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, 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, ^(AD)“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 ^(AE)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 ^(AF)of my own accord. ²⁹ If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, ^(AG)then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord creates something new, and ^(AH)the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they ^(AI)go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”

^31 (AJ)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 ^(AK)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 ^(AL)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 ^(AM)fire came out from the Lord and consumed ^(AN)the 250 men offering the incense.

Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

12 Six days before ^(A)the Passover, ^(B)Jesus therefore came to Bethany, ^(C)where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² So they gave a dinner for him there. ^(D)Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ^3 (E)Mary therefore took a pound^[a] of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴ But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ⁵ “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii^[b] and ^(F)given to the poor?” ⁶ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and ^(G)having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷ Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it^[c] for the day of my burial. ⁸ For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹ When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus^[d] was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, ^(H)whom he had raised from the dead. ^10 (I)So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹ because ^(J)on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹² The next day ^(K)the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of ^(L)palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ^(M)“Hosanna! Blessed is ^(N)he who comes in the name of the Lord, even ^(O)the King of Israel!” ¹⁴ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

^16 (Q)His disciples did not understand these things at first, but ^(R)when Jesus was glorified, then ^(S)they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ^17 (T)The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. ¹⁸ The reason why the crowd went to meet him ^(U)was that they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, ^(V)“You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, ^(W)the world has gone after him.”

A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

2 You then, ^(A)my child, ^(B)be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, ² and ^(C)what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses ^(D)entrust to faithful men,^{[a] (E)}who will be able to teach others also. ^3 (F)Share in suffering as ^(G)a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No soldier ^(H)gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. ^5 (I)An athlete is not ^(J)crowned unless he competes according to the rules. ⁶ It is ^(K)the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. ⁷ Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, ^(L)risen from the dead, the ^(M)offspring of David, ^(N)as preached in my gospel, ^9 (O)for which I am suffering, ^(P)bound with chains as a criminal. But ^(Q)the word of God is not bound! ¹⁰ Therefore ^(R)I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain ^(S)the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with ^(T)eternal glory. ¹¹ The saying is ^(U)trustworthy, for:

for ^(AB)he cannot deny himself.

A Worker Approved by God

¹⁴ Remind them of these things, and ^(AC)charge them before God^{[b] (AD)}not to quarrel about words, ^(AE)which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,^[c] a worker ^(AF)who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ But ^(AG)avoid ^(AH)irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are ^(AI)Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have swerved from the truth, ^(AJ)saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. ¹⁹ But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ^(AK)“The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone ^(AL)who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

²⁰ Now in ^(AM)a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, ^(AN)some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. ²¹ Therefore, ^(AO)if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,^[d] he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ^(AP)ready for every good work.

²² So ^(AQ)flee ^(AR)youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with ^(AS)those who call on the Lord ^(AT)from a pure heart. ²³ Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant ^(AU)controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And ^(AV)the Lord's servant^[e] must not be quarrelsome but ^(AW)kind to everyone, ^(AX)able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵ correcting his opponents ^(AY)with gentleness. God ^(AZ)may perhaps grant them repentance ^(BA)leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from ^(BB)the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.