Korah's Rebellion

16 Now ^(A)Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and ^(B)Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. ² And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. ^3 (C)They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, ^(D)“You have gone too far! For ^(E)all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” ⁴ When Moses heard it, ^(F)he fell on his face, ⁵ and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the Lord will show ^(G)who is his,^[a] and who is ^(H)holy, and will bring him near to him. The one ^(I)whom he chooses he will ^(J)bring near to him. ⁶ Do this: take ^(K)censers, Korah and all his company; ⁷ put fire in them and put incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the holy one. ^(L)You have gone too far, sons of Levi!” ⁸ And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: ⁹ is it ^(M)too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has ^(N)separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, ¹⁰ and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? ¹¹ Therefore it is against the Lord that you and all your company have gathered together. What is ^(O)Aaron that you grumble against him?”

¹² And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up. ¹³ Is it ^(P)a small thing that you have brought us up out of ^(Q)a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also ^(R)make yourself a prince over us? ¹⁴ Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.” ¹⁵ And Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, ^(S)“Do not respect their offering. ^(T)I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.”

¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, ^(U)before the Lord, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. ¹⁷ And ^(V)let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the Lord his censer, ^(W)250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.” ¹⁸ So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ^(X)And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ^21 (Y)“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them ^(Z)in a moment.” ²² And they ^(AA)fell on their faces and said, “O God, ^(AB)the God of the spirits of all flesh, ^(AC)shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” ²³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

David Defeats His Enemies

18 ^(A)After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.

² And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

³ David also defeated ^(B)Hadadezer king of ^(C)Zobah-Hamath, as he went to set up his monument^[a] at the river Euphrates. ⁴ And David took from him 1,000 chariots, ^(D)7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for 100 chariots. ⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king ^(E)of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. ⁶ Then David put garrisons^[b] in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David^[c] wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from ^(F)Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze. ^(G)With it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.

⁹ When ^(H)Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, king ^(I)of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent his son ^(J)Hadoram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against ^(K)Hadadezer and defeated him; for ^(L)Hadadezer had often been at war with Tou. And he sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze. ¹¹ These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from ^(M)Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

¹² And ^(N)Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David's Administration

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people. ¹⁵ And ^(O)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ^16 (P)and Zadok the son of Ahitub and ^(Q)Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests; and ^(R)Shavsha was secretary; ¹⁷ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were the ^(S)chief officials in the service of the king.

The Altar

¹³ “These are the measurements of ^(A)the altar by cubits (the cubit being ^(B)a cubit and a handbreadth):^[a] its base shall be one cubit high^[b] and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span^[c] around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar: ¹⁴ from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; ¹⁵ and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, ^(C)four horns. ¹⁶ The altar hearth shall be ^(D)square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad. ¹⁷ The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all around. ^(E)The steps of the altar shall face east.”

¹⁸ And he said to me, ^(F)“Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and ^(G)for throwing blood against it, ¹⁹ you shall give to ^(H)the Levitical priests ^(I)of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord God, ^(J)a bull from the herd for a sin offering. ²⁰ And ^(K)you shall take some of its blood and put it on ^(L)the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon ^(M)the rim all around. ^(N)Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it. ²¹ You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and ^(O)it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area. ²² And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull. ²³ When you have finished ^(P)purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and ^(Q)a ram from the flock without blemish. ²⁴ You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests ^(R)shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. ^25 (S)For seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. ²⁶ Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.^{[d] 27} And when they have completed these days, then ^(T)from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your ^(U)peace offerings, and ^(V)I will accept you, declares the Lord God.”

Give Ear to My Voice

A Psalm of David.

You Are My Refuge

A Maskil^[d] of David, when he was in ^(R)the cave. A Prayer.

The Plot to Kill Jesus

22 ^(A)Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called ^(B)the Passover. ² And the chief priests and the scribes ^(C)were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.

Judas to Betray Jesus

^3 (D)Then ^(E)Satan entered into ^(F)Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. ⁴ He went away and conferred with the chief priests and ^(G)officers how he might betray him to them. ⁵ And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. ⁶ So he consented and sought an opportunity to ^(H)betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

The Passover with the Disciples

^7 (I)Then came ^(J)the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸ So Jesus^[a] sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” ⁹ They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” ¹⁰ He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters ¹¹ and tell the master of the house, ^(K)‘The Teacher says to you, Where is ^(L)the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹² And he will show you ^(M)a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” ¹³ And they went and found it ^(N)just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Paul's Ministry to the Church

²⁴ Now ^(A)I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^(B)I am filling up ^(C)what is lacking in Christ's afflictions ^(D)for the sake of his body, that is, the church, ^25 (E)of which I became a minister according to ^(F)the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, ^26 (G)the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. ^27 (H)To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are ^(I)the riches of the glory of ^(J)this mystery, which is Christ in you, ^(K)the hope of glory. ²⁸ Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that ^(L)we may present everyone ^(M)mature in Christ. ²⁹ For this ^(N)I toil, ^(O)struggling ^(P)with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

2 For I want you to know ^(Q)how great a ^(R)struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, ² that ^(S)their hearts may be encouraged, being ^(T)knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of ^(U)God's mystery, which is Christ, ^3 (V)in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I say this in order ^(W)that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. ⁵ For ^(X)though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your ^(Y)good order and ^(Z)the firmness of your faith in Christ.