Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord—Our Safe Place in Life and Covering in Death

16 Keep me, O God, for I am safe in You. ² I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord. All the good things I have come from You.” ³ As for those in the land who belong to You, they are the great ones in whom is all my joy. ⁴ Those who have traded for another god bring many troubles on themselves. I will not take part in their altar gifts of blood. And I will not take their names upon my lips.

⁵ The Lord is all that I am to receive, and my cup. My future is in Your hands. ⁶ The land given to me is good. Yes, my share is beautiful to me.

⁷ I will give honor and thanks to the Lord, Who has told me what to do. Yes, even at night my mind teaches me. ⁸ I have placed the Lord always in front of me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be moved. ⁹ And so my heart is glad. My soul is full of joy. My body also will rest without fear. ¹⁰ For You will not give me over to the grave. And You will not allow Your Holy One to return to dust. ¹¹ You will show me the way of life. Being with You is to be full of joy. In Your right hand there is happiness forever.

²² Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and prayed that good would come to them. After giving the sin gift, the burnt gift and the peace gifts, he came down. ²³ Moses and Aaron went into the meeting tent. When they came out and prayed that good would come to the people, the shining-greatness of the Lord was shown to all the people. ²⁴ Then fire came from the Lord and burned up the burnt gift and the fat parts on the altar. When the people saw it, they cried out and bowed down with their faces to the ground.

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

10 Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and put special perfume on it. They gave a fire that was not holy to the Lord because the Lord had not told them to do this. ² So the Lord sent out fire that burned them up and they died before the Lord. ³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord meant when He said, ‘I will show Myself holy among those who are near Me. I will be honored in front of all the people.’” And Aaron said nothing. ⁴ Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, the brother of Aaron’s father. He said to them, “Come, carry your brothers away from the holy place and away from the tents.” ⁵ So they came and carried them in their coats away from the tents, as Moses had said. ⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not take the covering off your heads and do not tear your clothes, so you will not die and God will not be angry with all the people. But your brothers, the whole house of Israel, will cry in sorrow because of the burning the Lord has done. ⁷ Do not even go out the door of the meeting tent, so you will not die. For the holy oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did what Moses said.

How the Religious Leaders Were to Act

⁸ The Lord said to Aaron, ⁹ “Do not drink wine or strong drink, you or your sons, when you come into the meeting tent, so you will not die. It is a Law forever for all your people. ¹⁰ You are to know the difference between what is holy and what is not, and between what is clean and what is not. ¹¹ You are to teach the people of Israel all the Laws which the Lord has told them by Moses.”

⁵ Put yourselves through a test. See if you belong to Christ. Then you will know you belong to Christ, unless you do not pass the test. ⁶ I trust you see that we belong to Him and have passed the test. ⁷ We pray to God that you do no wrong. We do not pray this to show that our teaching is so great, but that you will keep on doing what is right, even if it looks as if we have done much wrong. ⁸ We cannot work against the truth of God. We only work for it. ⁹ We are glad when we are weak and you are strong. We pray that you will become strong Christians. ¹⁰ This is why I am writing these things while I am away from you. Then when I get there, I will not have to use strong words or punish you to show you that the Lord gives me this power. This power is to be used to make you stronger Christians, not to make you weak by hurting your faith.