M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

A challenge to the priesthood

16 Korah—Izhar’s son, Kohath’s grandson, and Levi’s great-grandson—with Dathan and Abiram, Eliab’s sons, and On, Peleth’s son, descendants of Reuben, ² rose up against Moses, along with two hundred fifty Israelite men, leaders of the community, chosen by the assembly, men of reputation. ³ They assembled against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You’ve gone too far, because the entire community is holy, every last one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”

⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell on his face. ⁵ He spoke to Korah and all his community, “In the morning the Lord will make known who is his, who is holy, and who is able to approach him. The one he chooses for himself is the one who will be able to approach him. ⁶ This is what must be done. Korah and your entire community: Take censers for yourselves. ⁷ Tomorrow put fire in them and place incense on them in the Lord’s presence. The man whom the Lord chooses, that one is holy. You Levites have gone too far!” ⁸ Moses said to Korah, “Listen, you Levites, ⁹ isn’t it enough for you that Israel’s God has separated you from the Israelite community to allow you to approach him, to perform the service of the Lord’s dwelling, and to serve before the community by ministering for them? ¹⁰ He has allowed you and all your fellow Levites with you to approach him. Yet you also seek the priesthood? ¹¹ Thus you and your entire community have assembled against the Lord. But Aaron, what is he that you complain about him?”

Test of priesthood

¹² Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, Eliab’s sons. But they said, “We won’t come up! ¹³ Isn’t it enough that you’ve brought us up from a land full of milk and honey to kill us in the desert so that you’d also dominate us? ¹⁴ Moreover, you haven’t brought us to a land full of milk and honey, nor given us the inheritance of field and vineyard. Would you also gouge out the eyes of these men? We won’t come up!”

¹⁵ Moses became very angry and he said to the Lord, “Pay no attention to their offering. I haven’t taken a single donkey from them, nor have I wronged any one of them.”

¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and your entire community should appear before the Lord tomorrow, you, they, and Aaron. ¹⁷ Every person should take his censer, place incense on it, and present it before the Lord. Each person will carry his censer, two hundred fifty censers in all, including you and Aaron.” ¹⁸ Then every person took his censer, placed fire on it, put incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the meeting tent with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Korah gathered the entire community with them to the entrance of the meeting tent.

Then the Lord’s glory appeared to the entire community. ²⁰ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from this community so that I may consume them in a moment.”

²² They fell on their faces and said, “God, the God of all living things. If one person sins, should you become angry with the entire community?”

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Speak to the community and say, ‘Withdraw from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

²⁵ Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram. Israel’s elders followed him. ²⁶ He spoke to the community: “Move away from the tents of these wicked men and don’t touch anything of theirs, lest you too be wiped out for all their sins.” ²⁷ They withdrew from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance of their tents with their wives, children, and little ones. ²⁸ Moses said, “By this you will know that the Lord sent me to do these deeds and that it wasn’t my own desire. ²⁹ If all these people die a natural death, or if their fate be that of all humans, then the Lord hasn’t sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord performs an act of creation, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and everything that belongs to them, so that they descend alive to their graves, then you’ll know that these men disrespected the Lord.”

The rebels’ punishment

³¹ As soon as he finished speaking these words, the ground under them split open. ³² The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, including every human that belonged to Korah and all their possessions. ³³ They along with all their possessions descended alive to their graves, and the earth closed over them. They perished in the middle of the assembly. ³⁴ All the Israelites who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us.” ³⁵ Then fire went out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred fifty men offering incense.

The reminder of the censers

^36 [a] The Lord spoke to Moses: ³⁷ Tell Eleazar, Aaron the priest’s son, to raise the censers from the fire and scatter the ashes about, because they are holy. ³⁸ Hammer the censers of those who sinned and lost their lives into thin plates for the altar. Since they presented them in the Lord’s presence, they had become holy. They will be a sign for the Israelites.

³⁹ Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers presented by those who had been consumed by fire and hammered them into a covering for the altar, ⁴⁰ just as the Lord instructed him through Moses. This was a reminder for the Israelites that no outsider who isn’t one of Aaron’s descendants should approach to burn incense in the Lord’s presence, so as not to be like Korah and his community.

