Rebellion Against Moses and Aaron

16 Now ^(A)Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with ^(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 some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, ^(C)representatives of the congregation, men of renown. ^3 (D)They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You ^[a]take too much upon yourselves, for ^(E)all the congregation is holy, every one of them, ^(F)and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

⁴ So when Moses heard it, he ^(G)fell on his face; ⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is ^(H)His and who is ^(I)holy,^[b] and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to ^(J)come near to Him. ⁶ Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company; ⁷ put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”

⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: ⁹ Is it ^(K)a small thing to you that the God of Israel has ^(L)separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to serve them; ¹⁰ and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also? ¹¹ Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. ^(M)And what is Aaron that you complain against him?”

¹² And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up! ¹³ Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of ^(N)a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should ^(O)keep acting like a prince over us? ¹⁴ Moreover ^(P)you have not brought us into ^(Q)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 Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, ^(R)“Do not ^[c]respect their offering. ^(S)I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”

¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company be present ^(T)before the Lord—you and they, as well as Aaron. ¹⁷ Let each take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.” ¹⁸ So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then ^(U)the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ^21 (V)“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may ^(W)consume them in a moment.”

²² Then they ^(X)fell^[d] on their faces, and said, “O God, ^(Y)the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the ^(Z)congregation?”

²³ So the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the tents 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, ^(AA)“Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.” ²⁷ So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little ^(AB)children.

²⁸ And Moses said: ^(AC)“By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them ^(AD)of my own will. ²⁹ If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are ^(AE)visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord creates ^(AF)a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they ^(AG)go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.”

^31 (AH)Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and ^(AI)all the men with Korah, with all their goods. ³³ So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. ³⁴ Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also!”

³⁵ And ^(AJ)a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.

The Anointing at Bethany^(A)

12 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, ^(B)where Lazarus was ^[a]who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. ^2 (C)There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. ³ Then ^(D)Mary took a pound of very costly oil of ^(E)spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

⁴ But one of His disciples, ^(F)Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, ⁵ “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for ^[b]three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” ⁶ This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and ^(G)had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

⁷ But Jesus said, “Let her alone; ^[c]she has kept this for the day of My burial. ⁸ For ^(H)the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹ Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, ^(I)whom He had raised from the dead. ^10 (J)But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, ^11 (K)because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry^(L)

^12 (M)The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³ took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

^14 (O)Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

^16 (Q)His disciples did not understand these things at first; ^(R)but when Jesus was glorified, ^(S)then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

¹⁷ Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. ^18 (T)For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. ¹⁹ The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, ^(U)“You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

Be Strong in Grace

2 You therefore, ^(A)my son, ^(B)be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ² And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. ³ You therefore must ^(C)endure^[a] hardship ^(D)as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ^4 (E)No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. ⁵ And also ^(F)if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. ⁶ The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. ⁷ Consider what I say, and ^[b]may the Lord ^(G)give you understanding in all things.

⁸ Remember that Jesus Christ, ^(H)of the seed of David, ^(I)was raised from the dead ^(J)according to my gospel, ^9 (K)for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, ^(L)even to the point of chains; ^(M)but the word of God is not chained. ¹⁰ Therefore ^(N)I endure all things for the sake of the ^[c]elect, ^(O)that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

¹¹ This is a faithful saying:

Approved and Disapproved Workers

¹⁴ Remind them of these things, ^(T)charging them before the Lord not to ^[d]strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. ^15 (U)Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. ¹⁶ But shun profane and ^[e]idle babblings, for they will ^[f]increase to more ungodliness. ¹⁷ And their message will spread like cancer. ^(V)Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, ¹⁸ who have strayed concerning the truth, ^(W)saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. ¹⁹ Nevertheless ^(X)the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord ^(Y)knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of ^[g]Christ depart from iniquity.”

²⁰ But in a great house there are not only ^(Z)vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. ²¹ Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, ^[h]sanctified and useful for the Master, ^(AA)prepared for every good work. ^22 (AB)Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³ But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. ²⁴ And ^(AC)a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, ^(AD)able to teach, ^(AE)patient, ^25 (AF)in humility correcting those who are in opposition, ^(AG)if God perhaps will grant them repentance, ^(AH)so that they may know the truth, ²⁶ and that they may come to their senses and ^(AI)escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.