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2
Kings 5:1-14
Psalm
30
1
Corinthians 9:24-27
Mark
1:40-45
2
Kings 5:1-14
5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was
a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the
LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior,
suffered from leprosy.
5:2
Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl
captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife.
5:3
She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the
prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."
5:4
So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the
land of Israel had said.
5:5
And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a
letter to the king of Israel." He went, taking with him ten
talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of
garments.
5:6
He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read,
"When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you
my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy."
5:7
When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and
said, "Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends
word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he
is trying to pick a quarrel with me."
5:8
But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had
torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, "Why have
you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that
there is a prophet in Israel."
5:9
So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the
entrance of Elisha's house.
5:10
Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the
Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall
be clean."
5:11
But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought
that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the
name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot,
and cure the leprosy!
5:12
Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all
the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be
clean?" He turned and went away in a rage.
5:13
But his servants approached and said to him, "Father, if the
prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not
have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, 'Wash,
and be clean'?"
5:14
So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan,
according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored
like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
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Psalm
30
30:1 I will extol you,
O LORD, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice
over me.
30:2
O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.
30:3
O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life
from among those gone down to the Pit.
30:4
Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks
to his holy name.
30:5
For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
30:6
As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be
moved."
30:7
By your favor, O LORD, you had established me as a strong
mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.
30:8
To you, O LORD, I cried, and to the LORD I made supplication:
30:9
"What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?
30:10
Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper!"
30:11
You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my
sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
30:12
so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I
will give thanks to you forever.
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1
Corinthians 9:24-27
9:24 Do you not know
that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the
prize? Run in such a way that you may win it.
9:25
Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to
receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.
9:26
So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air;
9:27
but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to
others I myself should not be disqualified.
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Mark
1:40-45
1:40 A leper came to
him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, "If you choose,
you can make me clean."
1:41
Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and
said to him, "I do choose. Be made clean!"
1:42
Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
1:43
After sternly warning him he sent him away at once,
1:44
saying to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go,
show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what
Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
1:45
But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the
word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but
stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every
quarter.
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