The Curing Of Naaman
Worship
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD
Scriptures For The Lectionary Speaking Choir
Suggestions:
Use in ordinary sequence with the scripture reading.
Readers tell the story at a pace fast enough to keep listeners
interested. (This reading plus the next four can be used as a
youth group sharing or can be read by adults.)
6 readers -- 6 youths
Key:
1 = main storyteller
2 = young woman
3 = king of Aram
4 = king of Israel
5 = Elisha
6 = a servant
1: Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great
man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord
had given victory to Aram.
(1): The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now
the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive
from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife.
2: She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the
prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."
3: So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from
the land of Israel had said.
3: And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a
letter to the king of Israel."
1: He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand
shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter
to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you,
know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure
him of his leprosy."
4: When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes
and said, "Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends
word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he
is trying to pick a quarrel with me."
5: But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel
had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, "Why have
you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that
there is a prophet in Israel."
1: So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the
entrance of Elisha's house.
5: Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the
Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you
shall be clean."
1: But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought that
for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name
of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and
cure the leprosy!
(1): Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better
than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be
clean?" He turned and went away in a rage.
6:But his servants approached and said to him, "Father, if the
prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you
not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was,
'Wash, and be clean'?"
1: So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the
Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was
restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
Use in ordinary sequence with the scripture reading.
Readers tell the story at a pace fast enough to keep listeners
interested. (This reading plus the next four can be used as a
youth group sharing or can be read by adults.)
6 readers -- 6 youths
Key:
1 = main storyteller
2 = young woman
3 = king of Aram
4 = king of Israel
5 = Elisha
6 = a servant
1: Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great
man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord
had given victory to Aram.
(1): The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now
the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive
from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife.
2: She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the
prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."
3: So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from
the land of Israel had said.
3: And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a
letter to the king of Israel."
1: He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand
shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter
to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you,
know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure
him of his leprosy."
4: When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes
and said, "Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends
word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he
is trying to pick a quarrel with me."
5: But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel
had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, "Why have
you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that
there is a prophet in Israel."
1: So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the
entrance of Elisha's house.
5: Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the
Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you
shall be clean."
1: But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought that
for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name
of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and
cure the leprosy!
(1): Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better
than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be
clean?" He turned and went away in a rage.
6:But his servants approached and said to him, "Father, if the
prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you
not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was,
'Wash, and be clean'?"
1: So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the
Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was
restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
