to trust were from the party of the P’rushim; and they stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Torah of Moshe.”

⁶ The emissaries and the elders met to look into this matter. ⁷ After lengthy debate, Kefa got up and said to them, “Brothers, you yourselves know that a good while back, God chose me from among you to be the one by whose mouth the Goyim should hear the message of the Good News and come to trust. ⁸ And God, who knows the heart, bore them witness by giving the Ruach HaKodesh to them, just as he did to us; ⁹ that is, he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their heart by trust. ¹⁰ So why are you putting God to the test now by placing a yoke on the neck of the talmidim which neither our fathers nor we have had the strength to bear? ¹¹ No, it is through the love and kindness of the Lord Yeshua that we trust and are delivered — and it’s the same with them.”

¹² Then the whole assembly kept still as they listened to Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul tell what signs and miracles God had done through them among the Gentiles. ¹³ Ya‘akov broke the silence to reply. “Brothers,” he said, “hear what I have to say. ¹⁴ Shim‘on has told in detail what God did when he first began to show his concern for taking from among the Goyim a people to bear his name. ¹⁵ And the words of the Prophets are in complete harmony with this for it is written,

All this has been known for ages.

¹⁹ “Therefore, my opinion is that we should not put obstacles in the way of the Goyim who are turning to God. ²⁰ Instead, we should write them a letter telling them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from fornication, from what is strangled and from blood. ²¹ For from the earliest times, Moshe has had in every city those who proclaim him, with his words being read in the synagogues every Shabbat.”