M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram Rebel
16 Now Korah son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, the descendants[a] of Reuben, 2 took two hundred and fifty men from the Israelites,[b] leaders of the community summoned from the assembly, renowned men,[c] and they confronted[d] Moses. 3 They were assembled in front of Moses and Aaron, and they said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves![e] All of the community is holy, every one of them, and Yahweh is in their midst, so why do you raise yourselves over the assembly of Yahweh?”
4 When Moses heard this, he fell on his face. 5 And he said to Korah and to his entire company, saying, “Tomorrow morning Yahweh will make known who is his and who is holy, and he will bring him near to him, whomever he chooses he will bring near to him. 6 Do this: take for yourselves censers, Korah and all of your company;[f] 7 tomorrow put fire in them and place incense on them before[g] Yahweh; the man whom Yahweh chooses will be the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, sons of Levi!”
8 And Moses said to Korah, “Please listen, sons of Levi! 9 Is it too little for you that the God of Israel set you apart from the community of Israel to allow you to approach him[h] to do the work of the tabernacle of Yahweh, to stand before[i] the community to serve them? 10 He has allowed you to approach him,[j] you with all your brothers, the descendants[k] of Levi, but yet you also seek the priesthood. 11 Therefore you and your company that has banded together against Yahweh. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”
12 Moses sent to call for Dathan and Abiram son of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come![l] 13 Is it too little that you have brought us from a land that flows with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, and that you also appoint yourself as a ruler over us? 14 Surely, you have not brought us to a land that flows with milk and honey, and you have not given us the inheritance of fields and a vineyard. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come!”[m]
15 Then Moses became angry, and he said to Yahweh, “Do not notice their grain offering. I have not offered one donkey from them, and I have not mistreated one of them.” 16 And Moses said to Korah, “You and your entire company will be before[n] Yahweh tomorrow, you and they and Aaron. 17 Each one take his censer, and put incense on it[o] and you will present it before[p] Yahweh, and each of you bring his censer, two hundred and fifty censers, you and Aaron, each his censer.” 18 So each of them took his censer, and they put fire on them, and they placed incense on them; they stood at the doorway of the tent of the assembly of Moses and Aaron. 19 And Korah summoned them, the entire community, by the doorway of the tent of assembly, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the community.
20 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from the midst of this community, that I can destroy them in a moment.” 22 And they fell on their faces, and they said, “God, God of the spirits of all flesh, will one man sin and you become angry toward the entire community?”
23 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the community, saying, ‘Move away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’” 25 So Moses stood up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed after him. 26 He said to the community, saying, “Please turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that belongs to them,[q] or you will be destroyed with all their sins.” 27 And so they moved away from around the dwellings[r] of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out standing at the doorway of their tents, with their wives, sons, and little children. 28 And Moses said, “In this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; it is not from my heart. 29 If they die a natural death[s] or if a natural fate is visited upon them,[t] Yahweh has not sent me. 30 But if Yahweh creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up and all that belongs to them,[u] and they go down alive to Sheol, and you will know that these men have despised Yahweh.”
31 And it happened, as soon as he finished speaking[v] all these words, the ground that was under them split open. 32 The land opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their houses and every person that belonged to Korah[w] and all the property. 33 They went down alive to Sheol, they and all that belonged to them, and the land covered over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 All Israel who were around them fled at their cry, because they said, “Lest the land swallow us up!” 35 And fire went out from Yahweh, and it consumed the two hundred and fifty men presenting the incense.
36 [x] And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “Say to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, ‘Take out[y] the censers from among the place of burning because they are sacred, and scatter the fire outside. 38 The censers of these who have sinned[z] at the cost of their lives, let them be made into gilded leafing plating for the altar; because they presented them before Yahweh,[aa] they are holy; and they will be a sign for the Israelites.’”[ab] 39 Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that the ones who were burned presented, and they hammered them out thinly as plating for the altar; 40 it was a memorial for the Israelites,[ac] so that no strange man[ad] who is not from the offspring[ae] of Aaron should approach the presence of Yahweh to burn a smoke offering;[af] he will not be like Korah and his company, just as Yahweh had spoken to him by the hand of Moses.[ag]
The Israelites Grumble
41 The next day all the community of the Israelites[ah] grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of Yahweh!” 42 Then, when the community had gathered against Moses and Aaron, they turned to the tent of assembly, and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Yahweh appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of assembly, 44 and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Get away from the midst of this community, and I will finish them in an instant,”[ai] but they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses and Aaron said, “Take the censer, and put fire on it from the altar. Place incense on it, and bring it quickly to the community, and make atonement for them, because wrath went out from the presence of Yahweh, and a plague has begun.” 47 And so Aaron took it just as Moses had spoken, and he ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people; so he gave the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 He stood between the dead and between the living, and the plague was stopped. 49 Those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died on account of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of assembly, and the plague was stopped.
God’s Judgment on the Wicked and Love for the Faithful
For the music director. A maskil of David.
