Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The King of Peace Is Coming
11 A ·new branch [sprout; shoot; C the Messiah] will grow
from the stump of Jesse [C king David’s father; the Messiah will restore David’s royal line];
a branch will ·come [sprout; or bear fruit]
from his roots.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him [1 Sam. 16:13; Matt. 3:16].
The Spirit will give him wisdom and understanding, ·guidance [counsel] and power.
The Spirit ·will teach him to know [L of knowledge] and ·respect [the fear of] the Lord.
3 ·This king will be glad to [L He will gladly/with delight] ·obey [revere; fear] the Lord.
He will not judge by ·the way things look [appearances; L the vision of his eyes]
or decide by ·what he hears [L the hearing of his ears].
4 But he will judge the poor ·honestly [with justice/righteousness];
he will be ·fair [upright; just; fair] in his decisions for the ·poor [oppressed; meek] people of the ·land [or earth].
·At his command evil people will be punished [L He will strike the earth with the rod/scepter of his mouth],
and by ·his words the wicked will be put to death [L the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked].
5 ·Goodness [Righteousness; Justice] will be like a belt around his waist,
and ·fairness [faithfulness; integrity] like a belt around his ·hips [waist; T loins].
6 The wolf will ·live in peace [L live; dwell] with the lamb,
and the leopard will ·lie down to rest [L lie down] with the young goat [C peace within the animal kingdom symbolizes the restoration of creation; 65:25].
Calves, lions, and ·young bulls [or fattened calves; L fatling] will ·eat [or be] together,
and a little child will lead them.
7 Cows and bears will ·eat [graze] together in peace.
Their young will lie down to rest together.
Lions will eat ·hay [straw] as oxen do.
8 A ·baby [nursing infant] will ·be able to play [L play] near a cobra’s hole,
and a child will ·be able to put [L put] his hand into the nest of a ·poisonous snake [adder; viper].
9 They will not hurt or destroy each other
on all my holy mountain,
because the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord,
as the ·sea is full of water [L waters cover the sea].
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On
16 Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On turned against Moses. (Korah was the son of Izhar [26:9–11; 27:3; Ex. 6:21, 24], the son of Kohath, the son of Levi; Dathan and Abiram were brothers [Deut. 11:6; Ps. 106:17], the sons of Eliab; and On was the son of Peleth; Dathan, Abiram, and On were from the tribe of Reuben [Gen. 49:3–4].) 2 These men gathered two hundred fifty other ·Israelite men [L men of the sons/T children of Israel], ·well-known leaders [L men of name/reputation] chosen by the ·community [congregation; assembly], and ·challenged [confronted] Moses. 3 They ·came as a group to speak to [L assembled against] Moses and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far. All the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them [Ex. 19:6]. So why do you put yourselves above all the ·people [assembly; crowd] of the Lord?”
4 When Moses heard this, he ·bowed facedown [L fell on his face]. 5 Then he said to Korah and all his ·followers [community; congregation; assembly]: “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will bring the one who is holy near to him; he will bring to himself the person he chooses. 6 So Korah, you and all your ·followers [community; congregation; assembly] do this: Get some ·pans for burning incense [censers; firepans]. 7 Tomorrow put fire and incense in them and take them before the Lord [Lev. 10:1–2]. He will choose the man who is holy. You ·Levites [L sons/descendants of Levi] have gone too far.”
8 Moses also said to Korah, “Listen, you ·Levites [L sons of Levi]. 9 The God of Israel has ·separated [divided] you from the rest of the ·Israelites [L community/congregation/assembly of Israel]. He brought you near to himself to do the work in the Lord’s ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] and to stand before all the ·Israelites [community; congregation; assembly] and ·serve [minister to] them [8:14; Ex. 32:29; Lev. 8–9; Deut. 33:8–11]. ·Isn’t that enough [L Is it too little for you]? 10 He has brought you and all your ·fellow [brother] ·Levites [L sons of Levi] near to himself, yet now you ·want to be priests [L seek the priesthood]. 11 You and your ·followers [community; congregation; assembly] have joined together against the Lord. ·Your complaint is not against Aaron [L Who is Aaron that you complain/grumble against him?].”
12 Then Moses called Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come! 13 Is it too little that you have brought us out of a ·fertile land [L land flowing with milk and honey; C Egypt] to this ·desert [wilderness] to kill us? Now you want to ·order us around [lord it over us]. 14 You haven’t brought us into a ·fertile land [L land flowing with milk and honey; Ex. 3:8]; you haven’t given us ·any land [L an inheritance] with fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? No! We will not come!”
15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Don’t accept their ·gifts [tribute]. I have not taken anything from them, not even a donkey, and I have not done wrong to any of them.”
16 Then Moses said to Korah, “You and all your ·followers [community; congregation; assembly] must stand before the Lord tomorrow. And Aaron will stand there with you and them. 17 Each of you must take your ·pan [censer; firepan] and put incense in it; present these two hundred fifty ·pans [censers; firepans] before the Lord. You and Aaron must also present your ·pans [censers; firepans].” 18 So each man got his ·pan [censer; firepan] and put burning incense in it and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. 19 Korah ·gathered [assembled] all his ·followers [community; congregation; assembly] who were against Moses and Aaron, and they stood at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. Then the glory of the Lord [C representing God’s manifest presence, often in the form of fire and smoke] appeared to everyone.
7 Remember your leaders who ·taught [proclaimed; spoke] God’s ·message [word] to you. ·Remember [Consider; Reflect on] ·how they lived and died [or the outcome/result of their way of life], and ·copy [imitate] their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
9 Do not let all kinds of strange teachings ·lead you into the wrong way [take you off course; lead you astray]. ·Your hearts should be strengthened by [or Inner strength comes from] God’s grace, not by obeying rules about foods [C referring to Jewish dietary laws; Lev. 11; Mark 7:19; Acts 10; Col. 2:16], which ·do not help [or have never benefited] those who ·obey [observe; live by] them.
10 We have a ·sacrifice [L altar], but the priests who serve in the ·Holy Tent [T Tabernacle] ·cannot [L have no authority/right to] eat from it. 11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the ·Most Holy Place [sanctuary; L holy things; T Holy of Holies] where he offers this blood for sins. But the bodies of the animals are burned outside the camp [Lev. 6:11]. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the ·city [L gate] to ·make his people holy [sanctify the people] ·with [through] his own blood. 13 So let us go to Jesus outside the camp, ·holding on as he did when we are abused [L bearing the abuse/humiliation he bore].
14 [L For] Here on earth we do not have a city that ·lasts forever [endures], but we are ·looking for [seeking] the city that ·we will have in the future [is to come]. 15 So through Jesus let us ·always [continuously] offer to God our sacrifice of praise, ·coming from [L which is the fruit of] lips that ·speak [profess; acknowledge] his name. 16 Do not ·forget [neglect] to do good to others, and share with them, because such sacrifices please God.
17 ·Obey [or Have confidence in] your leaders and ·act under [or submit to] their authority. [L For; Because] They are watching over you, because they ·are responsible [will give an account (to God)] for ·your souls [or you]. ·Obey them [Do this; Act this way] so that they will do this work with joy, not ·sadness [or complaint; groaning], for that would be of no ·benefit [advantage; help] to you.
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