Today's Readings -- 26 February 2011
Happy Saturday.  Leastways, it is Saturday for about an hour more.  After working another all-nighter, I came home to Dear Wife.  She roused herself and made some waffles for us, and we had breakfast together.  Then I died until some time after 3 pm.  Got up, stumbled around a bit, landed in the shower.  We got dressed and met Beloved Younger Daughter and Esteemed Son-in-Law, and his parents (not sure of the proper title for them, but they are wonderful people) for dinner to celebrate the birthday of our daughter.  Hard to believe it has now been 22 years since I held a tiny preemie, just a bit over 4 pounds after delivery in an emergency C-section that I'd been warned might have us losing both of them.  That was a very tough night, but the Lord saw us through it.  As he has on several other very tough occasions.
So, thank you Lord.  Thank you.
Today's Old Testament passage is Numbers 16 and 17
| 1 | Now  Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan  and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of  Reuben, took men: | 
| 2 | And  they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two  hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation,  men of renown: | 
| 3 | And  they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and  said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation  are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then  lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD? | 
| 4 | And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: | 
| 5 | And  he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow  the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to  come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come  near unto him. | 
| 6 | This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; | 
| 7 | And  put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow:  and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be  holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. | 
| 8 | And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: | 
| 9 | Seemeth  it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated  you from 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 unto them? | 
| 10 | And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also? | 
| 11 | For  which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against  the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him? | 
| 12 | And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: | 
| 13 | Is  it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that  floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou  make thyself altogether a prince over us? | 
| 14 | Moreover  thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey,  or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the  eyes of these men? we will not come up. | 
| 15 | And  Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their  offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of  them. | 
| 16 | And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow: | 
| 17 | And  take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before  the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou  also, and Aaron, each of you his censer. | 
| 18 | And  they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense  thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation  with Moses and Aaron. | 
| 19 | And  Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the  tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto  all the congregation. | 
| 20 | And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, | 
| 21 | Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. | 
| 22 | And  they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of  all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the  congregation? | 
| 23 | And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, | 
| 24 | Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. | 
| 25 | And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. | 
| 26 | And  he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the  tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be  consumed in all their sins. | 
| 27 | So  they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every  side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their  tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. | 
| 28 | And  Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all  these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. | 
| 29 | If  these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after  the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. | 
| 30 | But  if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow  them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into  the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the  LORD. | 
| 31 | And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: | 
| 32 | And  the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses,  and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. | 
| 33 | They,  and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the  earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. | 
| 34 | And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. | 
| 35 | And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. | 
| 36 | And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, | 
| 37 | Speak  unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers  out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are  hallowed. | 
| 38 | The  censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them  broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before  the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the  children of Israel. | 
| 39 | And  Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, wherewith they that were  burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the  altar: | 
| 40 | To  be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is  not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD;  that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by  the hand of Moses. | 
| 41 | But  on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured  against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of  the LORD. | 
| 42 | And  it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and  against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the  congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the  LORD appeared. | 
| 43 | And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. | 
| 44 | And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, | 
| 45 | Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. | 
| 46 | And  Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the  altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and  make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD;  the plague is begun. | 
| 47 | And  Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the  congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he  put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. | 
| 48 | And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. | 
| 49 | Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. | 
| 50 | And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed. | 
| 1 | And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, | 
| 2 | Speak  unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod  according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according  to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name  upon his rod. | 
| 3 | And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. | 
| 4 | And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. | 
| 5 | And  it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall  blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children  of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. | 
| 6 | And  Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes  gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers'  houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. | 
| 7 | And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. | 
| 8 | And  it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of  witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded,  and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. | 
| 9 | And  Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the  children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. | 
| 10 | And  the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony,  to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take  away their murmurings from me, that they die not. | 
| 11 | And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he. | 
| 12 | And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. | 
| 13 | Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying? | 
The New Testament passage is verses 33-56 of Mark 6
| 33 | And  the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither  out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him. | 
| 34 | And  Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion  toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he  began to teach them many things. | 
| 35 | And  when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said,  This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: | 
| 36 | Send  them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the  villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. | 
| 37 | He  answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto  him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them  to eat? | 
| 38 | He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. | 
| 39 | And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. | 
| 40 | And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. | 
| 41 | And  when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to  heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his  disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them  all. | 
| 42 | And they did all eat, and were filled. | 
| 43 | And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. | 
| 44 | And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men. | 
| 45 | And  straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to  go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the  people. | 
| 46 | And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. | 
| 47 | And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. | 
| 48 | And  he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and  about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon  the sea, and would have passed by them. | 
| 49 | But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: | 
| 50 | For  they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with  them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. | 
| 51 | And  he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were  sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. | 
| 52 | For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened. | 
| 53 | And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore. | 
| 54 | And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him, | 
| 55 | And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. | 
| 56 | And  whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they  laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if  it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were  made whole. | 
 

