Naaman Healed of Leprosy

1 ^lNaaman, ^mcommander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.¹ 2 Now the Syrians on ⁿone of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” 5 And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

So he went, ^otaking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels² of gold, and ten ^pchanges of clothing. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7 And when the king of Israel read the letter, ^qhe tore his clothes and said, ^r“Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only ^sconsider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”

8 But when Elisha the ^tman of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ^u“Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abana³ and Pharpar, the rivers of ^vDamascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants came near and said to him, ^w“My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, ^xand his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, ^yand he was clean.

Gehazi’s Greed and Punishment

15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that ^zthere is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so ^aaccept now a present from your servant.” 16 But he said, ^b“As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, ^cI will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord. 18 In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of ^dRimmon to worship there, ^eleaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” 19 He said to him, ^f“Go in peace.”

But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, 20 ^gGehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. ^hAs the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” 21 So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, ⁱ“Is all well?” 22 And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from ^jthe hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and ^ktwo changes of clothing.’” 23 And Naaman said, ^l“Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. 24 And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. 25 He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” 26 But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? 27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence ^ma leper, like snow.

Pray for All People

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 ^vfor kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and ^wdignified in every way. 3 This is good, and ^xit is pleasing in the sight of ^yGod our Savior, 4 who desires ^zall people to be saved and ^ato come to ^bthe knowledge of the truth. 5 For ^cthere is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man¹ Christ Jesus, 6 ^dwho gave himself as a ransom for all, which is ^ethe testimony given ^fat the proper time. 7 ^gFor this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (^hI am telling the truth, I am not lying), ⁱa teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

8 I desire then that ^jin every place the men should pray, ^klifting ^lholy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also ^mthat women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 ⁿbut with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly ^owith all submissiveness. 12 ^pI do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 ^qFor Adam was formed first, ^rthen Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but ^sthe woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through ^tchildbearing—if they continue in ^ufaith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Daniel’s Prayer for His People

1 ^bIn the first year of ^cDarius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a ^dMede, who was made king over the realm of the ^eChaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to ^fthe word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by ^gprayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and ^hmade confession, saying, ⁱ“O Lord, the ⁱgreat and awesome God, who ^jkeeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 ^kwe have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly ^land rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 ^mWe have not listened to ⁿyour servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to ^oour kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 To you, ^pO Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, ^qthose who are near and ^qthose who are far away, in ^rall the lands to which you have driven them, because of ^sthe treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because ^kwe have sinned against you. 9 ^tTo the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 ^mand have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by ⁿhis servants the prophets. 11 ^uAll Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, ^vrefusing to obey your voice. ^wAnd the curse and oath ^xthat are written in the Law of ^yMoses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because ^kwe have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against ^zour rulers who ruled us,¹ by ^abringing upon us a great calamity. ^bFor under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 ^xAs it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, ^cturning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 ^dTherefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, ^efor the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and ^fwe have not obeyed his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt ^gwith a mighty hand, and ^hhave made a name for yourself, as at this day, ⁱwe have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 “O Lord, ^jaccording to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, ^kyour holy hill, ^lbecause for our sins, and for ^mthe iniquities of our fathers, ⁿJerusalem and your people have become ^oa byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord,^{2 p}make your face to shine upon ^qyour sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 ^rO my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see ^sour desolations, and ^tthe city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. ^uDelay not, ^vfor your own sake, O my God, because ^tyour city and ^wyour people are called by your name.”

Gabriel Brings an Answer

20 ^xWhile I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for ^ythe holy hill of my God, 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man ^zGabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, ^acame to me in swift flight at ^bthe time of the evening sacrifice. 22 ^cHe made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you ^dinsight and understanding. 23 ^eAt the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, ^fand I have come to tell it to you, for ^gyou are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word ^hand understand the vision.

The Seventy Weeks

24 ⁱ“Seventy weeks³ are decreed about your people and ^jyour holy city, to finish ^kthe transgression, to put an end to sin, ^land to atone for iniquity, ^mto bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and ⁿto anoint a most holy place.⁴ 25 ^oKnow therefore and understand that ^pfrom the going out of the word to restore and ^qbuild Jerusalem to the coming of an ^ranointed one, a ^sprince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again⁵ with squares and moat, ^tbut in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall ^ube cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come ^vshall destroy the city and the sanctuary. ^wIts⁶ end shall come with a flood, ^xand to the end there shall be war. ^yDesolations are decreed. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week,⁷ and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. ^zAnd on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until ^athe decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

The Lord’s Faithfulness Endures Forever

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever