Laws About Bodily Discharges

¹The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, hWhen any man has a discharge from his body,1 his discharge is unclean. ³And this is the law of his uncleanness for a discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is blocked up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. ⁴Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. ⁵And anyone who touches his bed ishall wash his clothes and jbathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ⁶And whoever sits on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ⁷And whoever touches the body of the one with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ⁸And if the one with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ⁹And any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean. ¹⁰And whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries such things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ¹¹Anyone whom the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ¹²And an kearthenware vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

¹³“And when the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then lhe shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes. And he shall bathe his body in fresh water and shall be clean. ¹⁴And on the eighth day he shall take two mturtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. ¹⁵And the priest shall use them, none for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. oAnd the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge.

¹⁶p“If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening. ¹⁷And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. ¹⁸If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water and qbe unclean until the evening.

¹⁹“When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. ²⁰rAnd everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean. ²¹And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ²²And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ²³Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. ²⁴And sif any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

²⁵“If ta woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. ²⁶Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. ²⁷And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. ²⁸But uif she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. ²⁹And on the eighth day she shall take two vturtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. ³⁰And the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.

³¹“Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by wdefiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.”

³²This is the law xfor him who has a discharge and yfor him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby; ³³zalso for her who is unwell with her menstrual impurity, that is, for anyone, xmale or afemale, who has a discharge, and for the bman who lies with a woman who is unclean.

The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, fthe servant of the Lord, gwho addressed the words of this hsong to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

¹I love you, O Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my irock and my jfortress and my deliverer,

my God, my irock, in kwhom I take refuge,

my lshield, and mthe horn of my salvation, my nstronghold.

³I call upon the Lord, who is oworthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

⁴pThe cords of death encompassed me;

qthe torrents of destruction assailed me;1

⁵pthe cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.

⁶rIn my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I cried for help.

From his stemple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷Then the earth treeled and rocked;

the foundations also of the mountains trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

⁸Smoke went up from his nostrils,2

and devouring ufire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

⁹He vbowed the heavens and wcame down;

xthick darkness was under his feet.

¹⁰He rode on a cherub and flew;

he came swiftly on zthe wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness his covering, his acanopy around him,

thick clouds bdark with water.

¹²Out of the brightness before him

chailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

¹³The Lord also dthundered in the heavens,

and the Most High uttered his evoice,

hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴And he sent out his farrows and scattered them;

he flashed forth lightnings and grouted them.

¹⁵Then hthe channels of the sea were seen,

and the foundations of the world were laid bare

at your irebuke, O Lord,

at the blast of jthe breath of your nostrils.

¹⁶He ksent from on high, he took me;

he ldrew me out of mmany waters.

¹⁷He rescued me from my strong enemy

and from those who hated me,

for they were ntoo mighty for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.

¹⁹He brought me out into oa broad place;

he rescued me, because he pdelighted in me.

²⁰The Lord dealt with me qaccording to my righteousness;

according to rthe cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

²¹For I have skept the ways of the Lord,

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²²For tall his rules3 were before me,

and his statutes I did not put away from me.

²³I was ublameless before him,

and I kept myself from my guilt.

²⁴So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵With vthe merciful you show yourself merciful;

with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

²⁶with the purified you show yourself pure;

and with wthe crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

²⁷For you save xa humble people,

but ythe haughty eyes you bring down.

²⁸For it is you who light my zlamp;

the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

²⁹For by you I can run against a troop,

and by my God I can aleap over ba wall.

³⁰This God—his way is cperfect;4

the word of the Lord dproves true;

he is ea shield for all those who ftake refuge in him.

³¹For gwho is God, but the Lord?

And who is ha rock, except our God?—

³²the God who iequipped me with strength

and made my way jblameless.

³³He made my feet like the feet of a kdeer

and set me secure on lthe heights.

³⁴He mtrains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You have given me the shield of your salvation,

and your right hand nsupported me,

and your ogentleness made me great.

³⁶You pgave a wide place for my steps under me,

and my feet did not slip.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them,

and did not turn back till they were consumed.

³⁸I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;

they fell under my feet.

³⁹For you equipped me with strength for the battle;

you made those who rise against me sink under me.

⁴⁰You made my enemies qturn their backs to me,5

and those who hated me I destroyed.