When Doeg the Edomite came and informed Saul.
And he said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”[a]
52 Why do you boast about evil, O mighty man?
The loyal love of God endures continually.[b]
2 Your tongue plans destruction,
like a sharp razor, working deceit.
3 You love evil more than good,
a lie more than speaking what is right.[c] Selah
4 You love all devouring words,
O deceitful tongue,
5 but God will pull you down forever.
He will snatch you and tear you away from your tent,
and he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
6 And the righteous will see and fear,
and will laugh at him, saying,
7 “Look, the man who would not make God his refuge,
but he trusted in the greatness of his wealth;
he took refuge in his destructiveness.”
8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing
in the house[d] of God.
I trust the loyal love of God forever and ever.
9 I will give thanks to you forever, because of what you have done,
and I will wait on your name, because it is good,
in the presence of your faithful ones.
The Folly of the Godless and Salvation for Israel
For the music director, according to Mahalath.
A maskil of David.[e]
53 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt and they have done abominable iniquity.
There is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven upon the children of humankind
to see whether there is one who has insight,
one who seeks God.
3 All of them[f] have turned back.
They are altogether corrupt.
There is none who does good;
there is not even one.
4 Do not evildoers know,
they who eat my people as though they were eating bread?
They do not call on God.
5 There they are very fearful[g]
where no fear had been,
because God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you.
You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that from Zion[h] would come salvation for Israel!
When God returns the fortunes[i] of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
Answered Prayer for Deliverance from Adversaries
For the music director, with stringed instruments.
A maskil of David,
when the Ziphites went and said to Saul,
“Is not David hiding himself among us?”[j]
54 O God, by your name save me,
and by your power vindicate me.
2 O God, hear my prayer;
heed the words of my mouth.
3 For foreigners have risen against me,
and ruthless men seek my life.
They have not set God before them. Selah
4 See, God is my helper;
The Lord is with those who sustain my life.[k]
5 He will repay[l] my enemies for their[m] evil;
in your faithfulness destroy them.
6 I will freely sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name,
O Yahweh, because it is good.
7 Because he has delivered me from all trouble,
and my eye has looked with satisfaction on my enemies.
Isaiah’s Commission
6 In the year of the death of Uzziah the king, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and raised throne, and the hem of his robe was filling the temple. 2 Seraphs were standing above him. Each had six wings:[a] with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3 And the one called to the other and said,
“Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts!
The whole earth is full of his glory.”[b]
4 And the pivots of the thresholds shook from the sound of those who called, and the house[c] was filled with smoke.
5 And I said, “Woe to me! For I am destroyed![d] For I am a man of unclean lips,[e] and I am living among[f] a people of unclean lips,[g] for my eyes have seen the king, Yahweh of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, and in his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs.
7 And he touched my mouth, and he said,
“Look! This has touched your lips
and has removed your guilt,
and your sin is annulled.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send?
And who will go for us?”
And I said,
“I am here!
Send me!”
9 And he said, “Go and say to this people,
‘Keep on listening and do not comprehend!
And keep on looking and do not understand!’
10 Make the heart of this people insensitive,
and make its ears unresponsive,
and shut its eyes
so that it may not look with its eyes
and listen with its ears
and comprehend with its mind
and turn back, and it may be healed for him.”
11 Then I said, “Until when, Lord?”
And he said,
“Until the cities lie wasted without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is ruined and a waste,
12 and Yahweh sends the people far away,
and the abandonment is great in the midst of the land.
13 And even if only a tenth part remain,[h] again she will be destroyed[i]
like a terebinth or like an oak,
which although felled, a tree stump remains in them.
The seed of holiness will be her tree stump.”
Concluding Ethical Instructions
13 Brotherly love must continue. 2 Do not neglect hospitality, because through this some have received angels as guests without knowing it. 3 Remember the prisoners, as though you were fellow-prisoners; remember[a] the mistreated, as though you yourselves also are being mistreated[b] in the body. 4 Marriage must be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed be undefiled, because God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers. 5 Your lifestyle must be free from the love of money, being content with what you have. For he himself has said, “I will never desert you, and I will never abandon you.”[c] 6 So then, we can say with confidence,
7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you; considering the outcome of their way of life[f], imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever[g]. 9 Do not be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods by which those who participate have not benefited. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve in the tabernacle do not have the right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sins are burned up outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, in order that he might sanctify the people by his own blood. 13 So we must go out to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. 14 For here we do not have a permanent city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Therefore through him let us offer up a sacrifice of praise continually[h] to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 And do not neglect doing good and generosity, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with groaning, for this would be unprofitable for you.
18 Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a good conscience, and want to conduct ourselves commendably in every way. 19 And I especially urge you to do this, so that I may be restored to you more quickly.
Benediction
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with every good thing to do his will, carrying out in us what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever[i].[j] Amen.
Conclusion
22 Now I urge you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for indeed I have written to you briefly[k]. 23 Know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I will see you, if he comes quickly enough. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you. 25 Grace be with all of you.
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