Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 30[a]
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death
1 A psalm. A song for the dedication of the temple. Of David.
2 I will exalt you, O Lord,
for you have raised me out of the depths[b]
and have not let my enemies exult over me.
3 O Lord, my God,
I called to you and you healed me.[c]
4 O Lord, you lifted me up from the netherworld;[d]
you saved me from sinking into the pit.
5 Sing praise to the Lord, O you his saints;[e]
give thanks to his holy name.
6 For his anger lasts for only a moment,
while his goodwill endures for a lifetime.
Weeping may last throughout the night,[f]
but at daybreak there is rejoicing.
7 In time of good fortune, I said,
“Nothing can ever sway me.”[g]
8 O Lord, in your goodness
you established me as an impregnable mountain;
however, when you hid your face,
I was filled with terror.
9 [h]To you, O Lord, I cried out,
and I implored my God for mercy:
10 “What advantage would my death provide
if I descend into the pit?
Can the dust praise you?
Can it proclaim your faithfulness?
11 Listen, O Lord, and have mercy on me;
O Lord, be my helper.”
12 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken away my sackcloth[i]
and clothed me with joy.
13 My heart[j] will therefore sing
in unceasing praise to you;
O Lord, my God,
I will praise you forever.
Chapter 14
Purification of Skin Diseases. 1 The Lord spoke to Moses saying, 2 “This is the law for the day of the cleansing of a person with leprosy, when he is brought to the priest: 3 The priest is to go outside of the camp and examine him. If the priest discovers that the sores of leprosy on the leper have been healed, 4 the priest will order that two live, clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought to the person who is to be cleansed. 5 The priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water that is in a clay pot. 6 He is to take the live bird and dip the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn, the hyssop, and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. 7 He shall sprinkle the one who is to be declared cleansed seven times. He will then release the live bird in the open fields. 8 The person who is being cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself with water. He will then be considered to be clean. Thereafter he may come into the camp, but he shall stay outside of his tent for seven days. 9 On the seventh day he shall shave off all of his hair. He must shave the hair off his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he shall then 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 a portion of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, and a log measure of oil. 11 The priest who will purify the man to be made clean shall present him and these things before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 12 The priest shall take one of the lambs and offer it along with the log measure of oil. This shall be a guilt offering. He shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 13 He shall slay the lamb in the same place that he is going to slay the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the sanctuary, for the sin offering belongs to the priest just like the guilt offering. It is most holy. 14 [a]The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right ear lobe of the one who is being cleansed, as well as on the thumb of his right hand and the big toe of his right foot. 15 The priest shall take some oil from the log measure of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. 16 The priest shall dip his right finger into the oil that is in his left hand. With his finger he shall sprinkle the oil seven times before the Lord. 17 The priest shall take the rest of the oil in his hand and put it on the right ear lobe of the one who is being cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big toe of his right foot, and upon the blood of the guilt offering. 18 He shall pour the rest of the oil that is in his hand upon the head of the one who is being cleansed. The priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord. 19 The priest shall then offer the sin offering and make atonement for the uncleanness of the one who is being cleansed. Afterward he shall slay the burnt offering. 20 The priest shall offer the burnt offering and the cereal offering upon the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
11 New Encounter of the Church with Magic.[a] So extraordinary were the wonders God worked through Paul 12 that when handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, they were cured of their diseases and the evil spirits came out of them.
13 Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists used the name of the Lord Jesus over those possessed by evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish leading priest named Sceva were among those who were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” 16 Then the man with the evil spirit sprang at them, overpowered them, and prevailed over them so violently that they fled out of the house battered and naked.
17 When this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, everyone was awestruck, and the name of the Lord Jesus came to be held in ever increasing honor. 18 Moreover, many of those who had become believers came forward and openly confessed their deeds, 19 while a great number of those who practiced magic collected their books and burned them publicly. When the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver pieces.[b] 20 In such ways did the word of the Lord spread ever more widely and successfully.
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