The Death of Nadab and Abihu
1 Now yNadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, zeach took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered aunauthorized1 fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire bcame out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among cthose who are near me dI will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” eAnd Aaron held his peace.
4 And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of fUzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.” 5 So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. 6 And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, g“Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your clothes, lest you die, and hwrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the Lord has kindled. 7 iAnd do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, jfor the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.
8 And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 k“Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10 You are to ldistinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and myou are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”
12 Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his surviving sons: “Take the ngrain offering that is left of the Lord’s food offerings, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for oit is most holy. 13 You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, from the Lord’s food offerings, for pso I am commanded. 14 But the qbreast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they are given as your due and your sons’ due from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of Israel. 15 rThe thigh that is contributed and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the food offerings of the fat pieces to wave for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be yours and your sons’ with you as a due forever, as the Lord has commanded.”
16 Now Moses diligently inquired about sthe goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying, 17 t“Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since oit is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? 18 Behold, uits blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, vas I commanded.” 19 And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, wtoday they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, xwould the Lord have approved?” 20 And when Moses heard that, he approved.
The Lord Is in His Holy Temple
To the choirmaster. Of David.
1 In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
z“Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked abend the bow;
bthey have fitted their arrow to the string
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if cthe foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”1
4 dThe Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord’s ethrone is in heaven;
his eyes see, his eyelids ftest the children of man.
5 The Lord gtests the righteous,
but hhis soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;
ifire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be jthe portion of their cup.
7 For the Lord is righteous;
he kloves righteous deeds;
lthe upright shall behold his face.
The Faithful Have Vanished
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.2 A Psalm of David.
1 Save, O Lord, for mthe godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
2 Everyone nutters lies to his neighbor;
3 May the Lord cut off all oflattering lips,
the tongue that makes qgreat boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
5 “Because rthe poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
sI will now arise,” says the Lord;
“I will place him in the tsafety for which he longs.”
6 uThe words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
you will guard us3 from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.
More Proverbs of Solomon
1 These also are mproverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.
2 It is the glory of God to nconceal things,
but the glory of kings is to osearch things out.
3 As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth,
so the heart of kings is punsearchable.
4 Take away qthe dross from the silver,
and rthe smith has material for a vessel;
5 take away sthe wicked from the presence of the king,
and his tthrone will be established in righteousness.
6 Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence
or stand in the place of the great,
7 for uit is better to be told, “Come up here,”
than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.
What your eyes have seen
8 wdo not hastily bring into court,1
for2 what will you do in the end,
when your neighbor puts you to shame?
9 xArgue your case with your neighbor himself,
and do not reveal another’s secret,
10 lest he who hears you bring shame upon you,
and your ill repute have no end.
11 yA word fitly spoken
is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.
12 Like za gold ring or an ornament of gold
is a wise reprover to aa listening ear.
13 Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest
is ba faithful messenger to those who send him;
he refreshes the soul of his masters.
14 Like cclouds and wind without rain
is a man who dboasts of a gift he does not give.
15 With epatience a ruler may be persuaded,
and a soft tongue will break a bone.
16 If you have ffound honey, eat gonly enough for you,
lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.
17 Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house,
lest he have his fill of you and hate you.
18 A man who hbears false witness against his neighbor
is like a war club, or ia sword, or a sharp arrow.
19 Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble
is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.
20 Whoever jsings songs to a heavy heart
is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day,
and like vinegar on soda.
21 kIf your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,
and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
22 for you will heap lburning coals on his head,
and the Lord will reward you.
23 The north wind brings forth rain,
and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.
24 mIt is better to live in a corner of the housetop
than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.
25 Like cold water to na thirsty soul,
so is ogood news from a far country.
26 Like pa muddied spring or a polluted fountain
is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.
27 It is qnot good to eat much honey,
nor is it glorious to rseek one’s own glory.3
28 A man swithout self-control
is like ta city broken into and left without walls.
A Life Pleasing to God
1 Finally, then, brothers,1 we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you dreceived from us ehow you ought to walk and fto please God, just as you are doing, that you gdo so more and more. 2 For hyou know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, iyour sanctification:2 jthat you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own kbody3 in holiness and lhonor, 5 not in mthe passion of lust nlike the Gentiles owho do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and pwrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is qan avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For rGod has not called us for simpurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore twhoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, uwho gives his Holy Spirit to you.
9 Now concerning vbrotherly love wyou have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been xtaught by God yto love one another, 10 for that indeed is what zyou are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to ado this more and more, 11 and to aspire bto live quietly, and cto mind your own affairs, and dto work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may ewalk properly before foutsiders and be dependent on no one.
The Coming of the Lord
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, gthat you may not grieve as others do hwho have no hope. 14 For isince we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him jthose who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you kby a word from the Lord,4 that lwe who are alive, who are left until mthe coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For nthe Lord himself will descend ofrom heaven pwith a cry of command, with the voice of qan archangel, and rwith the sound of the trumpet of God. And sthe dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be tcaught up together with them uin the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so vwe will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
