Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Reign of the Davidic King
11 “A shoot will come out
from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch will bear fruit
from his roots.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and power,
the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.
3 His delight will be in the fear of the Lord.
He won’t judge by what his eyes see,
nor decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
and decide with equity for[a] earth’s poor.[b]
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,[c]
and the wicked will be killed[d] with the breath of his lips.
5 Righteousness will be the sash around his loins,
and faithfulness the belt around his waist.”
A Transformed Ecology
6 “The wolf will live with the lamb;
the leopard will lie down with the young goat.
The calf and the lion will graze[e] together,
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow and the bear will graze,
and[f] their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child will play
over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child will put his hand on vipers’ dens.[g]
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on[h] my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full
of the knowledge[i] of the Lord,[j]
as the waters cover the sea.”
God Vindicates Moses and Aaron
20 Then the Lord told Moses and Aaron, 21 “Separate yourselves from among this community, and I’ll destroy them in a moment.”
22 Then they fell on their faces and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, will you be angry at the entire congregation on account of one man’s sin?”
23 Then the Lord instructed Moses, 24 “Tell the community to move away from where Korah, Dathan, and Abiram are living.”
25 So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 Then he told the community, “Move away from the camps of these wicked men and don’t touch anything that belongs to them. That way you won’t be destroyed along with all their sins.” 27 So they all moved away from the entire area where Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were living.
Now Korah, Dathan, and Abiram stood at the entrance to their tents with their wives, sons, and little children. 28 Then Moses said, “This is how you’ll know that the Lord has sent me to do all these awesome works—they’re not coming merely from me.[a] 29 If these people die a death similar to all other human beings, or if they are punished with a punishment common to other men, then the Lord didn’t send me. 30 But if the Lord creates something new,[b] so that the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and everything that belongs to them and they all descend directly to Sheol[c] while still alive, then you’ll know that these men have spurned the Lord.”
God Executes Korah’s Families
31 Just as he finished saying all these things, the ground under them split open. 32 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, all their households, everyone who was affiliated with Korah, and all of their property. 33 So they and all that belonged to them descended alive to Sheol.[d] Then the earth closed over them. That’s how they were annihilated from the assembly.
34 Then all of the Israelis who were around them ran away when they heard them crying, “…so the ground won’t swallow us up, too.” 35 After this, fire came from the Lord and incinerated the 250 men who offered the incense.
23 So they set a day to meet with Paul[a] and came out in large numbers to see him where he was staying.
From morning until evening, he continued to explain the kingdom of God to them, trying to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets. 24 Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others wouldn’t believe. 25 They disagreed with one another as they were leaving, so Paul added this statement: “The Holy Spirit was so right when he spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah! 26 He said,
‘Go to this people and say,
“You will listen and listen
but never understand,
and you will look and look
but never see!
27 For this people’s minds[b] have become stupid,
and their ears can barely hear,
and they have shut their eyes
so that they may never see with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart
and turn and let me heal them.”’[c]
28 You must understand that this message about[d] God’s salvation has been sent to the gentiles, and they will listen.”[e]
30 For two whole years Paul[f] lived in his own rented place and welcomed everyone who came to him. 31 He continued to preach about the kingdom of God and to teach boldly and freely about the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.[g]
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