Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Thanksgiving for Escaping Death
A song of David. A song for giving the Temple to the Lord.
30 I will praise you, Lord,
because you rescued me.
You did not let my enemies laugh at me.
2 Lord, my God, I prayed to you.
And you healed me.
3 You lifted me out of the grave.
You spared me from going down where the dead are.
4 Sing praises to the Lord, you who belong to him.
Praise his holy name.
5 His anger lasts only a moment.
But his kindness lasts for a lifetime.
Crying may last for a night.
But joy comes in the morning.
6 When I felt safe, I said,
“I will never fail.”
7 Lord, in your kindness you made my mountain safe.
But when you turned away, I was frightened.
8 I called to you, Lord.
I asked you to have mercy on me.
9 I said, “What good will it do if I die
or if I go down to the grave?
Dust cannot praise you.
It cannot speak about your truth.
10 Lord, hear me and be merciful to me.
Lord, help me.”
11 You changed my sorrow into dancing.
You took away my rough cloth, which shows sadness, and clothed me in happiness.
12 I will sing to you and not be silent.
Lord, my God, I will praise you forever.
Rules About Skin Diseases
13 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Someone might have a swelling on his skin. Or he might have a scab or a bright spot on his skin. If the sore looks like a harmful skin disease, the person must be brought to Aaron the priest. Or he must be brought to one of Aaron’s sons, the priests. 3 The priest must look at the sore on the person’s skin. The hair in the sore may have become white. And the sore may seem deeper than the person’s skin. If so, it is a harmful skin disease. When he has finished looking at the person, the priest must announce that the person is unclean.
4 “Sometimes there is a white spot on a person’s skin, but the spot does not seem deeper than the skin. If that is true, and if the hair from the spot has not turned white, the priest must separate that person from other people for seven days. 5 On the seventh day the priest must look at the person again. He may see that the sore has not changed. It might not have spread on the skin. Then the priest must keep the person separated for seven more days. 6 On the seventh day the priest must look at the person again. The sore may have faded. And it may not have spread on the skin. If that is true, the priest must announce that the person is clean. The sore is only a rash. The person must wash his clothes. Then he will become clean again.
7 “But the sore may have spread again after the priest has announced him clean. Then the person must come again to the priest. 8 The priest must look at him. If the rash has spread on the skin, the priest must announce that person is unclean. It is a harmful skin disease.
9 “If a person has a harmful skin disease, he must be brought to the priest. 10 The priest must look at him. There might be a white swelling in the skin. And the hair may have become white. And the skin may look raw in the swelling. 11 If these things are true, it is a harmful skin disease. It is one that he has had for a long time. The priest must announce that the person is unclean. He will not need to separate that person from other people. This is because everyone already knows that the person is unclean.
12 “Sometimes skin disease spreads all over a person’s body. The disease covers that person’s skin from his head to his feet, as far as the priest can see. Then the priest must look at the person’s whole body. 13 The priest might see that the disease covers the whole body. It might have turned all of the person’s skin white. Then the priest must announce that the person is clean.
14 “But when the person has an open sore, he is not clean. 15 When the priest sees the open sore, he must announce that the person is unclean. The open sore is not clean. It is a harmful skin disease. 16 If the open sore becomes white again, the person must come to the priest. 17 The priest must look at him. If the sores have become white, the priest must announce that the person with the sores is clean. Then he will be clean.
7 So accept your sufferings as if they were a father’s punishment. God does these things to you as a father punishing his sons. All sons are punished by their fathers. 8 If you are never punished (and every son must be punished), you are not true children and not really sons. 9 We have all had fathers here on earth who punished us. And we respected our fathers. So it is even more important that we accept punishment from the Father of our spirits. If we do this, we will have life. 10 Our fathers on earth punished us for a short time. They punished us the way they thought was best. But God punishes us to help us, so that we can become holy as he is. 11 We do not enjoy punishment. Being punished is painful at the time. But later, after we have learned from being punished, we have peace, because we start living in the right way.
Be Careful How You Live
12 You have become weak. So make yourselves strong again. 13 Keep on the right path so the weak will not stumble but rather be strengthened.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.