17Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land where I bring you, 19then it shall be, that when you eat of the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the Lord. 20Of the first of your dough you shall lift up a cake as an offering; as the offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up. 21From the first of your dough you shall give to the Lord an offering throughout your generations.
22‘But when you unwittingly fail and do not observe all these commandments, which the Lord has spoken to Moses, 23even all that the Lord has commanded you through Moses, from the day when the Lord gave commandment and onward throughout your generations, 24then it shall be, if it is done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull for a burnt offering, as a soothing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering. 25Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their error. 26So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven, with the alien who sojourns among them, for it happened to all the people through error.
27‘Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a one year old female goat for a sin offering. 28The priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him that he may be forgiven. 29You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them. 30But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt will be on him.’ ”
Sabbath-breaking Punished
32Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day. 33Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation; 34and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him. 35Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” 36So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
37The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, 38“Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. 39It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, 40so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God. 41I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord your God.”
Korah’s Rebellion
1Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took action, 2and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown. 3They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”
4When Moses heard this, he fell on his face; 5and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. 6Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company, 7and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”
8Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi, 9is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; 10and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking for the priesthood also? 11Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord; but as for Aaron, who is he that you grumble against him?”
12Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up. 13Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? 14Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
15Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not regard their offering! I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.” 16Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be present before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. 17Each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.” 18So they each took his own censer and put fire on it, and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. 19Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.
20Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 21“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” 22But they fell on their faces and said, “O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”
23Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24“Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”
25Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, 26and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, or you will be swept away in all their sin.” 27So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and their sons and their little ones. 28Moses said, “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing. 29If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. 30But if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord.”
31As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; 32and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. 33So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us up!” 35Fire also came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.
36Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 37“Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad. 38As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel.” 39So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar, 40as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman who is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and his company—just as the Lord had spoken to him through Moses.
Jesus before Pilate
1Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. 2Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He *answered him, “It is as you say.” 3The chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. 4Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!” 5But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed.
6Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. 7The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. 8The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. 9Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. 12Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” 13They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” 14But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.
Jesus Is Mocked
16The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman cohort. 17They *dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. 20After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him.
21They *pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.
The Crucifixion
22Then they *brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24And they *crucified Him, and *divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take. 25It was the third hour when they crucified Him. 26The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
27They *crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. 28[And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”] 29Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. 32Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.
33When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 35When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” 36Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” 37And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. 38And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
40There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome. 41When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and minister to Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.
Jesus Is Buried
42When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 44Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. 45And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He was laid.
PSALM 54
Prayer for Defense against Enemies.
For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”
1Save me, O God, by Your name,
And vindicate me by Your power.
2Hear my prayer, O God;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
3For strangers have risen against me
And violent men have sought my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah.
4Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.
5He will recompense the evil to my foes;
Destroy them in Your faithfulness.
6Willingly I will sacrifice to You;
I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7For He has delivered me from all trouble,
And my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.
5The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way,
But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
6The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,
But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.