Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 30
A Psalm of David. A Song at the dedication of the temple.
1 I will extol You, O Lord, for You have drawn me up,
and have not caused my foes to rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to You,
and You healed me.
3 O Lord, You have brought up my soul from the grave;
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
4 Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His,
and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
5 For His anger endures but a moment,
in His favor is life;
weeping may endure for a night,
but joy comes in the morning.
6 In my prosperity I said,
“I will never be moved.”
7 Lord, by Your favor
You had set me strong as a mountain;
You hid Your face,
and I was terrified.
8 I cried to You, O Lord,
and to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust give You thanks?
Will it declare Your truth?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me;
Lord, be my helper.”
11 For You have turned my mourning into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
12 so that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
The Law for Cleansing Lepers
14 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: It shall be reported to the priest, 3 and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him and see if the disease is healed in the leprous person. 4 Then the priest shall command that two live clean birds and cedar wood and scarlet fabric and hyssop be brought for him who is to be cleansed. 5 The priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered in a clay vessel over running water. 6 As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. 7 Then he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from leprosy, and he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.
8 He that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, so that he may be clean. After that he shall come into the camp and shall stay outside of his tent seven days. 9 But it shall be on the seventh day that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, all his hair he shall shave off, and he shall wash his clothes. Also he shall wash his body in water, and he shall be clean.
10 On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and three-tenths of an ephah[a] of wheat flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and one log of oil.[b] 11 The priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean and those things before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
12 Then the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it for a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 13 Then he shall slaughter the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering in the holy sanctuary. For as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the guilt offering. It is most holy. 14 And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 15 And the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. 16 Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle from the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. 17 And some of the rest of the oil that is in his hand the priest shall put on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, and on the blood of the guilt offering. 18 And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him who is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord.
19 The priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his ceremonial uncleanness, and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. 20 Then the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar, and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
The Sons of Sceva
11 God worked powerful miracles by the hands of Paul. 12 So handkerchiefs or aprons he had touched were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists invoked the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We command you to come out in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 There were seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva doing this. 15 The evil spirit answered, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was jumped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled from that house naked and wounded.
17 This became known to all Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus. And fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 Many who believed came confessing and telling their deeds. 19 Many who practiced magic brought their books together and burned them before everyone. They calculated their value, which equaled fifty thousand drachmas.[a] 20 So the word of the Lord powerfully grew and spread.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.