M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Korah and other people turn against Moses
16 Then Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, decided to speak against Moses. Eliab's sons, Dathan and Abiram, and Peleth's son, On, who were descendants of Reuben, were with him. 2 Together with 250 leaders of the Israelites, they all turned against Moses. Those were famous men that the people had chosen as their leaders. 3 They all came to Moses and Aaron and they said, ‘All the Israelites are special. The Lord has chosen all of us and he is with us all. So you should not say that you are better than the rest of the Lord's people.’
4 When Moses heard that, he threw himself onto the ground. 5 Moses said to Korah and to all the other men, ‘Tomorrow the Lord will show us who is truly special to him. He will show us who really belongs to him. He will make the person that he chooses come near to him. 6 Now do this: Get some pots for yourselves, Korah and your group of friends. 7 Put fire and incense in them, to burn in front of the Lord tomorrow. Then the Lord will choose the man who is holy. You make yourselves too important, you descendants of Levi!’
8 Then Moses said to Korah, ‘Listen, you descendants of Levi. 9 The God of Israel has caused you Levites to be separate from all the other Israelites. He has brought you near to himself, to work in the Lord's Tent. He has chosen you to stand in front of all the people to serve them. But it seems that this is not enough for you. 10 He has brought you, Korah, and all the other descendants of Levi near to himself. But it seems that you want to be priests as well. 11 You are not only speaking bad words against Aaron. You and all your group are complaining against the Lord!’
12 Then Moses called Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, to come to him. But they said, ‘No, we will not come. 13 You have brought us out of a country where there is plenty of food and drink, enough for everyone. You have brought us here, where we will die in the desert. But it seems that that is not enough for you. It seems that you want to be our master as well! 14 You have certainly not brought us into a land where there is plenty of food and drink. You have not given to us fields and vineyards, for us and for our descendants. You cannot deceive all these men. We will not come up to meet with you!’
15 Moses was angry. He said to the Lord, ‘Do not accept what these men offer to you. I did not take anything from them, not even one donkey! I did not do a wrong thing to any of them.’
16 Moses said to Korah, ‘Tomorrow, you and your men must come to the Tent of Meeting. You must come to stand in front of the Lord. Aaron will be there too. 17 Each of you must take a pot and you must put incense in it. You must put the pots on the altar in front of the Lord. That will be 250 pots. You yourself must do the same thing, as well as Aaron.’ 18 So each man took a pot. He put incense in it, and fire to burn it. They stood with Moses and Aaron at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
19 Korah brought all his group of people to stand against Moses and Aaron at the door of the Tent of Meeting. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 20 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 ‘Stand away from these men so that I can kill them.’
22 But Moses and Aaron threw themselves on the ground. Their faces were touching the ground. They said, ‘You, our God, are the God who gives life to all people. When one man does a bad thing, will you be angry with all the people? Is that right?’
23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 ‘Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’
25 Moses got up from the ground. He went to Dathan and Abiram. The leaders of the Israelites went with him. 26 Moses said to all the people, ‘Move away from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them. If you do not move away, God may destroy you together with them, because of all their sins.’
27 So the people moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were standing with their wives, babies and children at the doors of their tents.
28 Then Moses said to the people, ‘Now you will know that the Lord has chosen me to lead you. He has told me to do this. It was not my own idea. This is how you will know. 29 If these men die in a usual way, as all men will die one day, then the Lord did not choose me. 30 But if the Lord causes something new to happen to these men, you will know that they have turned against him. For example, a hole might appear in the ground so that these men fall into it. They might fall down into their own graves while they are still alive. If that happens to them and to all that belongs to them, then you will know that the Lord has punished them.’
31 When Moses finished speaking, a hole opened in the ground. 32 Like a big mouth, it ate those men, their families and everything that belonged to them. The earth covered Korah, all his group and everything that belonged to them. 33 They all went down into the deep grave while they were still alive. The ground closed over them and they died, no longer part of God's people. 34 When the other Israelites heard those men shout, they ran away quickly. They were saying, ‘Help! The ground might eat us too!’
35 Then the Lord sent fire down. It killed the 250 men who were offering the incense to God.
36 The Lord said to Moses, 37 ‘Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he must take the pots with incense out of the burning fire. That is because those pots are holy. Then you must throw away the coal over all the ground round that place. 38 Those men died because they did a bad thing. But the pots that they were holding are holy, because they were offering the incense to the Lord. So workers must use hammers to make the pots into thin metal. Then cover the altar with the metal. That will be like a sign to warn the Israelites.’ 39 So Eleazar took the 250 pots and he used the bronze metal to cover the altar. 40 Then the Israelites would remember not to do what Korah and his group did. Only people from the family of Aaron could burn incense on the Lord's altar. God would punish anyone else, like he punished Korah and his men. The Lord had given this command through Moses.
