Numbers 18:21-24 and John 13:36-38 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 18:21-24

THE SHARE OF THE LEVITES

21  As for the tribe of Levi, your relatives, I will compensate them for their service in the Tabernacle. Instead of an allotment of land, I will give them the tithes from the entire land of Israel.
22  “From now on, no Israelites except priests or Levites may approach the Tabernacle. If they come too near, they will be judged guilty and will die.
23  Only the Levites may serve at the Tabernacle, and they will be held responsible for any offenses against it. This is a permanent law for you, to be observed from generation to generation. The Levites will receive no allotment of land among the Israelites,
24  because I have given them the Israelites’ tithes, which have been presented as sacred offerings to the Lord. This will be the Levites’ share. That is why I said they would receive no allotment of land among the Israelites.”

JOHN 13:36-38
JESUS PREDICTS PETER'S DENIAL
36  Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?”  And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.”
37  “But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.”
38  Jesus answered, “Die for me? I tell you the truth, Peter—before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.

Numbers 18:8-20 and John 13:31-35 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 18:8-20
THE SHARES OF THE PRIESTS

8    The Lord gave these further instructions to Aaron: “I myself have put you in charge of all the holy offerings that are brought to me by the people of Israel. I have given all these consecrated offerings to you and your sons as your permanent share. 

9    You are allotted the portion of the most holy offerings that is not burned on the fire. This portion of all the most holy offerings—including the grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings—will be most holy, and it belongs to you and your sons. 

10  You must eat it as a most holy offering. All the males may eat of it, and you must treat it as most holy.

11  “All the sacred offerings and special offerings presented to me when the Israelites lift them up before the altar also belong to you. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters as your permanent share. Any member of your family who is ceremonially clean may eat of these offerings.

12  “I also give you the harvest gifts brought by the people as offerings to the Lord—the best of the olive oil, new wine, and grain. 

13  All the first crops of their land that the people present to the Lord belong to you. Any member of your family who is ceremonially clean may eat this food.

14  “Everything in Israel that is specially set apart for the Lord also belongs to you.

15  “The firstborn of every mother, whether human or animal, that is offered to the Lord will be yours. But you must always redeem your firstborn sons and the firstborn of ceremonially unclean animals. 

16  Redeem them when they are one month old. The redemption price is five pieces of silver (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs).

17  “However, you may not redeem the firstborn of cattle, sheep, or goats. They are holy and have been set apart for the Lord. Sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat as a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 

18  The meat of these animals will be yours, just like the breast and right thigh that are presented by lifting them up as a special offering before the altar. 

19  Yes, I am giving you all these holy offerings that the people of Israel bring to the Lord. They are for you and your sons and daughters, to be eaten as your permanent share. This is an eternal and unbreakable covenant between the Lord and you, and it also applies to your descendants.”

20  And the Lord said to Aaron, “You priests will receive no allotment of land or share of property among the people of Israel. I am your share and your allotment.

JOHN 13:31-35

THE NEW COMMANDMENT

31  As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. 

32  And since God receives glory because of the Son, he will soon give glory to the Son. 

33  Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. 

34  So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 

35  Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Numbers 18:1-7 and John 13:21-30 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 18:1-7
DUTIES OF PRIESTS AND LEVITES

1  Then the Lord said to Aaron: “You, your sons, and your relatives from the tribe of Levi will be held responsible for any offenses related to the sanctuary. But you and your sons alone will be held responsible for violations connected with the priesthood.

2  “Bring your relatives of the tribe of Levi—your ancestral tribe—to assist you and your sons as you perform the sacred duties in front of the Tabernacle of the Covenant.

3  But as the Levites go about all their assigned duties at the Tabernacle, they must be careful not to go near any of the sacred objects or the altar. If they do, both you and they will die. 

4  The Levites must join you in fulfilling their responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Tabernacle, but no unauthorized person may assist you.

5  “You yourselves must perform the sacred duties inside the sanctuary and at the altar. If you follow these instructions, the Lord’s anger will never again blaze against the people of Israel. 

6  I myself have chosen your fellow Levites from among the Israelites to be your special assistants. They are a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord for service in the Tabernacle. 

