Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

You Will Not Abandon My Soul

A ^(A)Miktam^[a] of David.

²² Then Aaron ^(A)lifted up his hands toward the people and ^(B)blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. ²³ And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and ^(C)the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. ²⁴ And ^(D)fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, ^(E)they shouted and ^(F)fell on their faces.

The Death of Nadab and Abihu

10 Now ^(G)Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, ^(H)each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered ^(I)unauthorized^[a] fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. ² And fire ^(J)came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. ³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among ^(K)those who are near me ^(L)I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” ^(M)And Aaron held his peace.

⁴ And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of ^(N)Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.” ⁵ So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. ⁶ And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, ^(O)“Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your clothes, lest you die, and ^(P)wrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the Lord has kindled. ^7 (Q)And do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, ^(R)for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.

⁸ And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, ^9 (S)“Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. ¹⁰ You are to ^(T)distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, ¹¹ and ^(U)you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”

⁵ Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. ^(A)Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that ^(B)Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! ⁶ I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. ⁷ But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. ⁸ For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. ⁹ For we are glad when ^(C)we are weak and you are strong. Your ^(D)restoration is what we pray for. ¹⁰ For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come ^(E)I may not have to be ^(F)severe in my use of ^(G)the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.