41 But on the next day, all the Israelites together complained against Moses and Aaron. They said, ‘You have killed the Lord's people!’ 42 When the people came together to stand against Moses and Aaron, they turned to look at the Tent of Meeting. The Lord's cloud covered the Tent and his glory appeared. 43 Moses and Aaron went to stand at the front of the Tent of Meeting.
44 The Lord said to Moses, 45 ‘Get away from the people so that I can destroy them immediately!’ Moses and Aaron threw themselves down so that their faces touched the ground. 46 Moses said to Aaron, ‘Pick up your pot. Take coals with fire from the altar and put incense with them in the pot. Then take it quickly among all the people. Remove their sin so that God will forgive them. Be quick! The Lord is so angry with the people that he is already punishing them with a bad disease!’
47 The bad disease was already killing some of the people. But Aaron did what Moses had told him to do. He took the pot of incense among the people to remove their sin. 48 In that way, he stood between the people who had died and those who were still living. The bad disease stopped killing people. 49 But 14,700 people died because of the disease, as well as the people who had died with Korah. 50 After the disease stopped, Aaron went back to Moses at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
This is a special song that David wrote for the music leader.
It was when Doeg, the man from Edom, went to Saul and told him, ‘David went to the house of Ahimelech, the priest.’
Cruel words[a]
52 Strong man, why are you so proud
about the evil things that you like to do?
Remember that God's faithful love keeps me safe.
2 Your tongue is like a sharp knife!
You talk about how to hurt other people,
You speak nothing but lies.
3 You love to do evil things,
not good things.
You love to tell lies
more than the truth.
Selah.
4 You love to say cruel words.
You speak to deceive others.
5 But God will knock you down,
and he will break you into pieces.
He will take you away from your home.
He will remove you from this world where people live.
Selah.
6 Righteous people will see what has happened,
and they will be afraid.[b]
Then they will laugh at the wicked person,
and they will say,
7 ‘Look! This man did not trust God to keep him safe.
Instead, he trusted in his riches.
He thought that he could be cruel,
and that would keep him safe.’
8 But I am like a strong olive tree
that grows in the house of God.
I will always trust in God's faithful love for his people.
9 I will always praise you, God,
for what you have done.
I will trust you to help me,
together with all those who serve you.
David wrote this special song for the music leader. Use the music called Mahalath.
People are wicked[c]
53 A fool thinks that there is no God.
People like that are bad.
They do evil things.
None of them does anything that is good.
2 God looks down from heaven
at the people on earth.
He wants to see if there is anyone who is really wise
and who wants to know God.
3 But they have all turned away.
They have all become evil.
Nobody does anything that is good,
not even one person.
4 People who do wicked things understand nothing.
They destroy my people
as easily as they eat bread.
They never pray to God.
5 But now they are very afraid
when there is nothing to be afraid of!
God has completely won against his enemies,
the people that attack you, his people.
God has turned against them,
so you are able to make them ashamed!
6 God, you are the one who saves your people, Israel!
Leave your home in Zion
and make your people strong again!
When God blesses his people,
Jacob's descendants will sing!
Yes, Israel's people will be very happy![d]
David wrote this special song for the music leader. He must use stringed instruments. It was when the men of Ziph went to Saul and they said, ‘David is hiding with us.’
God keeps me safe[e]
54 God, you are great, so please help me!
Use your power to show that I am right.
2 God, hear my prayer,
and listen carefully to what I am saying.
3 Strangers are attacking me!
Cruel people want to kill me.
They do not respect you, God.[f]
Selah.
4 But I know that God is the one who gives me help.
My Lord takes care of me.
5 Pay back my enemies with their own evil.
Please do what you have promised
and destroy them.
6 I choose to offer a sacrifice to thank you.
Lord, you are always good,
so I want to praise your name.
7 Yes, God has saved me from all my trouble.
When I looked at my enemies,
I see that I have won against them.[g]
God chooses Isaiah to be a prophet
6 In the year when King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord God. He was sitting high up, on a throne. The ends of his long coat filled the temple. 2 Above him there were seraphs. Each one had six wings. Two wings covered the seraphs' faces. Two wings covered their feet. With the other two wings they were flying.
3 The seraphs called out to one another. They said, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty! The whole earth is full of his great glory.’
4 When the seraphs spoke, the foundation of the temple shook. And the temple became full of smoke.
5 Then I said, ‘It is bad for me! My life is at an end! I have lips that are unclean. I live among people with lips that are unclean. With my own eyes I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’
6 Then one of the seraphs flew towards me. In his hand was a piece of burning coal. He had used a tool to take it from the altar. 7 He touched my mouth with the piece of coal. He said to me, ‘Look! This has touched your lips. It has taken away your sin. You are no longer guilty.’