7  But you and your sons, the priests, must personally handle all the priestly rituals associated with the altar and with everything behind the inner curtain. I am giving you the priesthood as your special privilege of service. Any unauthorized person who comes too near the sanctuary will be put to death.”

JOHN 13:21-30

JESUS PREDICTS HIS BETRAYAL

21  Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!”
22  The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom he could mean.
23  The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table.
24  Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s he talking about?”
25  So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?”
26  Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.
27  When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.”
28  None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant.
29  Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor.
30  So Judas left at once, going out into the night.

Numbers 17:1-13 and John 13:1-20 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 17:1-13
AARON'S WALKING STICK

1    Then the Lord said to Moses, 

2    “Tell the people of Israel to bring you twelve wooden staffs, one from each leader of Israel’s ancestral tribes, and inscribe each leader’s name on his staff. 

3    Inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of the tribe of Levi, for there must be one staff for the leader of each ancestral tribe. 

4    Place these staffs in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant, where I meet with you. 

5    Buds will sprout on the staff belonging to the man I choose. Then I will finally put an end to the people’s murmuring and complaining against you.”

6    So Moses gave the instructions to the people of Israel, and each of the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron, brought Moses a staff. 

7    Moses placed the staffs in the Lord’s presence in the Tabernacle of the Covenant. 

8    When he went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!

9    When Moses brought all the staffs out from the Lord’s presence, he showed them to the people. Each man claimed his own staff. 

10  And the Lord said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a warning to rebels. This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.” 

11  So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

12  Then the people of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we are doomed! We are dead! We are ruined!

13  Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle of the Lord dies. Are we all doomed to die?”

JOHN 13:1-20

JESUS WASHES HIS DISCIPLES' FEET

1    Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. 

2    It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

3    Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 

4    So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 

5    and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

6    When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7    Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”

8    “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”  Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”

9    Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

10  Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” 

11  For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

12  After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 

13  You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 

14  And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 

15  I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 

16  I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. 

17  Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them. 

18  “I am not saying these things to all of you; I know the ones I have chosen. But this fulfills the Scripture that says, ‘The one who eats my food has turned against me.’ 

19  I tell you this beforehand, so that when it happens you will believe that I Am the Messiah. 

20  I tell you the truth, anyone who welcomes my messenger is welcoming me, and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming the Father who sent me.”

Numbers 16:41-50 and John 12:44-50 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 16:41-50
AARON SAVES THE PEOPLE
41  But the very next morning the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!”
42  As the community gathered to protest against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of the Lord appeared.
43  Moses and Aaron came and stood in front of the Tabernacle,
44  and the Lord said to Moses,
45  “Get away from all these people so that I can instantly destroy them!” But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground.
46  And Moses said to Aaron, “Quick, take an incense burner and place burning coals on it from the altar. Lay incense on it, and carry it out among the people to purify them and make them right with the Lord.  The Lord’s anger is blazing against them—the plague has already begun.”
47  Aaron did as Moses told him and ran out among the people. The plague had already begun to strike down the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified the people.
48  He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped.
49  But 14,700 people died in that plague, in addition to those who had died in the affair involving Korah.
50  Then because the plague had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

JOHN 12:44-50
JUDGMENT BY JESUS' WORDS
44  Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me.
45  For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. 
46  I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. 
47  I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. 
48  But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken.
49  I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. 
50  And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

Numbers 16:36-40 and John 12:37-43 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 16:36-40
THE FIRE PANS
36  And the Lord said to Moses,
37  “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pull all the incense burners from the fire, for they are holy. Also tell him to scatter the burning coals.
38  Take the incense burners of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and hammer the metal into a thin sheet to overlay the altar. Since these burners were used in the Lord’s presence, they have become holy. Let them serve as a warning to the people of Israel.”
39  So Eleazar the priest collected the 250 bronze incense burners that had been used by the men who died in the fire, and he hammered them into a thin sheet to overlay the altar.
40  This would warn the Israelites that no unauthorized person—no one who was not a descendant of Aaron—should ever enter the Lord’s presence to burn incense. If anyone did, the same thing would happen to him as happened to Korah and his followers. So the Lord’s instructions to Moses were carried out.

