¹⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land where I am bringing you, ¹⁹ then it shall be, that when you eat from the ^[a](A)food of the land, you shall lift up an ^[b]offering to the Lord. ^20 (B)Of the first of your ^[c]dough you shall lift up a loaf as an ^[d]offering; as ^(C)an ^[e]offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up. ²¹ From the first of your ^[f]dough you shall give to the Lord an ^[g]offering throughout your generations.

²² ‘But when you ^(D)unintentionally do wrong and fail to ^[h]comply with all these commandments which the Lord has spoken to Moses, ²³ that is, all that the Lord has commanded you ^[i]through Moses from the day that the Lord gave commandments and onward, throughout your generations, ²⁴ then it shall be, if it is done ^(E)unintentionally, ^[j]without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull as a burnt offering, as a soothing aroma to the Lord, ^(F)with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat as a sin offering. ²⁵ Then ^(G)the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven; for it was an unintentional wrong, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their unintentional wrong. ²⁶ So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven, as well as the stranger who resides among them, for guilt was attributed to all the people through an ^(H)unintentional wrong.

²⁷ ‘Also, if one person sins ^(I)unintentionally, then he shall offer a one-year-old female goat as a sin offering. ²⁸ And ^(J)the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who goes astray by an unintentional sin, making atonement for him ^[k]so that he may be forgiven. ²⁹ You shall have one law for the native among the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them, for one who does anything wrong unintentionally. ³⁰ But the person who does wrong ^[l](K)defiantly, whether he is a native or a stranger, that one is blaspheming the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. ³¹ Since he has ^(L)despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; ^(M)his ^[m]guilt will be on him.’”

Sabbath-breaking Punished

³² Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man ^(N)gathering wood on the Sabbath day. ³³ And those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation; ³⁴ and they placed him in custody, ^(O)because it had not been decided what should be done to him. ³⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must be put to death; ^(P)all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶ So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him ^[n]to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³⁷ The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁸ “Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them that they shall make for themselves ^(Q)tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a ^[o]violet thread. ³⁹ It shall be a tassel for you ^[p]to look at and ^(R)remember all the commandments of the Lord, so that you will do them and not ^[q]follow your own heart and your own eyes, ^[r]which led you to prostitute yourselves, ⁴⁰ so that you will remember and do all My commandments and ^(S)be holy to your God. ⁴¹ I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord your God.”

Korah’s Rebellion

16 Now ^(T)Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with ^(U)Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men, ² and they stood before Moses, ^[s]together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation ^[t](V)chosen in the assembly, men of renown. ³ They assembled together ^(W)against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “^[u](X)You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and ^(Y)the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

⁴ When Moses heard this, ^(Z)he fell on his face; ⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his group, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will make known who is His, and ^(AA)who is holy, and will bring that one near to Himself; indeed, ^(AB)the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. ⁶ Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and ^[v]your whole group, ⁷ and put fire in them, and place incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. ^[w](AC)You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”

⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: ^9 (AD)Is it too small an honor for you that the God of Israel has singled you out from the congregation of Israel, ^(AE)to bring you near to Himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; ¹⁰ and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? But are you ^(AF)seeking the priesthood as well? ¹¹ Therefore you and your whole group are the ones gathered together ^(AG)against the Lord; but as for Aaron, ^[x]who is he, that ^(AH)you grumble against him?”

¹² Then Moses sent ^[y]a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up. ¹³ Is it ^[z]not enough that you have brought us up out of a ^(AI)land flowing with milk and honey ^(AJ)to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also appoint yourself as master over us? ¹⁴ Indeed, you have not brought us ^(AK)into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of ^(AL)fields and vineyards. Would you ^(AM)gouge out the eyes of ^[aa]these men? We will not come up!”

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “^(AN)Pay no attention to their offering! ^(AO)I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.” ¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and all your group be present before the Lord tomorrow, you and they along with Aaron. ¹⁷ And each of you take his censer and put incense on ^[ab]it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, 250 censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer.” ¹⁸ So they took, each one his own censer, and put fire on ^[ac]it, and placed incense on ^[ad]it; and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ So Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And ^(AP)the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²¹ “^(AQ)Separate yourselves from among this congregation, ^(AR)so that I may consume them instantly.” ²² But they fell on their faces and said, “God, ^(AS)the God of the spirits of ^[ae]humanity, ^(AT)when one person sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘^(AU)Get away from the areas around the ^[af]tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

²⁵ Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, ²⁶ and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “^(AV)Get away now from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that belongs to them, ^(AW)or you will be swept away in all their sin!” ²⁷ So they moved away from the areas around the ^[ag]tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, along with their wives, ^(AX)their sons, and their little ones. ²⁸ Then Moses said, “By this you shall know that ^(AY)the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for it is not ^[ah]my doing. ²⁹ If these men die ^[ai]the death of all mankind, or ^[aj]if they suffer the ^(AZ)fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But ^(BA)if the Lord ^[ak]brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with everything that is theirs, and they ^(BB)descend alive into ^[al]Sheol, then you will know that these men have been disrespectful to the Lord.”

