Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Peace at Last
11 (A) Like a branch that sprouts
from a stump,
someone from David's family[a]
will someday be king.
2 The Spirit of the Lord
will be with him
to give him understanding,
wisdom, and insight.
He will be powerful,
and he will know
and honor the Lord.
3 His greatest joy will be
to obey the Lord.
This king won't judge
by appearances
or listen to rumors.
4 The poor and the needy
will be treated with fairness
and with justice.
His word will be law
everywhere in the land,
and criminals
will be put to death.
5 (B) Honesty and fairness
will be his royal robes.
6 (C) Leopards will lie down
with young goats,
and wolves will rest
with lambs.
Calves and lions
will eat together
and be cared for
by little children.
7 Cows and bears will share
the same pasture;
their young will rest
side by side.
Lions and oxen
will both eat straw.
8 Little children will play
near snake holes.
They will stick their hands
into dens of poisonous snakes
and never be hurt.
9 (D) Nothing harmful will take place
on the Lord's holy mountain.
Just as water fills the sea,
the land will be filled
with people who know
and honor the Lord.
20 and said to Moses and Aaron, 21 “Get away from the rest of the Israelites so I can kill them at once!”
22 But the two men bowed down and prayed, “Our God, you gave these people life. Why would you punish everyone here when only one man has sinned?”
23 The Lord answered Moses, 24 “Tell the people to stay away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25 Moses walked over to Dathan and Abiram, and the other leaders of Israel followed. 26 Then Moses warned the people, “Get away from the tents of these sinful men! Don't touch anything that belongs to them or you'll be wiped out.” 27 So everyone moved away from those tents, except Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their families.
28 Moses said to the crowd, “The Lord has chosen me and told me to do these things—it wasn't my idea. And here's how you will know: 29 If these men die a natural death, it means the Lord hasn't chosen me. 30 But suppose the Lord does something that has never been done before. For example, what if a huge crack appears in the ground, and these men and their families fall into it and are buried alive, together with everything they own? Then you will know they have turned their backs on the Lord!”
31 As soon as Moses said this, the ground under the men opened up 32-33 and swallowed them alive, together with their families and everything they owned. Then the ground closed back up, and they were gone.
34 The rest of the Israelites heard their screams, so they ran off, shouting, “We don't want that to happen to us!”
35 Suddenly the Lord sent a fire that burned up the 250 men who had offered incense to him.
23 They agreed on a time to meet with Paul, and many of them came to his house. From early morning until late in the afternoon, Paul talked to them about God's kingdom. He used the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets[a] to try to win them over to Jesus.
24 Some of the leaders agreed with what Paul said, but others did not. 25 Since they could not agree among themselves, they started leaving. But Paul said, “The Holy Spirit said the right thing when he sent Isaiah the prophet 26 (A) to tell our ancestors,
‘Go to these people
and tell them:
You will listen and listen,
but never understand.
You will look and look,
but never see.
27 All of you
have stubborn hearts.
Your ears are stopped up,
and your eyes are covered.
You cannot see or hear
or understand.
If you could,
you would turn to me,
and I would heal you.’ ”
28-29 Paul said, “You may be sure that God wants to save the Gentiles! And they will listen.”[b]
30 For two years Paul stayed in a rented house and welcomed everyone who came to see him. 31 He bravely preached about God's kingdom and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ, and no one tried to stop him.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.