Numbers 16–17; Mark 10

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Numbers 16–17

Korah’s Rebellion

Now iKorah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and jDathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. kThey assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, lYou have gone too far! For mall in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord? When Moses heard it, nhe fell on his face, and he said to Korah and all his company, In the morning the Lord will show owho is his,1 and who is pholy, and will bring him near to him. The one qwhom he chooses he will rbring near to him. Do this: take scensers, Korah and all his company; put fire in them and put incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the holy one. tYou have gone too far, sons of Levi! And Moses said to Korah, Hear now, you sons of Levi: is it utoo small a thing for you that the God of Israel has vseparated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, 10 and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? 11 Therefore it is against the Lord that you and all your company have gathered together. What is wAaron that you grumble against him?

12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, We will not come up. 13 Is it xa small thing that you have brought us up out of ya land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also zmake yourself a prince over us? 14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up. 15 And Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, aDo not respect their offering. bI have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.

16 And Moses said to Korah, Be present, you and all your company, cbefore the Lord, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. 17 And dlet every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the Lord his censer, e250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer. 18 So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19 Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. fAnd the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

20 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 gSeparate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them hin a moment. 22 And they ifell on their faces and said, O God, jthe God of the spirits of all flesh, kshall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation? 23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling 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, lDepart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins. 27 So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood mat the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. 28 And Moses said, Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been nof my own accord. 29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, othen the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord creates something new, and pthe ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they qgo down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.

31 rAnd as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. 32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and sall the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and tthey perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up! 35 And ufire came out from the Lord and consumed vthe 250 men offering the incense.

36 2 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 37 Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide, for they have become holy. 38 As for the censers of wthese men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they offered them before the Lord, and they became holy. xThus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel. 39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar, 40 to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so ythat no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the Lord, lest he become like Korah and his companyas the Lord said to him through Moses.

41 But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel zgrumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the Lord. 42 And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting. And behold, athe cloud covered it, and bthe glory of the Lord appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 cGet away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. dAnd they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for ewrath has gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun. 47 So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and fthe plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, gbesides those who died in the affair of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped.

Aaron’s Staff Buds

3 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, hSpeak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers’ house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. Write each man’s name on his staff, and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers’ house. Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, iwhere I meet with you. And the staff of the man jwhom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me kthe grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you. Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. And Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in lthe tent of the testimony.

On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, Put back mthe staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept nas a sign for the rebels, othat you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die. 11 Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so he did.

12 And the people of Israel said to Moses, Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. 13 pEveryone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, shall die. Are we all to perish?


Mark 10

Teaching About Divorce

zAnd he left there and went ato the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.

And Pharisees came up and in order bto test him asked, cIs it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? He answered them, What did Moses command you? They said, dMoses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away. And Jesus said to them, Because of your ehardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But ffrom the beginning of creation, God made them gmale and female. hTherefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,1 and ithe two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. jWhat therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.

10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, kWhoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and lif she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.

Let the Children Come to Me

13 mAnd they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples nrebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, oLet the children come to me; pdo not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 qTruly, I say to you, whoever does not rreceive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. 16 And she took them in his arms and blessed them, tlaying his hands on them.

The Rich Young Man

17 uAnd as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and vknelt before him and asked him, Good Teacher, what must I do to winherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: xDo not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother. 20 And he said to him, Teacher, yall these I have kept from my youth. 21 And Jesus, zlooking at him, aloved him, and said to him, You lack one thing: go, bsell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have ctreasure in heaven; and come, follow me. 22 dDisheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus elooked around and said to his disciples, fHow difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter gthe kingdom of God! 24 And the disciples hwere amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, iChildren, jhow difficult it is2 to enter gthe kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter gthe kingdom of God. 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,3 Then who can be saved? 27 Jesus klooked at them and said, lWith man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God. 28 Peter began to say to him, See, mwe have left everything and followed you. 29 Jesus said, Truly, I say to you, nthere is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and ofor the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold pnow in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, qwith persecutions, and in rthe age to come eternal life. 31 But smany who are first will be last, and the last first.

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

32 tAnd they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and uJesus was walking ahead of them. And vthey were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, See, wwe are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will xcondemn him to death and ydeliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will zmock him and aspit on him, and flog him and kill him. And bafter three days he will rise.

The Request of James and John

35 cAnd James and John, dthe sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us ewhatever we ask of you. 36 And he said to them, fWhat do you want me to do for you? 37 And they said to him, Grant us gto sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, hin your glory. 38 Jesus said to them, iYou do not know what you are asking. Are you able jto drink the cup that I drink, or kto be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? 39 And they said to him, We are able. And Jesus said to them, lThe cup that I drink myou will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, nyou will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, obut it is for those for whom it has been pprepared. 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 qAnd Jesus called them to him and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles rlord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But sit shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,4 44 and whoever would be first among you must be tslave5 of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but uto serve, and vto give his life as a ransom for wmany.

Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

46 xAnd they came to Jericho. And yas he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, za blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was aJesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! 48 And many brebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me! 49 And Jesus stopped and said, Call him. And they called the blind man, saying to him, cTake heart. Get up; he is calling you. 50 And throwing off his dcloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, eWhat do you want me to do for you? And the blind man said to him, fRabbi, let me recover my sight. 52 And Jesus said to him, Go your way; gyour faith has hmade you well. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.