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord God. He said, ‘Is there anyone that I can send with my message? Who will go on our behalf?’ I said, ‘I am here. Send me!’
9 The Lord said, ‘Go! Tell my message to those people:[a]
“You will continue to listen,
but you will never understand!
You will continue to look,
but you will not see anything!”
10 Make them refuse to understand. Cause their ears to be deaf and their eyes to be blind. If you do not do that, they might use their eyes to see. They might use their ears to listen. They might use their minds to understand. Then they might turn back to me so that I would make them well again.’
11 Then I asked the Lord, ‘For how long will this be, Lord God?’
He replied,
‘It must continue until enemies destroy their cities.
Their houses will become a heap of stones
and nobody will live in them.
Their land will become useless
and nothing will remain there.
12 I will send all the people far away.
The whole land will be empty and useless.
13 Even if only one tenth part of the people remain in the land, enemies will continue to destroy it. It will be like they are cutting down a great oak tree. But the base of the tree with its roots will still be there. From the part that remains, a holy branch will grow.’
How we can live for God
13 Continue to love each other like brothers and sisters. 2 Always remember to be kind to strangers. Let them stay in your homes. In this way, some people have received angels as visitors, and they did not know that they were angels.[a]
3 Remember to help those believers who are in prison. Think about what that would be like, if you were there with them. Remember those believers who are receiving trouble from people. Think about them as if you were receiving the same pain in your own body.[b]
4 When a man and a woman have married each other, they must each respect the marriage. Husbands and wives must only have sex with each other. God will punish anyone who has sex with another person's husband or wife. He will punish anyone who has sex in a wrong way.
5 In the way that you live, do not want lots of money. Be happy with the things that you have. Be happy, because God has said this:
‘I will never leave you;
I will always be there with you.’
6 Because of that, we can bravely say this:[c]
‘The Lord is the one who helps me,
so I will not be afraid.
I will not be afraid of anything that people can do to me.’
7 Remember your leaders, who taught God's message to you. Think about the way in which they have lived and the good things that they have done. They have trusted God, so you should have faith like they have.
8 Jesus Christ is always the same, yesterday, today and for ever. 9 Some people teach all kinds of strange new things.[d] Do not let them lead you away from God's true message. It is good that God is very kind to us. That is what makes us strong inside ourselves. Rules about what foods we should eat do not make us strong like that. Those rules have never helped the people who tried to obey them.
10 Jesus Christ is the sacrifice that saves us. Jewish priests do not have the authority to receive anything from his sacrifice. 11 In the old agreement, the leader of the priests brings the blood from the animal sacrifices into the Most Holy Place. He does that so that God will forgive the sins of the people. But they take the bodies of those animals away from there. They burn them outside the town.[e] 12 In the same way, Jesus also died outside the city.[f] He died as a sacrifice on our behalf. His blood has made his people clean from their sins. 13 Jesus died like that in a place where people insulted him. So we must go out to that place too. We must be ready for people to insult us, as they insulted him. 14 Here on earth, we who are believers do not have a city that will always be our home. But we are waiting for God's city that will come.
15 So we should always praise God, because of what Jesus has done for us. We should say clearly that we trust Jesus. That is like our sacrifice which we offer to God all the time. 16 Remember to be kind to other people. Share with them the things that you have. God is happy with sacrifices like that.
17 Respect your leaders and obey them. They watch over your lives on God's behalf. God will check to see if they have done their work well. So respect them, and then they will be happy as they serve God. Do not say bad things against them, because that will never help you.
18 Pray to God for us. We are sure in our minds that we have done nothing wrong. We always want to do only what is right. 19 The most important thing is this: Pray that I may come back to you soon.
20 I pray that God will help you. He is the one who gives us peace in our minds. He caused our Lord Jesus Christ to become alive again after death. God forgives us because of the blood of Jesus' death on the cross. That is God's new agreement with his people that will be true for ever. Jesus is our great shepherd. He takes care of us like his sheep. 21 I pray that God will give you every good thing that you need to serve him. Then you can do everything that he wants. I pray that God will help us to serve him in a way that will make him happy. He will do that because we belong to Jesus Christ. Jesus is very great, and we should praise him always and for ever! Amen. This is true.
22 My Christian friends, please listen patiently to my message. This is only a short letter and I want to help you to be strong. 23 I want to tell you about Timothy, who is like a brother to us. They have let him go out of prison, so that he is free now. If he arrives here soon, he will come with me when I travel to see you.
24 Say ‘hello’ on my behalf to your leaders and to all God's people. The Christians who have come here from Italy say ‘hello’ to you too. 25 I pray that God will be very kind to all of you.
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