One Year Bible.

Korah’s Rebellion

¹Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath son of Levi, along with some Reubenites — Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth — conducted ²a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 men of Israel renowned as leaders of the congregation and representatives in the assembly. ³They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

⁴When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. ⁵Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will reveal who belongs to Him and who is holy, and He will bring that person near to Himself. The one He chooses He will bring near to Himself. ⁶You, Korah, and all your followers are to do as follows: Take censers, ⁷and tomorrow you are to place fire and incense in them in the presence of the LORD. Then the man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. It is you sons of Levi who have taken too much upon yourselves!”

⁸Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you sons of Levi! ⁹Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near to Himself to perform the work at the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? ¹⁰He has brought you near, you and all your fellow Levites, but you are seeking the priesthood as well. ¹¹Therefore, it is you and all your followers who have conspired against the LORD! As for Aaron, who is he that you should grumble against him?”

¹²Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come! ¹³Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Must you also appoint yourself as ruler over us? ¹⁴Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!”

¹⁵Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not regard their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them or mistreated a single one of them.”

¹⁶And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow— you and they and Aaron. ¹⁷Each man is to take his censer, place incense in it, and present it before the LORD— 250 censers. You and Aaron are to present your censers as well.”

¹⁸So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁹When Korah had gathered his whole assembly against them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole congregation.

²⁰And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ²¹“Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.”

²²But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”

Moses Separates the People

²³Then the LORD said to Moses, ²⁴“Tell the congregation to move away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

²⁵So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”

²⁷So they moved away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Meanwhile, Dathan and Abiram had come out and stood at the entrances to their tents with their wives and children and infants.

The Earth Swallows Korah

²⁸Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things, for it was not my own doing: ²⁹If these men die a natural death, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. ³⁰But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.”

³¹As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open, ³²and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households — all Korah’s men and all their possessions. ³³They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.

³⁴At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!” ³⁵And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

The Censers Reserved for Holy Use

³⁶Then the LORD said to Moses, ³⁷“Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the censers from the flames and to scatter the coals far away, because the censers are holy. ³⁸As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.”

³⁹So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, ⁴⁰just as the LORD commanded him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his followers.

Murmuring and Plague

⁴¹The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!” ⁴²But when the congregation gathered against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the Tent of Meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.

⁴³Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting, ⁴⁴and the LORD said to Moses, ⁴⁵“Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown.

⁴⁶Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.”

⁴⁷So Aaron took the censer as Moses had ordered and ran into the midst of the assembly. And seeing that the plague had begun among the people, he offered the incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted. ⁴⁹But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who had died on account of Korah.

⁵⁰Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, since the plague had been halted.

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

¹Once again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there. ²In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.

³Then Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, “Stand up among us.” ⁴And He asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

But they were silent.

⁵Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.

⁶At this, the Pharisees went out and began plotting with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Jesus Heals the Multitudes

⁷So Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea, accompanied by a large crowd from Galilee, Judea, ⁸Jerusalem, Idumea, the region beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to Him when they heard what great things He was doing.

⁹Jesus asked His disciples to have a boat ready for Him so that the crowd would not crush Him. ¹⁰For He had healed so many that all who had diseases were pressing forward to touch Him. ¹¹And when the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” ¹²But He warned them sternly not to make Him known.

The Twelve Apostles

¹³Then Jesus went up on the mountain and called for those He wanted, and they came to Him. ¹⁴He appointed twelve of them, whom He designated as apostles, to accompany Him, to be sent out to preach, ¹⁵and to have authority to drive out demons.

¹⁶These are the twelve He appointed: Simon (whom He named Peter), ¹⁷James son of Zebedee and his brother John ( whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”), ¹⁸Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, ¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

A House Divided

²⁰Then Jesus went home, and once again a crowd gathered, so that He and His disciples could not even eat. ²¹When His family heard about this, they went out to take custody of Him, saying, “He is out of His mind.”

²²And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.”

²³So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. ²⁵If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand. ²⁶And if Satan is divided and rises against himself, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

²⁸Truly I tell you, the sons of men will be forgiven all sins and blasphemies, as many as they utter. ²⁹But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of eternal sin.”