JOHN 12:37-43
THE UNBELIEF OF THE PEOPLE

37  But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him. 

38  This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted:  “Lord, who has believed our message?  To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?”

39  But the people couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said,

40  “The Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts—so that their eyes cannot see, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and have me heal them.”

41  Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah’s glory. 

42  Many people did believe in him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn’t admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. 

43  For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.

Numbers 16:16-35 and John 12:27-36 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 16:16-35
THE REBELLION OF KORAH, DATHAN AND ABIRAM (continued)
16  And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers must come here tomorrow and present yourselves before the Lord. Aaron will also be here.
17  You and each of your 250 followers must prepare an incense burner and put incense on it, so you can all present them before the Lord. Aaron will also bring his incense burner.”
18  So each of these men prepared an incense burner, lit the fire, and placed incense on it. Then they all stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron.
19  Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up the entire community against Moses and Aaron, and they all gathered at the Tabernacle entrance. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to the whole community,
20  and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
21  “Get away from all these people so that I may instantly destroy them!”
22  But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. “O God,” they pleaded, “you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Must you be angry with all the people when only one man sins?”
23  And the Lord said to Moses,
24  “Then tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25  So Moses got up and rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed by the elders of Israel.
26  “Quick!” he told the people. “Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don’t touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins.”
27  So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, together with their wives and children and little ones.
28  And Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things that I have done—for I have not done them on my own.
29  If these men die a natural death, or if nothing unusual happens, then the Lord has not sent me.
30  But if the Lord does something entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have shown contempt for the Lord.”
31  He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them.
32  The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the men, along with their households and all their followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned.
33  So they went down alive into the grave, along with all their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished from among the people of Israel.
34  All the people around them fled when they heard their screams. “The earth will swallow us, too!” they cried.
35  Then fire blazed forth from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.

JOHN 12:27-36
JESUS SPEAKS ABOUT HIS DEATH
27  “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! 
28  Father, bring glory to your name.”  Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.”
29  When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.
30  Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine. 
31  The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. 
32  And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” 
33  He said this to indicate how he was going to die.
34  The crowd responded, “We understood from Scripture that the Messiah would live forever. How can you say the Son of Man will die? Just who is this Son of Man, anyway?”
35  Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going. 
36  Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.”
After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.

Numbers 16:1-15 and John 12:20-26 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 16:1-15
THE REBELLION OF KORAH, DATHAN AND ABIRAM

1    One day Korah son of Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the tribe of Reuben. 

2    They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly. 

3    They united against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far! The whole community of Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than the rest of the Lord’s people?”

4    When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell face down on the ground. 

5    Then he said to Korah and his followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to him and who is holy. The Lord will allow only those whom he selects to enter his own presence. 

6    Korah, you and all your followers must prepare your incense burners. 

7    Light fires in them tomorrow, and burn incense before the Lord. Then we will see whom the Lord chooses as his holy one. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!”

8   Then Moses spoke again to Korah: “Now listen, you Levites! 

9    Does it seem insignificant to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the community of Israel to be near him so you can serve in the Lord’s Tabernacle and stand before the people to minister to them? 

10  Korah, he has already given this special ministry to you and your fellow Levites. Are you now demanding the priesthood as well? 

11  The Lord is the one you and your followers are really revolting against! For who is Aaron that you are complaining about him?”

12  Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We refuse to come before you! 

13  Isn’t it enough that you brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us here in this wilderness, and that you now treat us like your subjects? 

14  What’s more, you haven’t brought us into another land flowing with milk and honey. You haven’t given us a new homeland with fields and vineyards. Are you trying to fool these men? We will not come.”

15  Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept their grain offerings! I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single one of them.”

JOHN 12:20-26

JESUS PREDICTS HIS DEATH

20  Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration 

21  paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, “Sir, we want to meet Jesus.” 

22  Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus.

23  Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. 

24  I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. 

25  Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. 

26  Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.

Numbers 15:37-41 and John 12:12-19 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 15:37-41
RULES ABOUT TASSELS
37  Then the Lord said to Moses,
38  “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord.
39  When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do.
40  The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God.
41  I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the Lord your God!”

