The One Year Bible TLB (44 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
Winking at sin leads to sorrow; bold reproof leads to peace.
February 23And the Lord gave Moses these regulations concerning a person whose leprosy disappears:
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“The priest shall go out of the camp to examine him. If the priest sees that the leprosy is gone,
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he shall require two living birds of a kind permitted for food, and shall take some cedar wood, a scarlet string, and some hyssop branches, to be used for the purification ceremony of the one who is healed.
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The priest shall then order one of the birds killed in an earthenware pot held above running water.
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The other bird, still living, shall be dipped in the blood, along with the cedar wood, the scarlet thread, and the hyssop branch.
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Then the priest shall sprinkle the blood seven times upon the man cured of his leprosy, and the priest shall pronounce him cured, and shall let the living bird fly into the open field.
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“Then the man who is cured shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe himself, and return to live inside the camp; however, he must stay outside his tent for seven days.
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The seventh day he shall again shave all the hair from his head, beard, and eyebrows, and wash his clothes and bathe, and shall then be declared fully cured of his leprosy.
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“The next day, the eighth day, he shall take two male lambs without physical defect, one yearling ewe-lamb without physical defect, ten quarts of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil, and a pint of olive oil;
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then the priest who examines him shall place the man and his offerings before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
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The priest shall take one of the lambs and the pint of olive oil and offer them to the Lord as a guilt offering by the gesture of waving them before the altar.
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Then he shall kill the lamb at the place where sin offerings and burnt offerings are killed, there at the Tabernacle; this guilt offering shall then be given to the priest for food, as in the case of a sin offering. It is a most holy offering.
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The priest shall take the blood from this guilt offering and smear some of it upon the tip of the right ear of the man being cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big toe of his right foot.
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“Then the priest shall take the olive oil and pour it into the palm of his left hand,
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and dip his right finger into it, and sprinkle it with his finger seven times before the Lord.
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Some of the oil remaining in his left hand shall then be placed by the priest upon the tip of the man’s right ear and the thumb of his right hand and the big toe of his right foot—just as he did with the blood of the guilt offering.
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The remainder of the oil in his hand shall be used to anoint the man’s head. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord.
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“Then the priest must offer the sin offering and again
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perform the rite of atonement for the person being cleansed from his leprosy; and afterwards the priest shall kill the burnt offering,
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and offer it along with the grain offering upon the altar, making atonement for the man, who shall then be pronounced finally cleansed.
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“If he is so poor that he cannot afford two lambs, then he shall bring only one, a male lamb for the guilt offering, to be presented to the Lord in the rite of atonement by waving it before the altar; and only three quarts of fine white flour, mixed with olive oil, for a grain offering, and a pint of olive oil.
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“He shall also bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons—whichever he is able to afford—and use one of the pair for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.
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He shall bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle on the eighth day, for his ceremony of cleansing before the Lord.
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The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, and the pint of oil, and wave them before the altar as a gesture of offering to the Lord.
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Then he shall kill the lamb for the guilt offering and smear some of its blood upon the tip of the man’s right ear—the man on whose behalf the ceremony is being performed—and upon the thumb of his right hand and upon the big toe of his right foot.
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“The priest shall then pour the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand,
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and with his right finger he is to sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord.
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Then he must put some of the olive oil from his hand upon the tip of the man’s right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big toe of his right foot, just as he did with the blood of the guilt offering.
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The remaining oil in his hand shall be placed upon the head of the man being cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord.
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“Then he must offer the two turtledoves or two young pigeons (whichever pair he is able to afford).
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One of the pair is for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, to be sacrificed along with the grain offering; and the priest shall make atonement for the man before the Lord.”
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These, then, are the laws concerning those who are cleansed of leprosy but are not able to bring the sacrifices normally required for the ceremony of cleansing.
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Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When you arrive in the land of Canaan which I have given you, and I place leprosy in some house there,
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then the owner of the house shall come and report to the priest, ‘It seems to me that there may be leprosy in my house!’
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“The priest shall order the house to be emptied before he examines it, so that everything in the house will not be declared contaminated if he decides that there is leprosy there.
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If he finds greenish or reddish streaks in the walls of the house which seem to be beneath the surface of the wall,
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he shall close up the house for seven days,
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and return the seventh day to look at it again. If the spots have spread in the wall,
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then the priest shall order the removal of the spotted section of wall, and the material must be thrown into a defiled place outside the city.
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Then he shall order the inside walls of the house scraped thoroughly and the scrapings dumped in a defiled place outside the city.
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Other stones shall be brought to replace those that have been removed, new mortar used, and the house replastered.
