¹Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lᴏʀᴅ, which He had not commanded them. ²So fire went out from the Lᴏʀᴅ and devoured them, and they died before the Lᴏʀᴅ. ³And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lᴏʀᴅ spoke, saying: ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.’ ” So Aaron held his peace. ⁴And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.” ⁵So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said. ⁶And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, “Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lᴏʀᴅ has kindled. ⁷You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the Lᴏʀᴅ is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses. ⁸Then the Lᴏʀᴅ spoke to Aaron, saying: ⁹“Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, ¹⁰that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, ¹¹and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lᴏʀᴅ has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.” ¹²And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left: “Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings made by fire to the Lᴏʀᴅ, and eat it without leaven beside the altar; for it is most holy. ¹³You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, of the sacrifices made by fire to the Lᴏʀᴅ; for so I have been commanded. ¹⁴The breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you shall eat in a clean place, you, your sons, and your daughters with you; for they are your due and your sons’ due, which are given from the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. ¹⁵The thigh of the heave offering and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring with the offerings of fat made by fire, to offer as a wave offering before the Lᴏʀᴅ. And it shall be yours and your sons’ with you, by a statute forever, as the Lᴏʀᴅ has commanded.” ¹⁶Then Moses made careful inquiry about the goat of the sin offering, and there it was—burned up. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying, ¹⁷“Why have you not eaten the sin offering in a holy place, since it is most holy, and God has given it to you to bear the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lᴏʀᴅ? ¹⁸See! Its blood was not brought inside the holy place; indeed you should have eaten it in a holy place, as I commanded.” ¹⁹And Aaron said to Moses, “Look, this day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lᴏʀᴅ, and such things have befallen me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been accepted in the sight of the Lᴏʀᴅ?” ²⁰So when Moses heard that, he was content.

¹To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. In the Lᴏʀᴅ I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”? ²For look! The wicked bend their bow, They make ready their arrow on the string, That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart. ³If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do? ⁴The Lᴏʀᴅ is in His holy temple, The Lᴏʀᴅ’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. ⁵The Lᴏʀᴅ tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. ⁶Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup. ⁷For the Lᴏʀᴅ is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.

¹To the Chief Musician. On an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David. Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. ²They speak idly everyone with his neighbor; With flattering lips and a double heart they speak. ³May the Lᴏʀᴅ cut off all flattering lips, And the tongue that speaks proud things, ⁴Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?” ⁵“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, Now I will arise,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.” ⁶The words of the Lᴏʀᴅ are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times. ⁷You shall keep them, O Lᴏʀᴅ, You shall preserve them from this generation forever. ⁸The wicked prowl on every side, When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

¹These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied: ²It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. ³As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable. ⁴Take away the dross from silver, And it will go to the silversmith for jewelry. ⁵Take away the wicked from before the king, And his throne will be established in righteousness. ⁶Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, And do not stand in the place of the great; ