Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Reign of Jesse’s Offspring(A)
11 There (B)shall come forth a [a]Rod from the [b]stem of (C)Jesse,
And (D)a Branch shall [c]grow out of his roots.
2 (E)The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But (F)with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall (G)strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
6 “The(H) wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
9 (I)They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For (J)the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
20 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 21 (A)“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may (B)consume them in a moment.”
22 Then they (C)fell[a] on their faces, and said, “O God, (D)the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the (E)congregation?”
23 So the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’ ”
25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, (F)“Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.” 27 So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little (G)children.
28 And Moses said: (H)“By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them (I)of my own will. 29 If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are (J)visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord creates (K)a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they (L)go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.”
31 (M)Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and (N)all the men with Korah, with all their goods. 33 So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. 34 Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also!”
35 And (O)a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.
23 So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, (A)to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus (B)from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening. 24 And (C)some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved. 25 So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to [a]our fathers, 26 saying,
(D)‘Go to this people and say:
“Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand;
And seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.” ’
28 “Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent (E)to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!” 29 [b]And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.
30 Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31 (F)preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.