Today's Readings and Stuff -- Sunday, 02 June 2013

Apologies and all that.  Have not really posted anything since March, far too long.  I won't bore people with some of the things we've been going through, it has been a hard, bumpy road.  Not your problem, but it certainly has created some issues for us.  And things seem likely to get even bumpier.
So this morning I will be leading a group as we take up the book of Job.  Seems proper, somehow.

Very briefly, this morning's Old Testament text is chapters 7, 8, and 9 in 2nd Chronicles.  Solomon's work

II Chronicles 7

1	Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.
2	And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's house.
3	And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
4	Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.
5	And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
6	And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of music of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.
7	Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat.
8	Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt.
9	And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.
10	And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the LORD had showed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.
11	Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously effected.
12	And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.
13	If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
14	If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
15	Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
16	For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
17	And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;
18	Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.
19	But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
20	Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
21	And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?
22	And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

II Chronicles 8

1	And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house,
2	That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.
3	And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it.
4	And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.
5	Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;
6	And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.
7	As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel,
8	But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.
9	But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.
10	And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.
11	And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.
12	Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,
13	Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.
14	And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.
15	And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.
16	Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was perfected.
17	Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.
18	And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.

II Chronicles 9

1	And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
2	And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.
3	And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,
4	And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.
5	And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:
6	Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.
7	Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.
8	Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.
9	And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.
10	And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.
11	And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the LORD, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.
12	And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.
13	Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;
14	Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15	And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target.
16	And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
17	Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.
18	And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays:
19	And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.
20	And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
21	For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
22	And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
23	And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.
24	And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
25	And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
26	And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.
27	And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycamore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.
28	And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.
29	Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?
30	And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
31	And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

This evening's New Testament reading is verses 1-17 in chapter 13 of the Gospel of John,

John 13:1-17

1	Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
2	And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;
3	Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
4	He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
5	After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
6	Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
7	Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
8	Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
9	Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
10	Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
11	For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
12	So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
13	Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
14	If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
15	For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
16	Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
17	If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Sunday, 17 March 2013

Some apologies are due for the irregular postings lately.  There are reasons, other than plain sloth, for this, reasons beyond the scope of this posting.  Been tough.  Sorry.  I just worked all night, got home a short while ago, and in an hour or so will leave the house again to bring a message to our little church.  Makes for about a 25-hour long day, and may get longer. 

This morning's Old Testament passage is chapters 29 and 30.  Among other things, we are witnessing the era of Moses coming to a close.  Only a few more days here.  He knew as he spoke that this was the case.  Would I have done as well, knowing that the Lord was calling me home?  As I get older, such thoughts run through, more often than was the case just a few years ago.  Moses was intent of finishing well. I think he did all right.

Deuteronomy 29

1	These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
2	And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;
3	The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:
4	Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
5	And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.
6	Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.
7	And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:
8	And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.
9	Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.
10	Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
11	Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:
12	That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:
13	That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
14	Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;
15	But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:
16	(For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;
17	And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)
18	Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
19	And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
20	The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.
21	And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:
22	So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it;
23	And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
24	Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?
25	Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
26	For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:
27	And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:
28	And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.
29	The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Deuteronomy 30

1	And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
2	And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
3	That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
4	If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
5	And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
6	And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
7	And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
8	And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
9	And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
10	If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11	For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12	It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13	Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14	But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
15	See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16	In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17	But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18	I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19	I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20	That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

The New Testament passage is chapter 16 from the Gospel of Mark, completing it.  Mark tends to be a get down to it writer.  This is no exception.  But it captures the important thing at hand, the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus, and the Great Commission too.  Not bad.

Mark 16

1	And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
2	And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
3	And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
4	And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
5	And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
6	And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
7	But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
8	And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
9	Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
10	And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
11	And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
12	After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
13	And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.
14	Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
15	And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16	He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17	And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18	They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
19	So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
20	And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Monday, 11 February 2013

Middle of the night here, bad storms all around us.  Friends a bit south of here spent much of the evening huddled in the basement as near-tornadoes roared through the area.  Possibly some actual ones, they won't be sure until morning when damage assessment can take place.  We merely had a power failure, have everything back up now.  Dear Wife and I sitting at the kitchen table drinking a little decaf coffee and checking weather reports and status of friends near and far.
Heading into an uncertain week.  It appears that I will once again be asked to spend the week at a customer's facility on a night turn.  That does have the advantage of a commute roughly half that when I go to our operation (a 46 mile round trip rather than a 90 mile round trip) and it leaves me somewhat available during the day if Dear Wife has a doctor appointment or something.  She can no longer see to drive, and we have only the one car to share.  So it's not all bad, and perhaps there's a reason for all of this.
I heard from a recruiter last week, they want me to come in for an interview and are making arrangements to fly me into the Pittsburgh area soon.  Would be much closer to much of the family, and pay scale is about $25,000 more than what I've been drawing here for the last five years.  So that would be good.  And Dear Wife misses the family up there desperately.  So, we shall see.  I hate to get hopes up, there have been too many doors slammed in our face over the last eight years. 

