The Mission of the Twelve.* 12h In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer* to God. 13When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve,* whom he also named apostles: 14i Simon, whom he named Peter,* and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot,* 16and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot,* who became a traitor.
Rebellion of Korah. 1* Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and the Reubenites Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth,* son of Reuben took 2two hundred and fifty Israelites who were leaders in the community, members of the council and men of note, and confronted Moses. 3Holding an assembly against Moses and Aaron, they said,a “You go too far! The whole community, all of them, are holy; the LORD is in their midst. Why then should you set yourselves over the LORD’s assembly?”
4When Moses heard this, he fell prostrate. 5Then he said to Korah and to all his faction, “May the LORD make known tomorrow morning who belongs to him and who is the holy one and whom he will have draw near to him! The one whom he chooses, he will have draw near to him. 6Do this: take your censers, Korah and all his faction, 7and put fire in them and place incense in them before the LORD tomorrow. He whom the LORD then chooses is the holy one. You Levites go too far!”
8Moses also said to Korah, “Hear, now, you Levites! 9b Are you not satisfied that the God of Israel has singled you out from the community of Israel, to have you draw near him to maintain the LORD’s tabernacle, and to attend upon the community and to serve them? 10He has allowed you and your Levite kinsmen with you to approach him, and yet you seek the priesthood too. 11It is therefore against the LORD that you and all your faction are conspiring. As for Aaron, what has he done that you should grumble against him?”
The Fate of Eli’s House.* 27A man of God came to Eli and said to him: “Thus says the LORD: I went so far as to reveal myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt as slaves to the house of Pharaoh. 28I chose them out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priests, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the ephod* in my presence; and I assigned all the fire offerings of the Israelites to your father’s house.m 29Why do you stare greedily at my sacrifices and at the offerings that I have prescribed? Why do you honor your sons more than you honor me, fattening yourselves with the choicest part of every offering of my people Israel? 30n This, therefore, is the oracle of the LORD, the God of Israel: I said in the past that your family and your father’s house should minister in my presence forever. But now—oracle of the LORD: Far be it from me! I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me shall be cursed. 31Yes, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no one in your family lives to old age. 32You shall witness, like a disappointed rival, all the benefits enjoyed by Israel, but no member of your household shall ever grow old. 33I will leave you one man at my altar to wear out his eyes and waste his strength, but the rest of your family shall die by the sword. 34This is a sign for you—what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Both of them will die on the same day.o 35I will choose a faithful priest who shall do what I have in heart and mind. I will establish a lasting house for him and he shall serve in the presence of my anointed forever. 36Then whoever is left of your family will grovel before him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread, saying: Please assign me a priestly function, that I may have a crust of bread to eat.”p
4The word of the LORD came to me:
5Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.* c
6“Ah, Lord GOD!” I said,
“I do not know how to speak. I am too young!”*
7But the LORD answered me,
Do not say, “I am too young.”
To whomever I send you, you shall go;
whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you—oracle of the LORD.
9Then the LORD extended his hand and touched my mouth, saying to me,
See, I place my words in your mouth!d
10Today I appoint you
over nations and over kingdoms,
To uproot and to tear down,
to destroy and to demolish,
to build and to plant.
1Hear me, coastlands,
listen, distant peoples.a
Before birth the LORD called me,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.*
2He made my mouth like a sharp-edged sword,
concealed me, shielded by his hand.
He made me a sharpened arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
3He said to me, You are my servant,
in you, Israel,* I show my glory.
4Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
for nothing and for naught spent my strength,
Yet my right is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.b
5For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
That Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
I am honored in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
6It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;c
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.*
7Thus says the LORD,
the redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
To the one despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers:
When kings see you, they shall stand up,
and princes shall bow down
Because of the LORD who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.d
The Choice of Judas’s Successor. 15During those days Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons in the one place). He said, 16“My brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled which the holy Spirit spoke beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.m 17He was numbered among us and was allotted a share in this ministry. 18n He bought a parcel of land with the wages of his iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out.* 19This became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem, so that the parcel of land was called in their language ‘Akeldama,’ that is, Field of Blood. 20For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
‘Let his encampment become desolate,
and may no one dwell in it.’
And:
‘May another take his office.’o
21Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, 22beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection.”p 23So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24Then they prayed, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.” 26* q Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.
The Corinthians and Paul.* 26Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,p 28and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, 29so that no human being might boast* before God.q 30It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,r 31so that, as it is written, “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.”s
The Mission of the Twelve.* 1a He summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal [the sick]. 3He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey,* neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic. 4Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.b 5And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet* in testimony against them.”c 6Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.