Leviticus 14:19-32 and Luke 18:1-8 (NLT)

Leviticus 14:19-32
Cleaning From Infectious Skin Diseases

19  “Then the priest must present the sin offering to purify the person who was cured of the skin disease. After that, the priest will slaughter the burnt offering
20  and offer it on the altar along with the grain offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the person who was healed, and the person will be ceremonially clean.
21  “But anyone who is too poor and cannot afford these offerings may bring one male lamb for a guilt offering, to be lifted up as a special offering for purification. The person must also bring two quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil for the grain offering and a cup of olive oil.
22  The offering must also include two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever the person can afford. One of the pair must be used for the sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.
23  On the eighth day of the purification ceremony, the person being purified must bring the offerings to the priest in the Lord’s presence at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
24  The priest will take the lamb for the guilt offering, along with the olive oil, and lift them up as a special offering to the Lord.
25  Then the priest will slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering. He will take some of its blood and apply it to the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified.
26  “The priest will also pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand.
27  He will dip his right finger into the oil in his palm and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord.
28  The priest will then apply some of the oil in his palm over the blood from the guilt offering that is on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified.
29  The priest will apply the oil remaining in his hand to the head of the person being purified. Through this process, the priest will purify the person before the Lord.
30  “Then the priest will offer the two turtledoves or the two young pigeons, whichever the person can afford.
31  One of them is for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, to be presented along with the grain offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the person before the Lord.
32  These are the instructions for purification for those who have recovered from a serious skin disease but who cannot afford to bring the offerings normally required for the ceremony of purification.”

Luke 18:1-8
The Parable Of The Persistent Widow

1    One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 

2    “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 

3    A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 

4    The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 

5    but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

6    Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 

7    Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 

8    I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Leviticus 14:1-18 and Luke 17:20-37 (NLT)

Leviticus 14:1-18
Cleaning From Infectious Skin Diseases

1    And the Lord said to Moses, 

2    “The following instructions are for those seeking ceremonial purification from a skin disease. Those who have been healed must be brought to the priest, 

3    who will examine them at a place outside the camp. If the priest finds that someone has been healed of a serious skin disease, 

4    he will perform a purification ceremony, using two live birds that are ceremonially clean, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch. 

5    The priest will order that one bird be slaughtered over a clay pot filled with fresh water. 

6    He will take the live bird, the cedar stick, the scarlet yarn, and the hyssop branch, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. 

7    The priest will then sprinkle the blood of the dead bird seven times on the person being purified of the skin disease. When the priest has purified the person, he will release the live bird in the open field to fly away.

8    “The persons being purified must then wash their clothes, shave off all their hair, and bathe themselves in water. Then they will be ceremonially clean and may return to the camp. However, they must remain outside their tents for seven days. 

9    On the seventh day they must again shave all the hair from their heads, including the hair of the beard and eyebrows. They must also wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. Then they will be ceremonially clean.

10  “On the eighth day each person being purified must bring two male lambs and a one-year-old female lamb, all with no defects, along with a grain offering of six quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil, and a cup of olive oil. 

11  Then the officiating priest will present that person for purification, along with the offerings, before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 

12  The priest will take one of the male lambs and the olive oil and present them as a guilt offering, lifting them up as a special offering before the Lord. 

13  He will then slaughter the male lamb in the sacred area where sin offerings and burnt offerings are slaughtered. As with the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest. It is a most holy offering. 

14  The priest will then take some of the blood of the guilt offering and apply it to the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified.

15  “Then the priest will pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand. 

16  He will dip his right finger into the oil in his palm and sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the Lord. 

17  The priest will then apply some of the oil in his palm over the blood from the guilt offering that is on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified.

18  The priest will apply the oil remaining in his hand to the head of the person being purified. Through this process, the priest will purify the person before the Lord.

Luke 17:20-37
The Coming Of The Kingdom Of God

20  One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”  Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. 

21  You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”

22  Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it. 

23  People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them. 

24  For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes. 

25  But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation.

26  “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 

27  In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all.

28  “And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— 

29  until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 

30  Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 

31  On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home. 

32  Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! 

33  If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it. 

34  That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 

35-36Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.”

37  “Where will this happen, Lord?” the disciples asked.

Jesus replied, “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.”

Leviticus 13:47-59 and Luke 17:11-19 (NLT)

Leviticus 13:47-59
Regulations About Mildew

47  “Now suppose mildew contaminates some woolen or linen clothing, 

48  woolen or linen fabric, the hide of an animal, or anything made of leather. 

49  If the contaminated area in the clothing, the animal hide, the fabric, or the leather article has turned greenish or reddish, it is contaminated with mildew and must be shown to the priest. 

50  After examining the affected spot, the priest will put the article in quarantine for seven days. 

51  On the seventh day the priest must inspect it again. If the contaminated area has spread, the clothing or fabric or leather is clearly contaminated by a serious mildew and is ceremonially unclean. 

52  The priest must burn the item—the clothing, the woolen or linen fabric, or piece of leather—for it has been contaminated by a serious mildew. It must be completely destroyed by fire.

53  “But if the priest examines it and finds that the contaminated area has not spread in the clothing, the fabric, or the leather, 

54  the priest will order the object to be washed and then quarantined for seven more days. 

55  Then the priest must examine the object again. If he finds that the contaminated area has not changed color after being washed, even if it did not spread, the object is defiled. It must be completely burned up, whether the contaminated spot is on the inside or outside. 

56  But if the priest examines it and finds that the contaminated area has faded after being washed, he must cut the spot from the clothing, the fabric, or the leather. 

57  If the spot later reappears on the clothing, the fabric, or the leather article, the mildew is clearly spreading, and the contaminated object must be burned up. 

58  But if the spot disappears from the clothing, the fabric, or the leather article after it has been washed, it must be washed again; then it will be ceremonially clean.

59  “These are the instructions for dealing with mildew that contaminates woolen or linen clothing or fabric or anything made of leather. This is how the priest will determine whether these items are ceremonially clean or unclean.”

Luke 17:11-19
Ten Healed of Leprosy

11  As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 

12  As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, 

13  crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14  He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.

15  One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 

16  He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.

17  Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 

18  Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 

19  And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”