Numbers 16, Psalm 52, 53, 54, Isaiah 6, Hebrews 13

Numbers 16,

1 Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites-Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth-became insolent
 
2 and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.
 
3 They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly?"
 
4 When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.
 
5 Then he said to Korah and all his followers: "In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him.
 
6 You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers
 
7 and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the LORD. The man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!"
 
8 Moses also said to Korah, "Now listen, you Levites!
 
9 Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them?
 
10 He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too.
 
11 It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?"
 
12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, "We will not come!
 
13 Isn't it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us?
 
14 Moreover, you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!"
 
15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them."
 
16 Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow-you and they and Aaron.
 
17 Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it-250 censers in all-and present it before the LORD. You and Aaron are to present your censers also."
 
18 So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
 
19 When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire assembly.
 
20 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
 
21 "Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once."
 
22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, "O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?"
 
23 Then the LORD said to Moses,
 
24 "Say to the assembly, 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.' "
 
25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
 
26 He warned the assembly, "Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins."
 
27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.
 
28 Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea:
 
29 If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me.
 
30 But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt."
 
31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart
 
32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions.
 
33 They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.
 
34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!"
 
35 And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
 
36 The LORD said to Moses,
 
37 "Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take the censers out of the smoldering remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy-
 
38 the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the LORD and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites."
 
39 So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar,
 
40 as the LORD directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the LORD, or he would become like Korah and his followers.
 
41 The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. "You have killed the LORD's people," they said.
 
42 But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.
 
43 Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting,
 
44 and the LORD said to Moses,
 
45 "Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." And they fell facedown.
 
46 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has started."
 
47 So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them.
 
48 He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.
 
49 But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah.
 
50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, for the plague had stopped.
 

Psalm 52, 53, 54,

1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
 
2 Your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor, you who practice deceit.
 
3 You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. Selah
 
4 You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue!
 
5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
 
6 The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at him, saying,
 
7 "Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!"
 
8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.
 
9 I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.

1 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good.
 
2 God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
 
3 Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
 
4 Will the evildoers never learn-those who devour my people as men eat bread and who do not call on God?
 
5 There they were, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread. God scattered the bones of those who attacked you; you put them to shame, for God despised them.
 
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

1 Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might.
 
2 Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.
 
3 Strangers are attacking me; ruthless men seek my life-men without regard for God. Selah
 
4 Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.
 
5 Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in your faithfulness destroy them.
 
6 I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, O LORD, for it is good.
 
7 For he has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

Isaiah 6,

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
 
2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
 
3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
 
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
 
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
 
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
 
7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
 
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
 
9 He said, "Go and tell this people: " 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'
 
10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."
 
11 Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?" And he answered: "Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,
 
12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
 
13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."

Hebrews 13

1 Keep on loving each other as brothers.
 
2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
 
3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
 
4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
 
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
 
6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
 
7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
 
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
 
9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.
 
10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.
 
11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp.
 
12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.
 
13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.
 
14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
 
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that confess his name.
 
16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
 
17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
 
18 Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.
 
19 I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.
 
20 May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
 
21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
 
22 Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter.
 
23 I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.
 
24 Greet all your leaders and all God's people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.
 
25 Grace be with you all.