2 Kings 5, 1 Timothy 2, Daniel 9, Psalm 117, 118

2 Kings 5,

1 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
 
2 Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife.
 
3 She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."
 
4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.
 
5 "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing.
 
6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy."
 
7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!"
 
8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel."
 
9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house.
 
10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."
 
11 But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.
 
12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.
 
13 Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!"
 
14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
 
15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant."
 
16 The prophet answered, "As surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing." And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.
 
17 "If you will not," said Naaman, "please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the LORD.
 
18 But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also-when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this."
 
19 "Go in peace," Elisha said. After Naaman had traveled some distance,
 
20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, "My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him."
 
21 So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. "Is everything all right?" he asked.
 
22 "Everything is all right," Gehazi answered. "My master sent me to say, 'Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.' "
 
23 "By all means, take two talents," said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi.
 
24 When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.
 
25 Then he went in and stood before his master Elisha. "Where have you been, Gehazi?" Elisha asked. "Your servant didn't go anywhere," Gehazi answered.
 
26 But Elisha said to him, "Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants?
 
27 Naaman's leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever." Then Gehazi went from Elisha's presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

1 Timothy 2,

1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-
 
2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
 
3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior,
 
4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
 
5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
 
6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time.
 
7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle-I am telling the truth, I am not lying-and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.
 
8 I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.
 
9 I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
 
10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
 
11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.
 
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
 
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
 
14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
 
15 But women will be saved through childbearing-if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.
 

Daniel 9,

1 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom-
 
2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
 
3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
 
4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands,
 
5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.
 
6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
 
7 "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame-the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you.
 
8 O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.
 
9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;
 
10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.
 
11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. "Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you.
 
12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.
 
13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.
 
14 The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.
 
15 "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong.
 
16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
 
17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.
 
18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.
 
19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."
 
20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill-
 
21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.
 
22 He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.
 
23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision:
 
24 "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
 
25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
 
26 After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
 
27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
 

Psalm 117, 118

1 Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.
 
2 For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
 
2 Let Israel say: "His love endures forever."
 
3 Let the house of Aaron say: "His love endures forever."
 
4 Let those who fear the LORD say: "His love endures forever."
 
5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.
 
6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
 
7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
 
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
 
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
 
10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
 
11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
 
12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
 
13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me.
 
14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
 
15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: "The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!
 
16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"
 
17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
 
18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
 
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
 
20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.
 
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
 
22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
 
23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
 
24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
 
25 O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success.
 
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
 
27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
 
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
 
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.