JOHN 12:12-19
Jesus’ Triumphant Entry
12  The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors
13  took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God!  Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hail to the King of Israel!”
14  Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:
15  “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem.  Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”
16  His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.
17  Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it.
18  That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign.
19  Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!”

Numbers 15:32-36 and John 12:9-11 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 15:32-36
PENALTY FOR BREAKING THE SABBATH
32  One day while the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they discovered a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.
33  The people who found him doing this took him before Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the community.
34  They held him in custody because they did not know what to do with him.
35  Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must be put to death! The whole community must stone him outside the camp.”
36  So the whole community took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

JOHN 12:9-11
THE PLOT AGAINST LAZARUS
9   When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead.
10  Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too,
11  for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.

Numbers 15:17-31 and John 12:1-8 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 15:17-31
LAWS ABOUT SACRIFICE (continued)
17  Then the Lord said to Moses,
18  “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.  “When you arrive in the land where I am taking you,
19  and you eat the crops that grow there, you must set some aside as a sacred offering to the Lord.
20  Present a cake from the first of the flour you grind, and set it aside as a sacred offering, as you do with the first grain from the threshing floor.
21  Throughout the generations to come, you are to present a sacred offering to the Lord each year from the first of your ground flour.
22  “But suppose you unintentionally fail to carry out all these commands that the Lord has given you through Moses.
23  And suppose your descendants in the future fail to do everything the Lord has commanded through Moses.
24  If the mistake was made unintentionally, and the community was unaware of it, the whole community must present a young bull for a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It must be offered along with its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering and with one male goat for a sin offering.
25  With it the priest will purify the whole community of Israel, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven. For it was an unintentional sin, and they have corrected it with their offerings to the Lord—the special gift and the sin offering.
26  The whole community of Israel will be forgiven, including the foreigners living among you, for all the people were involved in the sin.
27  “If one individual commits an unintentional sin, the guilty person must bring a one-year-old female goat for a sin offering.
28  The priest will sacrifice it to purify the guilty person before the Lord, and that person will be forgiven.
29  These same instructions apply both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.
30  “But those who brazenly violate the Lord’s will, whether native-born Israelites or foreigners, have blasphemed the Lord, and they must be cut off from the community.
31  Since they have treated the Lord’s word with contempt and deliberately disobeyed his command, they must be completely cut off and suffer the punishment for their guilt.”

JOHN 12:1-8
JESUS IS ANOINTED AT BETHANY

1  Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. 

2  A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him.

3  Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

4  But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, 

5  “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 

6  Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

7  Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 

8  You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Numbers 15:1-16 and John 11:45-57 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 15:1-16
LAWS ABOUT SACRIFICE

1    Then the Lord told Moses,

2    “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.  “When you finally settle in the land I am giving you, 

3    you will offer special gifts as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. These gifts may take the form of a burnt offering, a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, a voluntary offering, or an offering at any of your annual festivals, and they may be taken from your herds of cattle or your flocks of sheep and goats. 

4    When you present these offerings, you must also give the Lord a grain offering of two quarts of choice flour mixed with one quartof olive oil. 

5    For each lamb offered as a burnt offering or a special sacrifice, you must also present one quart of wine as a liquid offering.

6    “If the sacrifice is a ram, give a grain offering of four quarts of choice flour mixed with a third of a gallon of olive oil, 

7    and give a third of a gallon of wine as a liquid offering. This will be a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

8    “When you present a young bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow or as a peace offering to the Lord,

9    you must also give a grain offering of six quarts of choice flour mixed with two quarts of olive oil, 

10  and give two quarts of wine as a liquid offering. This will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

11  “Each sacrifice of a bull, ram, lamb, or young goat should be prepared in this way. 

12  Follow these instructions with each offering you present. 

13  All of you native-born Israelites must follow these instructions when you offer a special gift as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 

14  And if any foreigners visit you or live among you and want to present a special gift as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, they must follow these same procedures. 

15  Native-born Israelites and foreigners are equal before the Lord and are subject to the same decrees. This is a permanent law for you, to be observed from generation to generation. 