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“But if the spots appear again,
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the priest shall come again and look, and if he sees that the spots have spread, it is leprosy, and the house is defiled.
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Then he shall order the destruction of the house—all its stones, timbers, and mortar shall be carried out of the city to a defiled place.
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Anyone entering the house while it is closed shall be defiled until evening.
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Anyone who lies down or eats in the house shall wash his clothing.
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“But if, when the priest comes again to look, the spots have not reappeared after the fresh plastering, then he will pronounce the house cleansed and declare the leprosy gone.
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He shall also perform the ceremony of cleansing, using two birds, cedar wood, scarlet thread, and hyssop branches.
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He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in an earthenware bowl,
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and dip the cedar wood, hyssop branch, and scarlet thread, as well as the living bird, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water, and shall sprinkle the house seven times. In this way the house shall be cleansed.
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Then he shall let the live bird fly away into an open field outside the city. This is the method for making atonement for the house and cleansing it.”
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These, then, are the laws concerning the various places where leprosy may appear:
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in a garment or in a house,
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or in any swelling in one’s skin, or a scab from a burn, or a bright spot.
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In this way you will know whether or not it is actually leprosy. That is why these laws are given.
The apostles now returned to Jesus from their tour and told him all they had done and what they had said to the people they visited.
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Then Jesus suggested,
“Let’s get away from the crowds for a while and rest.”
For so many people were coming and going that they scarcely had time to eat.
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So they left by boat for a quieter spot.
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But many people saw them leaving and ran on ahead along the shore and met them as they landed.
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So the usual vast crowd was there as he stepped from the boat; and he had pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he taught them many things they needed to know.
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Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “Tell the people to go away to the nearby villages and farms and buy themselves some food, for there is nothing to eat here in this desolate spot, and it is getting late.”
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But Jesus said,
“
You
feed them.”
“With what?” they asked. “It would take a fortune
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to buy food for all this crowd!”
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“How much food do we have?”
he asked.
“Go and find out.”
They came back to report that there were five loaves of bread and two fish.
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Then Jesus told the crowd to sit down, and soon colorful groups of fifty or a hundred each were sitting on the green grass.
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He took the five loaves and two fish and looking up to heaven, gave thanks for the food. Breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave some of the bread and fish to each disciple to place before the people.
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And the crowd ate until they could hold no more!
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There were about 5,000 men there for that meal, and afterwards twelve basketfuls of scraps were picked up off the grass!
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Immediately after this Jesus instructed his disciples to get back into the boat and strike out across the lake to Bethsaida, where he would join them later. He himself would stay and tell the crowds good-bye and get them started home.
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Afterwards he went up into the hills to pray.
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During the night, as the disciples in their boat were out in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land,
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he saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves.
About three o’clock in the morning he walked out to them on the water. He started past them,
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but when they saw something walking along beside them, they screamed in terror, thinking it was a ghost,
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for they all saw him.
But he spoke to them at once.
“It’s all right,”
he said.
“It is I! Don’t be afraid.”
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Then he climbed into the boat and the wind stopped!
They just sat there, unable to take it in!
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For they still didn’t realize who he was, even after the miracle the evening before! For they didn’t want to believe!
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When they arrived at Gennesaret on the other side of the lake, they moored the boat
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and climbed out.
The people standing around there recognized him at once,
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and ran throughout the whole area to spread the news of his arrival, and began carrying sick folks to him on mats and stretchers.
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Wherever he went—in villages and cities, and out on the farms—they laid the sick in the market plazas and streets, and begged him to let them at least touch the fringes of his clothes; and as many as touched him were healed.
I waited patiently for God to help me; then he listened and heard my cry.
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He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out from the bog and the mire, and set my feet on a hard, firm path, and steadied me as I walked along.
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He has given me a new song to sing, of praises to our God. Now many will hear of the glorious things he did for me, and stand in awe before the Lord, and put their trust in him.
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Many blessings are given to those who trust the Lord and have no confidence in those who are proud or who trust in idols.
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O Lord my God, many and many a time you have done great miracles for us, and we are ever in your thoughts. Who else can do such glorious things? No one else can be compared with you. There isn’t time to tell of all your wonderful deeds.
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It isn’t sacrifices and offerings that you really want from your people. Burnt animals bring no special joy to your heart. But you have accepted the offer of my lifelong service.
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Then I
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said, “See, I have come, just as all the prophets foretold.
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And I delight to do your will, my God, for your law is written upon my heart!”
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I have told everyone the good news that you forgive people’s sins.
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I have not been timid about it, as you well know, O Lord.
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I have not kept this good news hidden in my heart, but have proclaimed your loving-kindness and truth to all the congregation.