³¹ And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; ³² and ^(BC)the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, and ^(BD)all the people who belonged to Korah with all their possessions. ³³ So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to ^[am]Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. ³⁴ Then all Israel who were around them fled at their ^[an]outcry, for they said, “The earth might swallow us!” ^35 (BE)Fire also came out from the Lord and consumed the ^(BF)250 men who were offering the incense.

^36 [ao]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall pick up the censers from the midst of the burned area, because they are holy; and you are to scatter the ^[ap]burning coals further away. ³⁸ As for the censers of these ^[aq]men who have sinned at the cost of their own lives, have them made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and ^(BG)they shall ^[ar]serve as a sign to the sons of Israel.” ³⁹ So the priest Eleazar took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as plating for the altar, ⁴⁰ as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that ^(BH)no ^[as]layman, anyone who was not of the ^[at]descendants of Aaron, would approach ^(BI)to burn incense before the Lord; then he would not become like Korah and his group—just as the Lord had spoken to him ^[au]through Moses.

Jesus before Pilate

15 ^(A)Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders, scribes, and the entire ^[a](B)Council immediately held a consultation; and they bound Jesus and led Him away, and turned Him over to Pilate. ^2 (C)Pilate questioned Him: “So You are the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.” ³ And the chief priests started accusing Him ^[b]of many things. ⁴ But Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You offer nothing in answer? See how many charges they are bringing against You!” ⁵ But Jesus ^(D)said nothing further in answer, so Pilate was amazed.

^6 (E)Now at the Passover Feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. ⁷ And the one named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the rebels who had committed murder in the revolt. ⁸ And the crowd went up and began asking Pilate to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. ⁹ Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰ For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd ^(F)to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. ¹² And responding again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ They shouted ^[c]back, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁴ But Pilate said to them, “Why, what ^[d]evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁵ Intent on satisfying the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus ^(G)flogged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

^16 (H)Now the soldiers took Him away into ^(I)the ^[e]palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman ^[f](J)cohort. ¹⁷ And they *dressed Him in ^[g]purple, and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; ¹⁸ and they began saluting Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ And they repeatedly beat His head with a ^[h]reed and spit on Him, and kneeling, they bowed down before Him. ²⁰ And after they had mocked Him, they took the ^[i]purple cloak off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him.

^21 (K)And they *compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and ^(L)Rufus), to carry His cross.

The Crucifixion

^22 (M)Then they *brought Him to the place ^(N)Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. ²³ And they tried to give Him ^(O)wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. ²⁴ And they *crucified Him, and *^(P)divided up His garments among themselves, casting ^[j]lots for them to decide ^[k]what each man would take. ²⁵ Now it was the ^[l](Q)third hour ^[m]when they crucified Him. ²⁶ The inscription of the charge against Him ^[n]read, “^(R)THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

²⁷ And they *crucified two ^[o]rebels with Him, one on His right and one on His left.^{[p] 29} Those passing by were ^[q]hurling abuse at Him, ^(S)shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to ^(T)destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰ save Yourself by coming down from the cross!” ³¹ In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “^(U)He saved others; ^[r]He cannot save Himself! ³² Let this Christ, ^(V)the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” ^(W)Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

^33 (X)When the ^[s](Y)sixth hour came, darkness ^[t]fell over the whole land until the ^[u](Z)ninth hour. ³⁴ At the ^[v](AA)ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “^(AB)Eloi, Eloi, lema sabaktanei?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ³⁵ And when some of the bystanders heard Him, they began saying, “Look! He is calling for Elijah!” ³⁶ And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “^[w]Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.” ^37 (AC)But Jesus let out a loud cry, and ^[x]died. ^38 (AD)And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ^39 (AE)And when the centurion, who was standing ^[y]right in front of Him, saw that He ^[z]died in this way, he said, “Truly this man was ^[aa]the Son of God!”

^40 (AF)Now there were also some women watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of ^[ab]James ^(AG)the ^[ac]Less and Joses, and ^(AH)Salome. ⁴¹ When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and ^(AI)serve Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

^42 (AJ)When evening had already come, since it was ^(AK)the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea came, a ^(AL)prominent member of the Council, who was himself also ^(AM)waiting for the kingdom of God; and he ^(AN)gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. ⁴⁵ And after learning this from ^(AO)the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been cut out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. ^47 (AP)Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching to see where He was laid.

Prayer for Defense against Enemies.

For the music director; on stringed instruments. A ^[a]Maskil of David, ^[b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is David not keeping himself hidden among us?”