Day 58 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 37:17–25

¹⁷For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous. ¹⁸The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will last forever. ¹⁹In the time of evil they will not be ashamed, and in the days of famine they will be satisfied. ²⁰But the wicked and enemies of the LORD will perish like the glory of the fields. They will vanish; like smoke they will fade away. ²¹The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous are gracious and giving. ²²Surely those He blesses will inherit the land, but the cursed will be destroyed. ²³The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD who takes delight in his journey. ²⁴Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, for the LORD is holding his hand. ²⁵I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.

New Testament·Mark 5:24–43

²⁴So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd followed and pressed around Him. ²⁵And a woman was there who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶She had borne much agony under the care of many physicians and had spent all she had, but to no avail. Instead, her condition had only grown worse. ²⁷When the woman heard about Jesus, she came up through the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. ²⁸For she kept saying, “If only I touch His garments, I will be healed.” ²⁹Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction. ³⁰At once Jesus was aware that power had gone out from Him. Turning to the crowd, He asked, “Who touched My garments?” ³¹His disciples answered, “You can see the crowd pressing in on You, and yet You ask, ‘Who touched Me?’” ³²But He kept looking around to see who had done this. ³³Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him trembling in fear, and she told Him the whole truth. ³⁴“Daughter,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be free of your affliction.” ³⁵While He was still speaking, messengers from the house of Jairus arrived and said, “Your daughter is dead; why bother the Teacher anymore?” ³⁶But Jesus overheard their conversation and said to Jairus, “Do not be afraid; just believe.” ³⁷And He did not allow anyone to accompany Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. ³⁸When they arrived at the house of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw the commotion and the people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep.” ⁴⁰And they laughed at Him. After He had put them all outside, He took the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and went in to see the child. ⁴¹Taking her by the hand, Jesus said, “Talitha koum!” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” ⁴²Immediately the girl got up and began to walk around. She was twelve years old, and at once they were utterly astounded. ⁴³Then Jesus gave strict orders that no one should know about this, and He told them to give her something to eat.

Old Testament·Leviticus 13:35–14:29

³⁵If, however, the scaly outbreak spreads further on the skin after his cleansing, ³⁶the priest is to examine him, and if the scaly outbreak has spread on the skin, the priest need not look for yellow hair; the person is unclean. ³⁷If, however, in his sight the scaly outbreak is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, then it has healed. He is clean, and the priest is to pronounce him clean. ³⁸When a man or a woman has white spots on the skin, ³⁹the priest shall examine them, and if the spots are dull white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin; the person is clean. ⁴⁰Now if a man loses his hair and is bald, he is still clean. ⁴¹Or if his hairline recedes and he is bald on his forehead, he is still clean. ⁴²But if there is a reddish-white sore on the bald head or forehead, it is an infectious disease breaking out on it. ⁴³The priest is to examine him, and if the swelling of the infection on his bald head or forehead is reddish-white like a skin disease, ⁴⁴the man is diseased; he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean because of the infection on his head. ⁴⁵A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ ⁴⁶As long as he has the infection, he remains unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp. ⁴⁷If any fabric is contaminated with mildew —any wool or linen garment, ⁴⁸any weave or knit of linen or wool, or any article of leather— ⁴⁹and if the mark in the fabric, leather, weave, knit, or leather article is green or red, then it is contaminated with mildew and must be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰And the priest is to examine the mildew and isolate the contaminated fabric for seven days. ⁵¹On the seventh day the priest shall reexamine it, and if the mildew has spread in the fabric, weave, knit, or leather, then regardless of how it is used, it is a harmful mildew; the article is unclean. ⁵²He is to burn the fabric, weave, or knit, whether the contaminated item is wool or linen or leather. Since the mildew is harmful, the article must be burned up. ⁵³But when the priest reexamines it, if the mildew has not spread in the fabric, weave, knit, or leather article, ⁵⁴the priest is to order the contaminated article to be washed and isolated for another seven days. ⁵⁵After it has been washed, the priest is to reexamine it, and if the mildewed article has not changed in appearance, it is unclean. Even though the mildew has not spread, you must burn it, whether the rot is on the front or back. ⁵⁶If the priest examines it and the mildew has faded after it has been washed, he must cut the contaminated section out of the fabric, leather, weave, or knit. ⁵⁷But if it reappears in the fabric, weave, or knit, or on any leather article, it is spreading. You must burn the contaminated article. ⁵⁸If the mildew disappears from the fabric, weave, or knit, or any leather article after washing, then it is to be washed again, and it will be clean. ⁵⁹This is the law concerning a mildew contamination in wool or linen fabric, weave, or knit, or any leather article, for pronouncing it clean or unclean.”

14Then the LORD said to Moses, ²“This is the law for the one afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing, when he is brought to the priest. ³The priest is to go outside the camp to examine him, and if the skin disease of the afflicted person has healed, ⁴the priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed. ⁵Then the priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot. ⁶And he is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. ⁷Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the skin disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and release the live bird into the open field. ⁸The one being cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; then he will be ceremonially clean. Afterward, he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days. ⁹On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean. ¹⁰On the eighth day he is to bring two unblemished male lambs, an unblemished ewe lamb a year old, a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one log of olive oil. ¹¹The priest who performs the cleansing shall present the one to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹²Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and present it as a guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil; and he must wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. ¹³Then he is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy. ¹⁴The priest is to take some of the blood from the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ¹⁵Then the priest shall take some of the log of olive oil, pour it into his left palm, ¹⁶dip his right forefinger into the oil in his left palm, and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD. ¹⁷And the priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. ¹⁸The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD. ¹⁹Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering ²⁰and offer it on the altar, with the grain offering, to make atonement for him, and he will be clean. ²¹If, however, the person is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil, ²²and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. ²³On the eighth day he is to bring them for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD. ²⁴The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. ²⁵And after he slaughters the lamb for the guilt offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁶Then the priest is to pour some of the oil into his left palm ²⁷and sprinkle with his right forefinger some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the LORD. ²⁸The priest shall also put some of the oil in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot—on the same places as the blood of the guilt offering. ²⁹The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.