The Old Testament passage before us is chapter 13 of the book of the Leviticus.  This is primarily the ceremonial Law, here requiring a type of perfection for those who serve the Lord, right down to the garments worn by them or anyone else.  The Lord's standards are high.  Ours should be as well.

Leviticus 13

1	And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying,
2	When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:
3	And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.
4	If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days:
5	And the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague in his sight be at a stay, and the plague spread not in the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more:
6	And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague be somewhat dark, and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is but a scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
7	But if the scab spread much abroad in the skin, after that he hath been seen of the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen of the priest again.
8	And if the priest see that, behold, the scab spreadeth in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a leprosy.
9	When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest;
10	And the priest shall see him: and, behold, if the rising be white in the skin, and it have turned the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh in the rising;
11	It is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not shut him up: for he is unclean.
12	And if a leprosy break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath the plague from his head even to his foot, wheresoever the priest looketh;
13	Then the priest shall consider: and, behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: it is all turned white: he is clean.
14	But when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean.
15	And the priest shall see the raw flesh, and pronounce him to be unclean: for the raw flesh is unclean: it is a leprosy.
16	Or if the raw flesh turn again, and be changed unto white, he shall come unto the priest;
17	And the priest shall see him: and, behold, if the plague be turned into white; then the priest shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: he is clean.
18	The flesh also, in which, even in the skin thereof, was a boil, and is healed,
19	And in the place of the boil there be a white rising, or a bright spot, white, and somewhat reddish, and it be showed to the priest;
20	And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.
21	But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hairs therein, and if it be not lower than the skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days:
22	And if it spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague.
23	But if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not, it is a burning boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
24	Or if there be any flesh, in the skin whereof there is a hot burning, and the quick flesh that burneth have a white bright spot, somewhat reddish, or white;
25	Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the hair in the bright spot be turned white, and it be in sight deeper than the skin; it is a leprosy broken out of the burning: wherefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.
26	But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hair in the bright spot, and it be no lower than the other skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days:
27	And the priest shall look upon him the seventh day: and if it be spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.
28	And if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not in the skin, but it be somewhat dark; it is a rising of the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him clean: for it is an inflammation of the burning.
29	If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard;
30	Then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.
31	And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it be not in sight deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days:
32	And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague: and, behold, if the scall spread not, and there be in it no yellow hair, and the scall be not in sight deeper than the skin;
33	He shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that hath the scall seven days more:
34	And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the scall: and, behold, if the scall be not spread in the skin, nor be in sight deeper than the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him clean: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
35	But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing;
36	Then the priest shall look on him: and, behold, if the scall be spread in the skin, the priest shall not seek for yellow hair; he is unclean.
37	But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and that there is black hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he is clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
38	If a man also or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots, even white bright spots;
39	Then the priest shall look: and, behold, if the bright spots in the skin of their flesh be darkish white; it is a freckled spot that groweth in the skin; he is clean.
40	And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean.
41	And he that hath his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, he is forehead bald: yet is he clean.
42	And if there be in the bald head, or bald forehead, a white reddish sore; it is a leprosy sprung up in his bald head, or his bald forehead.
43	Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the rising of the sore be white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh;
44	He is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head.
45	And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.
46	All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.
47	The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woolen garment, or a linen garment;
48	Whether it be in the warp, or woof; of linen, or of woolen; whether in a skin, or in any thing made of skin;
49	And if the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a plague of leprosy, and shall be showed unto the priest:
50	And the priest shall look upon the plague, and shut up it that hath the plague seven days:
51	And he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague be spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a skin, or in any work that is made of skin; the plague is a fretting leprosy; it is unclean.
52	He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woolen or in linen, or any thing of skin, wherein the plague is: for it is a fretting leprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire.
53	And if the priest shall look, and, behold, the plague be not spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin;
54	Then the priest shall command that they wash the thing wherein the plague is, and he shall shut it up seven days more:
55	And the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed: and, behold, if the plague have not changed his color, and the plague be not spread; it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire; it is fret inward, whether it be bare within or without.
56	And if the priest look, and, behold, the plague be somewhat dark after the washing of it; then he shall rend it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof:
57	And if it appear still in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a spreading plague: thou shalt burn that wherein the plague is with fire.
58	And the garment, either warp, or woof, or whatsoever thing of skin it be, which thou shalt wash, if the plague be departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and shall be clean.
59	This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woolen or linen, either in the warp, or woof, or any thing of skins, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.

The New Testament passage here is verses 20-54 from Matthew chapter 26.  This is an appropriate passage as we enter into the season of Lent.  Here we see the culmination of the Last Supper, and conclude with Jesus being seized in the Garden of Gethsemane.  A hard thing to watch.

Matthew 26:20-54

20	Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
21	And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
22	And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?
23	And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
24	The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.
25	Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.
26	And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27	And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28	For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
29	But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
30	And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
31	Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
32	But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.
33	Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
34	Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
35	Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.
36	Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
37	And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
38	Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
39	And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
40	And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
41	Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
42	He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
43	And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
44	And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
45	Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
46	Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.
47	And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.
48	Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.
49	And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.
50	And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus and took him.
51	And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear.
52	Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
53	Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?