Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The King who brings peace
11 A descendant of Jesse will appear, like a new branch that grows from a tree stump. The roots of the tree will give new fruit![a]
2 The Spirit of the Lord will be with him.
The Spirit will make him wise,
so that he understands things.
The Spirit will show him what is right,
and he will have the power to do it.
The Spirit will cause him to know the Lord
and to serve him truly.
3 To obey the Lord will make him very happy. He will not judge people because of what he sees with his eyes. He will not judge them because of what he hears about them with his ears.
4 But he will judge poor people with true justice. He will decide to do what is right for all the helpless people. He will have authority everywhere in the land. The words that he speaks will bring death to wicked people. 5 He will wear justice like a belt round his clothes. He will always be honest and true.
6 When he is king, wolves will live beside lambs! Leopards will lie down with young goats! Young cows and lions will feed together, and a young child will take care of them!
7 Cows and bears will feed together. Even their children will lie down side by side. Lions will eat grass, as cows do.
8 If a baby plays near the hole where a snake lives, he will be safe. A young child may even put his hand into the hole of a dangerous snake.
9 Nothing will hurt or destroy anything else anywhere on my holy mountain. Instead, people will know the Lord all over the earth, as water fills the whole sea.
20 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 ‘Stand away from these men so that I can kill them.’
22 But Moses and Aaron threw themselves on the ground. Their faces were touching the ground. They said, ‘You, our God, are the God who gives life to all people. When one man does a bad thing, will you be angry with all the people? Is that right?’
23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 ‘Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’
25 Moses got up from the ground. He went to Dathan and Abiram. The leaders of the Israelites went with him. 26 Moses said to all the people, ‘Move away from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them. If you do not move away, God may destroy you together with them, because of all their sins.’
27 So the people moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were standing with their wives, babies and children at the doors of their tents.
28 Then Moses said to the people, ‘Now you will know that the Lord has chosen me to lead you. He has told me to do this. It was not my own idea. This is how you will know. 29 If these men die in a usual way, as all men will die one day, then the Lord did not choose me. 30 But if the Lord causes something new to happen to these men, you will know that they have turned against him. For example, a hole might appear in the ground so that these men fall into it. They might fall down into their own graves while they are still alive. If that happens to them and to all that belongs to them, then you will know that the Lord has punished them.’
31 When Moses finished speaking, a hole opened in the ground. 32 Like a big mouth, it ate those men, their families and everything that belonged to them. The earth covered Korah, all his group and everything that belonged to them. 33 They all went down into the deep grave while they were still alive. The ground closed over them and they died, no longer part of God's people. 34 When the other Israelites heard those men shout, they ran away quickly. They were saying, ‘Help! The ground might eat us too!’
35 Then the Lord sent fire down. It killed the 250 men who were offering the incense to God.
23 So the Jewish leaders in Rome chose a day to meet again with Paul. When that day arrived, a large number of Jews came to the house where Paul was staying. Paul talked to them from the morning until the evening. He explained his message about the kingdom of God. He showed them what Moses and the other prophets had written in the Bible. He tried to show them that Jesus was God's special Messiah. 24 Some of them believed that Paul's message was true. But other Jews who were there would not believe him. 25 They argued about it with each other. When they began to leave the house, Paul said, ‘The Holy Spirit spoke a true message to your ancestors. He gave this message to Isaiah, the prophet:
26 “Go and say to this people,
‘You will listen and listen. But you will not understand.
You will look and look. But you will not see anything.’
27 These people do not really want to understand.
They are like people who have shut their ears.
They are like people who have shut their eyes.
If they did want to look, then they would really see.
If they did want to listen, then they would really hear.
They would understand my message.
They would turn back to me and they would obey me.
Then I would forgive them and I would make them well.” ’
28 Paul then said to the Jews there, ‘You do not want to listen to God's message. But the Gentiles will listen! They will understand how God will save them.’
29 [After Paul had said this, the Jews left. They were still arguing with each other.][a]
30 Paul lived in a house in Rome for two years. He paid money to live in the house. Many people came to visit him there. He was very happy to see them all. 31 He told people clearly about the kingdom of God. He taught them about the Lord Jesus Christ. He was not afraid to speak strongly. Nobody tried to stop him.
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