⁴¹ On the next day the entire Israelite community complained to Moses and Aaron, “You killed the Lord’s people.” ⁴² When the community assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the meeting tent. At that moment the cloud covered it, and the Lord’s glory appeared. ⁴³ Moses and Aaron came to the front of the meeting tent, ⁴⁴ and the Lord spoke to Moses: ⁴⁵ Get away from this community, so that I may consume them in an instant.

They fell on their faces, ⁴⁶ and Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put fire from the altar on it, place incense on it, go quickly to the community, and seek reconciliation for them. Indeed, the Lord’s anger has gone out. The plague has begun.” ⁴⁷ Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the middle of the assembly, for the plague had already begun among the people. He burned incense and sought reconciliation for the people. ⁴⁸ He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped. ⁴⁹ Those who died from the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, in addition to those who died because of Korah. ⁵⁰ Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the meeting tent once the plague stopped.

Psalm 52

For the music leader. A maskil^[a] of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, “David has gone to Ahimelech’s house.”

Psalm 53

For the music leader, according to the mahalath. A maskil^[b] of David.

Psalm 54

For the music leader. With stringed instruments. A maskil^[c] of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Isn’t David hiding among us?”

The divine throne room

6 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, the edges of his robe filling the temple. ² Winged creatures were stationed around him. Each had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew about. ³ They shouted to each other, saying:

⁴ The doorframe shook at the sound of their shouting, and the house was filled with smoke.

⁵ I said, “Mourn for me; I’m ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips. Yet I’ve seen the king, the Lord of heavenly forces!”

⁶ Then one of the winged creatures flew to me, holding a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. ⁷ He touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips. Your guilt has departed, and your sin is removed.”

⁸ Then I heard the Lord’s voice saying, “Whom should I send, and who will go for us?”

I said, “I’m here; send me.”

⁹ God said, “Go and say to this people:

¹¹ I said, “How long, Lord?”

And God said, “Until cities lie ruined with no one living in them, until there are houses without people and the land is left devastated.” ¹² The Lord will send the people far away, and the land will be completely abandoned. ¹³ Even if one-tenth remain there, they will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, which when it is cut down leaves a stump. Its stump is a holy seed.

Our acts of service and sacrifice

13 Keep loving each other like family. ² Don’t neglect to open up your homes to guests, because by doing this some have been hosts to angels without knowing it. ³ Remember prisoners as if you were in prison with them, and people who are mistreated as if you were in their place. ⁴ Marriage must be honored in every respect, with no cheating on the relationship, because God will judge the sexually immoral person and the person who commits adultery. ⁵ Your way of life should be free from the love of money, and you should be content with what you have. After all, he has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.^{[a] 6} This is why we can confidently say,

⁷ Remember your leaders who spoke God’s word to you. Imitate their faith as you consider the way their lives turned out. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

⁹ Don’t be misled by the many strange teachings out there. It’s a good thing for the heart to be strengthened by grace rather than by food. Food doesn’t help those who live in this context. ¹⁰ We have an altar, and those who serve as priests in the meeting tent don’t have the right to eat from it. ¹¹ The blood of the animals is carried into the holy of holies by the high priest as an offering for sin, and their bodies are burned outside the camp. ¹² And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy with his own blood.

¹³ So now, let’s go to him outside the camp, bearing his shame. ¹⁴ We don’t have a permanent city here, but rather we are looking for the city that is still to come.

¹⁵ So let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise through him, which is the fruit from our lips that confess his name. ¹⁶ Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices.

Closing greeting and blessing

¹⁷ Rely on your leaders and defer to them, because they watch over your whole being as people who are going to be held responsible for you. They need to be able to do this with pleasure and not with complaints about you, because that wouldn’t help you. ¹⁸ Pray for us. We’re sure that we have a good conscience, and we want to do the right thing in every way. ¹⁹ I’m particularly asking you to do this so that I can be returned to you quickly.

²² I urge you, brothers and sisters, to put up with this message of encouragement, since I’ve only written a short letter to you! ²³ You should know that our brother Timothy has been set free. If he comes soon, we will travel together to see you.

²⁴ Greet your leaders and all of God’s holy people. The group from Italy greets you.

²⁵ May grace be with all of you.