³⁰Jesus made this statement because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

³¹Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came and stood outside. They sent someone in to summon Him, ³²and a crowd was sitting around Him. “Look,” He was told, “Your mother and brothers are outside, asking for You.”

³³But Jesus replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” ³⁴Looking at those seated in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ³⁵For whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.”

Jerusalem the Useless Vine

¹Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any other branch among the trees in the forest? ³Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can one make from it a peg on which to hang utensils?

⁴No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? ⁵Even when it was whole, it could not be made useful. How much less can it ever be useful when the fire has consumed it and charred it!

⁶Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the people of Jerusalem. ⁷And I will set My face against them. Though they may have escaped the fire, yet another fire will consume them. And when I set My face against them, you will know that I am the LORD.

⁸Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

Jerusalem’s Unfaithfulness

¹Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominations ³and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. ⁴On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. ⁵No one cared enough for you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. Instead, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were despised on the day of your birth.

⁶Then I passed by and saw you wallowing in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’ There I said to you, ‘Live!’ ⁷I made you thrive like a plant of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.

⁸Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD. ⁹Then I bathed you with water, rinsed off your blood, and anointed you with oil. ¹⁰I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck. ¹²I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head.

¹³So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen. ¹⁴Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect in the splendor I bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁵But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking. ¹⁶You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!

¹⁷You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself. ¹⁸You took your embroidered garments to cover them, and you set My oil and incense before them. ¹⁹And you set before them as a pleasing aroma the food I had given you— the fine flour, oil, and honey that I had fed you. That is what happened, declares the Lord GOD.

²⁰You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough? ²¹You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols.

²²And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.

²³Woe! Woe to you, declares the Lord GOD. And in addition to all your other wickedness, ²⁴you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public square. ²⁵At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by. ²⁶You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger.

²⁷Therefore I stretched out My hand against you and reduced your portion. I gave you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd conduct. ²⁸Then you prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, because you were not yet satisfied. Even after that, you were still not satisfied. ²⁹So you extended your promiscuity to Chaldea, the land of merchants — but even with this you were not satisfied!

³⁰How weak-willed is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, while you do all these things, the acts of a shameless prostitute! ³¹But when you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were not even like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

³²You adulterous wife! You receive strangers instead of your own husband! ³³Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. ³⁴So your prostitution is the opposite of that of other women: No one solicited your favors, and you paid a fee instead of receiving one; so you are the very opposite!

Judgment on Jerusalem

³⁵Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD! ³⁶This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them, ³⁷therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you before them, and they will see you completely naked. ³⁸And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.

³⁹Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines. They will strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and leave you naked and bare. ⁴⁰They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹Then they will burn down your houses and execute judgment against you in the sight of many women.

I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will never again pay your lovers. ⁴²So I will lay to rest My wrath against you, and My jealousy will turn away from you. Then I will be calm and no longer angry.

⁴³Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but enraged Me with all these things, I will surely bring your deeds down upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed this lewdness on top of all your other abominations?

⁴⁴Behold, all who speak in proverbs will quote this proverb about you:

‘Like mother, like daughter.’

⁴⁵You are the daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and children. You are the sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. ⁴⁶Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to your north; and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to your south. ⁴⁷And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were.

⁴⁸As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did as you and your daughters have done. ⁴⁹Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy. ⁵⁰Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen.

⁵¹Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have multiplied your abominations beyond theirs, and all the abominations you have committed have made your sisters appear righteous. ⁵²So now you must bear your disgrace, since you have brought justification for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you, because your sins were more vile than theirs. So you too must bear your shame and disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous.

⁵³But I will restore Sodom and her daughters from captivity, as well as Samaria and her daughters. And I will restore you along with them. ⁵⁴So you will bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you did to comfort them.

⁵⁵And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state. You and your daughters will also return to your former state. ⁵⁶Did you not treat your sister Sodom as an object of scorn in the day of your pride, ⁵⁷before your wickedness was uncovered? Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all those around her, and by the daughters of the Philistines— all those around you who despise you. ⁵⁸You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD.

The Covenant Remembered

⁵⁹For this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you according to your deeds, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant. ⁶⁰But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. ⁶¹Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.

⁶²So I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD, ⁶³so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”