Cleansing Unhealthiness
1The Lord also spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. 3This, moreover, shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: it is his uncleanness whether his body allows its discharge to flow or whether his body obstructs its discharge. 4Every bed on which the person with the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean. 5Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening; 6and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 7Also whoever touches the person with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 8Or if the man with the discharge spits on one who is clean, he too shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 9Every saddle on which the person with the discharge rides becomes unclean. 10Whoever then touches any of the things which were under him shall be unclean until evening, and he who carries them shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 11Likewise, whomever the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 12However, an earthenware vessel which the person with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden vessel shall be rinsed in water.
13‘Now when the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge, then he shall count off for himself seven days for his cleansing; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean. 14Then on the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the Lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest; 15and the priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord because of his discharge.
16‘Now if a man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until evening. 17As for any garment or any leather on which there is seminal emission, it shall be washed with water and be unclean until evening. 18If a man lies with a woman so that there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
6Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
7You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Introduction, The Incarnate Word
1What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
God Is Light
5This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
1) How does confession parallel ritual washing?
2) What does continual cleansing teach about relationship with יהוה?
3) How do purity and honesty maintain spiritual health?
PSALM 12
God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
For the choir director; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
1Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2They speak falsehood to one another;
With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.
3May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things;
4Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”
5“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”
6The words of the Lord are pure words;
As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.
7You, O Lord, will keep them;
You will preserve him from this generation forever.
8The wicked strut about on every side
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
On Life and Conduct
1When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
Consider carefully what is before you,
2And put a knife to your throat
If you are a man of great appetite.
3Do not desire his delicacies,
For it is deceptive food.
4Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,
Cease from your consideration of it.
5When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
6Do not eat the bread of a selfish man,
Or desire his delicacies;
7For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, “Eat and drink!”
But his heart is not with you.
8You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten,
And waste your compliments.
9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10Do not move the ancient boundary
Or go into the fields of the fatherless,
11For their Redeemer is strong;
He will plead their case against you.
12Apply your heart to discipline
And your ears to words of knowledge.
13Do not hold back discipline from the child,
Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
14You shall strike him with the rod
And rescue his soul from Sheol.
15My son, if your heart is wise,
My own heart also will be glad;
16And my inmost being will rejoice
When your lips speak what is right.
17Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But live in the fear of the Lord always.
18Surely there is a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.
19Listen, my son, and be wise,
And direct your heart in the way.
20Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine,
Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
21For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.
22Listen to your father who begot you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.
23Buy truth, and do not sell it,
Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.
24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him.
25Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.
26Give me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes delight in my ways.
27For a harlot is a deep pit
And an adulterous woman is a narrow well.
28Surely she lurks as a robber,
And increases the faithless among men.
29Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
30Those who linger long over wine,
Those who go to taste mixed wine.
31Do not look on the wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the cup,
When it goes down smoothly;
32At the last it bites like a serpent
And stings like a viper.
33Your eyes will see strange things
And your mind will utter perverse things.
34And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea,
Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.
35“They struck me, but I did not become ill;
They beat me, but I did not know it.
When shall I awake?
I will seek another drink.”