Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins. Proverbs 10:12
Leviticus 14
Cleansing the Leper
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest, 3 and the priest shall go out of the camp to examine him. If the leprosy is healed in the leper, 4 then the priest shall command them to take two live, clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop for the one who is to be cleansed.
5 The priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. 6 As for the live bird, he shall take it and the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. 7 He shall sprinkle the one who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times and shall pronounce him clean and shall let the live bird go into the open field.
8 He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all of his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp but shall dwell outside his tent for seven days. 9 It shall be on the seventh day that he shall shave all of the hair off of his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave all of his hair off completely. He shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his body in water. Then 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 six quarts of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, and one pint of oil. 11 The priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and those things, before the Lord, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
12 The priest shall take one of the male lambs and offer him for a trespass offering, with the pint of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 13 He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary, for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy.
14 The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass 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 The priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.
16 The priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. 17 The priest shall put some of the rest of the oil that is in his hand 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, upon the blood of the trespass offering. 18 The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on 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 because of his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. 20 Then the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
21 If he is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and two quarts of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a pint of oil, 22 and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford, and the one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
23 On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, before the Lord.
24 The priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering and the pint of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 25 He shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and 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. 26 The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, 27 and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord.
28 Then the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand 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, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering.
29 The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord. 30 He shall offer one of the turtledoves, or one of the young pigeons, whichever he can afford, 31 of the kind can afford, one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the grain offering. The priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the Lord.
32 This is the law for the one who has leprosy and is not able to afford the sacrifice for his cleansing.”
Signs of Home Contamination
33 The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 34 “When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I am giving to you for your possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession, 35 then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, ‘There seems to me to be some sort of contamination in the house.’
36 The priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest enters it to examine the contamination, so that all the contents of the house will not be deemed unclean. Afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house.
37 He shall examine the contamination, and if it is in the walls of the house with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, and it appears to be deeper than the wall, 38 then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house for seven days.
39 The priest shall come back on the seventh day and look. If the contamination has spread in the walls of the house, 40 then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which the contamination is found and cast them into an unclean place outside of the city.
41 He shall have the inside of the house completely scraped down. They shall pour out the mortar that they scraped off outside of the city into an unclean place. 42 They shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other mortar and shall plaster the house.
43 If the contamination comes back and breaks out in the house after he has taken out the stones and after he has scraped the house and after it was plastered, 44 then the priest shall come in and look, and if the contamination has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew in the house. It is unclean.
45 He shall break down the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the house’s mortar. He shall carry them out of the city into an unclean place.
46 Moreover he who goes into the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening. 47 He who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes, and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.”
Cleansing a Home
48 If the priest shall come in and examine it, and the contamination has not spread through the house, after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the contamination has been cleansed.
49 To cleanse the house he shall take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. 50 He shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. 51 He shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and in the running water and sprinkle the house seven times.
52 He shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the running water, with the live bird, with the cedar wood, with the hyssop, and with the scarlet; 53 but he shall let the live bird go free, out of the city into the open field. So shall he make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.
54 This is the law for any disease, contamination, or scab, 55 and for the destructive mildew of a garment, and for a house, 56 and for a swelling, and for a scab, and for a bright spot, 57 to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.”
Mark 6:30-56
The Feeding of the 5,000
30 The apostles gathered together around Jesus and reported to him, all the things they had done and what they had taught. 31 He said to them, “Come apart into a deserted place and rest awhile,” for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to even eat. 32 They went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.
33 And many people saw them leaving and recognized him and ran there on foot from all the cities, arriving ahead of them. 34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things. 35 When it was late in the day, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it is late in the day. 36 Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat.”
37 But he answered them, “Give them something to eat.”
They asked him, “Shall we go and buy 200 silver coins worth of bread, and give them something to eat?”
38 He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go see.”
When they knew, they said, “Five, and two fish.”
39 He commanded them that everyone should sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 They sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before them, and he divided the two fish among all of them. 42 They all ate and were filled. 43 They took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and also the fish. 44 Those who ate the loaves were about 5,000 men.
Jesus Walks on Water
45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he himself sent the multitude away. 46 And when he had sent them away, he went up the mountain to pray.
47 When evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on land. 48 Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, and sometime between 3:00 and 6:00 in the morning, he came to them, walking on the sea, and he would have passed by them, 49 but they, when they saw him walking on the sea, thought that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw him, and were troubled. But he immediately spoke with them and said to them, “Have courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.” 51 He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased, and they were utterly amazed; 52 for they had not understood about the loaves, for their hearts were hardened.
Jesus Heals at Gennesaret
53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and drew to the shore. 54 When they had come out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him 55 and ran throughout the whole region, bringing those who were sick, on their mats to where they heard he was. 56 Wherever he entered, into villages, or into cities, or into the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might just touch the fringe of his garment, and as many as touched him were made well.
Psalm 40:1-10
I Waited Patiently for the Lord
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord.
He turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of a horrible pit,
out of the miry clay.
And set my feet on a rock,
and established my steps.
3 He has put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many shall see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.
4 Blessed is the man
who trusts in the Lord,
and does not turn to the proud
or resort to falsehood.
5 Many, O Lord, my God,
are the wonderful works which you have done.
And your thoughts toward us,
they cannot be declared back to you.
If I would declare and speak of them,
they would be more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire.
You have opened my ears.
You have not required
burnt offering and sin offering.
7 Then I said, “I have come.
It is written about me in the book in the scroll.
8 I delight to do your will, my God.
Yes, your law is within my heart.”
9 I have preached righteousness in the great assembly.
I have not restrained my lips, O Lord. You know.
10 I did not hide your righteousness in my heart.
I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation.
I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth
from the great assembly.
Proverbs 10:11-12
11 The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life,
but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
12 Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all sins.