⁴¹rThey cried for help, but there was none to save;

they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

⁴²I beat them fine as sdust before the wind;

I cast them out like tthe mire of the streets.

⁴³You delivered me from ustrife with the people;

you made me vthe head of the nations;

wpeople whom I had not known served me.

⁴⁴As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;

xforeigners ycame cringing to me.

⁴⁵xForeigners lost heart

and zcame trembling out of their fortresses.

⁴⁶The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be the God of my salvation—

⁴⁷the God who gave me vengeance

and asubdued peoples under me,

⁴⁸who rescued me from my enemies;

yes, you bexalted me above those who rose against me;

you delivered me from cthe man of violence.

⁴⁹dFor this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,

and esing to your name.

⁵⁰Great fsalvation he brings to his king,

and shows steadfast love to his ganointed,

to hDavid and his offspring forever.

¹zHe who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck,

will suddenly be abroken bbeyond healing.

²When cthe righteous increase, the people rejoice,

but when dthe wicked rule, the people groan.

³He who eloves wisdom makes his father glad,

but fa companion of prostitutes gsquanders his wealth.

⁴By justice a king hbuilds up the land,

but he who exacts gifts1 tears it down.

⁵iA man who flatters his neighbor

spreads ja net for his feet.

⁶An evil man is kensnared in his transgression,

but a righteous man lsings and rejoices.

⁷A righteous man mknows the rights of the poor;

a wicked man does not nunderstand such knowledge.

⁸oScoffers set a city aflame,

but the wise turn away wrath.

⁹If a wise man has an argument with a fool,

the fool only rages and laughs, and there is pno quiet.

¹⁰Bloodthirsty men qhate one who is blameless

and seek the life of the upright.2

¹¹A fool gives full vent to his spirit,

but a wise man quietly holds it back.

¹²If a ruler listens to falsehood,

all his officials will be wicked.

¹³The poor man and the oppressor rmeet together;

the Lord sgives light to the eyes of both.

¹⁴If a king tfaithfully judges the poor,

his throne will ube established forever.

¹⁵vThe rod and reproof give wisdom,

but a child left to himself wbrings shame to his mother.

¹⁶When the wicked increase, transgression increases,

but xthe righteous will look upon their downfall.

¹⁷yDiscipline your son, and he will give you rest;

he will give delight to your heart.

¹⁸Where zthere is no prophetic vision the people acast off restraint,3

but blessed is he who bkeeps the law.

¹⁹By mere words a servant is not disciplined,

for though he understands, he will not respond.

²⁰Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?

cThere is more hope for a fool than for him.

²¹Whoever pampers his servant from childhood

will in the end find him his heir.4

²²dA man of wrath stirs up strife,

and one given to anger causes much transgression.

²³eOne's pride will bring him low,

fbut he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

²⁴The partner of a thief ghates his own life;

hhe hears the curse, but discloses nothing.

²⁵iThe fear of man lays a snare,

but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

²⁶Many jseek the face of a ruler,

but it is from the Lord that a man kgets justice.

²⁷lAn unjust man is an abomination to the righteous,

but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked.

Pray for Us

¹Finally, brothers,1 jpray for us, that kthe word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,2 as happened among you, ²and lthat we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For mnot all have faith. ³But nthe Lord is faithful. He will establish you and oguard you against pthe evil one.3 ⁴And qwe have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. ⁵May the Lord rdirect your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Warning Against Idleness

⁶Now we command you, brothers, sin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, tthat you keep away from any ubrother vwho is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. ⁷For you yourselves know whow you ought to imitate us, because xwe were not idle when we were with you, ⁸nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but ywith toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. ⁹It was znot because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves aan example to imitate. ¹⁰For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: bIf anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. ¹¹For we hear that some among you cwalk in idleness, not busy at work, but dbusybodies. ¹²Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.4

¹³As for you, brothers, edo not grow weary in doing good. ¹⁴If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and fhave nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. ¹⁵gDo not regard him as an enemy, but hwarn him as a brother.

Benediction

¹⁶Now may ithe Lord of peace himself jgive you peace at all times in every way. kThe Lord be with you all.

¹⁷I, Paul, write lthis greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. ¹⁸mThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.