Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

God Loves Jerusalem

A song of the sons of Korah.

Naaman Is Healed

5 Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man to his master. He had much honor because the Lord had used him to give victory to Aram. He was a mighty and brave man. But he had a harmful skin disease.

² The Arameans had gone out to steal from the Israelites. And they had taken a little girl as a captive from Israel. This little girl served Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master would meet the prophet who lives in Samaria. He would heal Naaman of his disease.”

⁴ Naaman went to the king. He told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵ The king of Aram said, “Go now. And I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left and took about 750 pounds of silver. He also took about 150 pounds of gold and ten changes of clothes with him. ⁶ He brought the letter to the king of Israel. It read, “I am sending my servant Naaman to you. I’m sending him so you can heal him of his skin disease.”

⁷ The king of Israel read the letter. Then he tore his clothes to show how upset he was. He said, “I’m not God! I can’t kill and make alive again! Why does this man send someone with a harmful skin disease for me to heal? You can see that the king of Aram is trying to start trouble with me!”

⁸ Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes. So he sent a message to the king. It said, “Why have you become so upset that you tore your clothes? Let Naaman come to me. Then he will know there is a prophet in Israel!” ⁹ So Naaman went with his horses and chariots to Elisha’s house. And he stood outside the door.

¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman. The messenger said, “Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. Then your skin will be healed, and you will be clean.”

¹¹ Naaman became angry and left. He said, “I thought Elisha would surely come out and stand before me. I thought he would call on the name of the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over the place and heal the disease! ¹² Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are better than all the waters of Israel! Why can’t I wash in them and become clean?” So Naaman went away very angry.

¹³ But Naaman’s servants came near and talked to him. They said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? Doesn’t it make more sense just to do it? After all, he only told you, ‘Wash, and you will be clean.’” ¹⁴ So Naaman went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times. He did just as Elisha had said. Then Naaman’s skin became new again. It was like the skin of a little boy. And Naaman was clean!

The Meeting at Jerusalem

15 Then some men came to Antioch from Judea. They began teaching the non-Jewish brothers: “You cannot be saved if you are not circumcised. Moses taught us to do this.” ² Paul and Barnabas were against this teaching and argued with the men about it. So the group decided to send Paul, Barnabas, and some other men to Jerusalem. There they could talk more about this with the apostles and elders.

³ The church helped the men leave on the trip. They went through the countries of Phoenicia and Samaria, telling all about how the non-Jewish people had turned to God. This made all the believers very happy. ⁴ When they arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles, the elders, and the church welcomed them. Paul, Barnabas, and the others told about all the things that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of the believers who had belonged to the Pharisee group came forward. They said, “The non-Jewish believers must be circumcised. We must tell them to obey the law of Moses!”

⁶ The apostles and the elders gathered to study this problem. ⁷ There was a long debate. Then Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know what happened in the early days. God chose me from among you to preach the Good News to the non-Jewish people. They heard the Good News from me, and they believed. ⁸ God, who knows the thoughts of all men, accepted them. He showed this to us by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. ⁹ To God, those people are not different from us. When they believed, he made their hearts pure. ¹⁰ So now why are you testing God? You are putting a heavy load around the necks of the non-Jewish brothers. It is a load that neither we nor our fathers were able to carry. ¹¹ But we believe that we and they too will be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus!”

¹² Then the whole group became quiet. They listened to Paul and Barnabas speak. Paul and Barnabas told about all the miracles and signs that God did through them among the non-Jewish people. ¹³ After they finished speaking, James spoke. He said, “Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon has told us how God showed his love for the non-Jewish people. For the first time he has accepted them and made them his people. ¹⁵ The words of the prophets agree with this too:

¹⁹ “So I think we should not bother the non-Jewish brothers who have turned to God. ²⁰ Instead, we should write a letter to them. We should tell them these things: Do not eat food that has been offered to idols. (This makes the food unclean.) Do not take part in any kind of sexual sin. Do not taste blood. Do not eat animals that have been strangled. ²¹ They should not do these things, because there are still men in every city who teach the law of Moses. For a long time the words of Moses have been read in the synagogue every Sabbath day.”