²⁰ And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ^21 (A)“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them ^(B)in a moment.” ²² And they ^(C)fell on their faces and said, “O God, ^(D)the God of the spirits of all flesh, ^(E)shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” ²³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

²⁵ Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ And he spoke to the congregation, saying, ^(F)“Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.” ²⁷ So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood ^(G)at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. ²⁸ And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been ^(H)of my own accord. ²⁹ If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, ^(I)then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord creates something new, and ^(J)the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they ^(K)go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”

^31 (L)And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. ³² And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and ^(M)all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. ³³ So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and ^(N)they perished from the midst of the assembly. ³⁴ And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” ³⁵ And ^(O)fire came out from the Lord and consumed ^(P)the 250 men offering the incense.

Abraham Justified by Faith

4 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, ^(A)our forefather according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but ^(B)not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? ^(C)“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” ⁴ Now ^(D)to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. ⁵ And to the one who does not work but ^(E)believes in^[a] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

⁹ Is this blessing then only for ^(H)the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? ^(I)For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. ¹⁰ How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. ^11 (J)He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was ^(K)to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, ¹² and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

²³ And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, ^(A)only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. ^24 (B)Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter ^(C)the kingdom of God.” ²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” ²⁶ But Jesus ^(D)looked at them and said, ^(E)“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” ²⁷ Then Peter said in reply, “See, ^(F)we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” ²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,^{[a] (G)}when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me ^(H)will also sit on twelve thrones, ^(I)judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ^29 (J)And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold^[b] and will ^(K)inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But ^(L)many who are ^(M)first will be last, and the last first.