16  The same instructions and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigners living among you.”

JOHN 11:45-57

THE PLOT AGAINST JESUS

45  Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. 

46  But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 

47  Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. 

48  If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.”

49  Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! 

50  You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”

51  He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. 

52  And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world.

53  So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death. 

54  As a result, Jesus stopped his public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem. He went to a place near the wilderness, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples.

55  It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began. 

56  They kept looking for Jesus, but as they stood around in the Temple, they said to each other, “What do you think? He won’t come for Passover, will he?” 

57  Meanwhile, the leading priests and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him.

Numbers 14:39-45 and John 11:38-44 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 14:39-45
THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO INVADE THE LAND
39  When Moses reported the Lord’s words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief.
40  Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. “Let’s go,” they said. “We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the Lord has promised us.”
41  But Moses said, “Why are you now disobeying the Lord’s orders to return to the wilderness? It won’t work.
42  Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the Lord is not with you.
43  When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The Lord will abandon you because you have abandoned the Lord.”
44  But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant left the camp.
45  Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them back as far as Hormah.

JOHN 11:38-44
LAZARUS IS BROUGHT TO LIFE
38  Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.
39  “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.  But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
40  Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” 
41  So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. 
42  You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” 
43  Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 
44  And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

Numbers 14:26-38 and John 11:28-37 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 14:26-38
THE LORD PUNISHES THE PEOPLE FOR COMPLAINING

26  Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 

27  “How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me. 

28  Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 

29  You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die. 

30  You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

31  “‘You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. 

32  But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. 

33  And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness.

34  “‘Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.’ 

35  I, the Lord, have spoken! I will certainly do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!”

36  The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against the Lord with their bad report— 

37  were struck dead with a plague before the Lord. 

38  Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.

JOHN 11:28-37
JESUS WEEPS
28  Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.”
29  So Mary immediately went to him.
30  Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him.
31  When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there.
32  When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33  When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.
34  “Where have you put him?” he asked them.  They told him, “Lord, come and see.”
35  Then Jesus wept.
36  The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!”
37  But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”

Numbers 14:11-25 and John 11:17-27 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 14:11-25
MOSES PRAYS FOR THE PEOPLE
11  And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?
12  I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!”  
13  But Moses objected. “What will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?” he asked the Lord. “They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing your people from Egypt.
14  Now if you destroy them, the Egyptians will send a report to the inhabitants of this land, who have already heard that you live among your people. They know, Lord, that you have appeared to your people face to face and that your pillar of cloud hovers over them. They know that you go before them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
15  Now if you slaughter all these people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will say,
16  ‘The Lord was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness.’
17  “Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed. For you said,
18  ‘The Lord is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.’
19  In keeping with your magnificent, unfailing love, please pardon the sins of this people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”
20  Then the Lord said, “I will pardon them as you have requested.
21  But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the Lord’s glory,
22  not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice.
23  They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it.
24  But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.
25  Now turn around, and don’t go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.”

JOHN 11:17-27
JESUS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
17  When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days.
18  Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem,
19  and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss.
20  When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house.
21  Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22  But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”
23  Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24  “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”
25  Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
26  Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
27  “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”

Numbers 14:1-10 and John 11:1-16 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 14:1-10

THE PEOPLE REBEL

1    Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 

2    Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. 

3    “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 

4    Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”

5    Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel. 

6    Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. 

7    They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land!

8    And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. 

9    Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”

10  But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle.

JOHN 11:1-16

THE DEATH OF LAZARUS

1    A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 

2    This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 

3    So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

4    But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” 

5    So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 

6    he stayed where he was for the next two days. 

7    Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

8    But his disciples objected. “Rabbi,” they said, “only a few days ago the people in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again?”

9    Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. 

10  But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.” 

11  Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.”

12  The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” 

13  They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.

14  So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 

15  And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”

16  Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.”

