33 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 34When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession; 35And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house: 36Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house: 37And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall; 38Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days: 39And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look: and, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house; 40Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city: 41And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place: 42And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other morter, and shall plaister the house. 43And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after that he hath taken away the stones, and after he hath scraped the house, and after it is plaistered; 44Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, if the plague be spread in the house, it is a fretting leprosy in the house: it is unclean. 45And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the morter of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place. 46Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even. 47And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes; and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes. 48And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plaistered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. 49And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: 50And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: 51And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: 52And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: 53But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.
54This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy, and scall, 55And for the leprosy of a garment, and of a house, 56And for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot: 57To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy.
10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 11Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, 12If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. 13Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. 14Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. 15And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD: 16Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty. 17I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD. 18Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid, consider it. 19Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
20 And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, 21Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; 22And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. 23In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.
16Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1) How can physical neglect reflect spiritual decay?
2) Why does cleansing begin at the house of יהוה?
3) What makes community holiness essential for His presence?
1Then Job answered and said, 2I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? 3If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. 4He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? 5Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger. 6Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. 7Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars. 8Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. 9Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. 10Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number. 11Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not. 12Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou? 13If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.
14How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him? 15Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge. 16If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice. 17For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause. 18He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness. 19If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead? 20If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. 21Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
22This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. 23If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent. 24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?
25Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good. 26They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey. 27If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself: 28I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. 29If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain? 30If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; 31Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. 32For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. 33Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both. 34Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me: 35Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.
11I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. 12Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. 13For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you? forgive me this wrong. 14Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 15And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. 16But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile. 17Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you? 18I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps? 19Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying. 20For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults: 21And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.