Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Righteous Reign of the Branch
11 Then a (A)shoot will spring from the (B)stem of Jesse,
And a (C)branch from (D)his roots will bear fruit.
2 The (E)Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of (F)wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and (G)strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes (H)see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
4 But with (I)righteousness He will judge the (J)poor,
And decide with fairness for the (K)afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the (L)rod of His mouth,
And with the (M)breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
5 Also (N)righteousness will be the belt about His loins,
And (O)faithfulness the belt about His waist.
6 And the (P)wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion [a]and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.
7 Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the (Q)lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
9 They will (R)not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the (S)earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
Korah’s Rebellion
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 action, 2 and they rose up before Moses, [a]together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, [b](C)chosen in the assembly, men of renown. 3 They assembled together (D)against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “[c](E)You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and (F)the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”
4 When Moses heard this, (G)he fell on his face; 5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His, and (H)who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even (I)the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. 6 Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all [d]your company, 7 and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. [e](J)You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”
8 Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi, 9 (K)is it [f]not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, (L)to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; 10 and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you (M)seeking for the priesthood also? 11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered together (N)against the Lord; but as for Aaron, [g]who is he that (O)you grumble against him?”
12 Then Moses sent [h]a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up. 13 Is it [i]not enough that you have brought us up out of a (P)land flowing with milk and honey (Q)to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? 14 Indeed, you have not brought us (R)into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of (S)fields and vineyards. Would you [j](T)put out the eyes of [k]these men? We will not come up!”
15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “(U)Do not regard their offering! (V)I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.” 16 Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be present before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. 17 Each of you take his firepan and put incense on [l]it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.” 18 So they each took his own censer and put fire on [m]it, and laid incense on [n]it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. 19 Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And (W)the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.
7 Remember (A)those who led you, who spoke (B)the word of God to you; and considering the [a]result of their conduct, (C)imitate their faith. 8 (D)Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 (E)Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to (F)be strengthened by grace, not by (G)foods, (H)through which those who [b]were so occupied were not benefited. 10 We have an altar (I)from which those (J)who serve the [c]tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For (K)the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, (L)that He might sanctify the people (M)through His own blood, suffered (N)outside the gate. 13 So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, (O)bearing His reproach. 14 For here (P)we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking (Q)the city which is to come.
God-pleasing Sacrifices
15 (R)Through Him then, let us continually offer up a (S)sacrifice of praise to God, that is, (T)the fruit of lips that [d]give thanks to His name. 16 And do not neglect doing good and (U)sharing, for (V)with such sacrifices God is pleased.
17 (W)Obey your leaders and submit to them, for (X)they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. [e]Let them do this with joy and not [f]with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.