Numbers 13:21-33 and John 10:22-42 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 13:21-33
THE SCOUTING REPORT
21  So they went up and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near Lebo-hamath.
22  Going north, they passed through the Negev and arrived at Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai—all descendants of Anak—lived. (The ancient town of Hebron was founded seven years before the Egyptian city of Zoan.)
23  When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also brought back samples of the pomegranates and figs.
24  That place was called the valley of Eshcol (which means “cluster”), because of the cluster of grapes the Israelite men cut there. 
25  After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned
26  to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land.
27  This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces.
28  But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak!
29  The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.”
30  But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”
31  But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!”
32  So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge.
33  We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

JOHN 10:22-42
JESUS CLAIMS TO BE THE SON OF GOD
22  It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication.
23  He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade.
24  The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25  Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. 
26  But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. 
27  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 
28  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 
29  for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. 
30  The Father and I are one.”
31  Once again the people picked up stones to kill him.
32  Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?”
33  They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34  Jesus replied, “It is written in your own Scriptures that God said to certain leaders of the people, ‘I say, you are gods!’
35  And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered. So if those people who received God’s message were called ‘gods,’ 
36  why do you call it blasphemy when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’? After all, the Father set me apart and sent me into the world.
37  Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work. 
38  But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”
39  Once again they tried to arrest him, but he got away and left them.
40  He went beyond the Jordan River near the place where John was first baptizing and stayed there awhile.
41  And many followed him. “John didn’t perform miraculous signs,” they remarked to one another, “but everything he said about this man has come true.”
42  And many who were there believed in Jesus.

Numbers 13:1-20 and John 10:7-21 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 13:1-20
THE SPIES

1    The Lord now said to Moses, 

2    “Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.”

3    So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran. 

4    These were the tribes and the names of their leaders:

Tribe	Leader
Reuben	Shammua son of Zaccur
5  Simeon	Shaphat son of Hori
6  Judah	Caleb son of Jephunneh
7  Issachar	Igal son of Joseph
8  Ephraim	Hoshea son of Nun
9  Benjamin	Palti son of Raphu
10 Zebulun	Gaddiel son of Sodi
11 Manasseh son of Joseph	Gaddi son of Susi
12 Dan	Ammiel son of Gemalli
13 Asher	Sethur son of Michael
14 Naphtali	Nahbi son of Vophsi
15 Gad	Geuel son of Maki

16  These are the names of the men Moses sent out to explore the land. (Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name Joshua.)

17  Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: “Go north through the Negev into the hill country. 

18  See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many.

19  See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps? 

20  Is the soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see.” (It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.)

JOHN 10:7-21

JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD

7    so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 
8    All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 
9    Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 
10  The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
11  “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 
12  A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 
13  The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.
14  “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 
15  just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 
16  I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
17  “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 
18  No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
19  When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him.
20  Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?”
21  Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Numbers 12:1-16 and John 10:1-6 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 12:1-16
MIRIAM IS PUNISHED

1    While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite woman. 

2    They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us, too?” But the Lord heard them. 

3    (Now Moses was very humble—more humble than any other person on earth.)

4    So immediately the Lord called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam and said, “Go out to the Tabernacle, all three of you!” So the three of them went to the Tabernacle. 

5    Then the Lord descended in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle. “Aaron and Miriam!” he called, and they stepped forward.

6    And the Lord said to them, “Now listen to what I say:  “If there were prophets among you, I, the Lord, would reveal myself in visions.  I would speak to them in dreams.

7    But not with my servant Moses.  Of all my house, he is the one I trust.

8    I speak to him face to face, clearly, and not in riddles!  He sees the Lord as he is.  So why were you not afraid to criticize my servant Moses?”

9    The Lord was very angry with them, and he departed. 

10  As the cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, there stood Miriam, her skin as white as snow from leprosy. When Aaron saw what had happened to her, 

11  he cried out to Moses, “Oh, my master! Please don’t punish us for this sin we have so foolishly committed. 

12  Don’t let her be like a stillborn baby, already decayed at birth.”

13  So Moses cried out to the Lord, “O God, I beg you, please heal her!”

14  But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had done nothing more than spit in her face, wouldn’t she be defiled for seven days? So keep her outside the camp for seven days, and after that she may be accepted back.”

15  So Miriam was kept outside the camp for seven days, and the people waited until she was brought back before they traveled again. 

16  Then they left Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

JOHN 10:1-6

THE PARABLE OF THE SHEPHERD

1  “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 

2  But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 

3  The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 

4  After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 

5  They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

6  Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant,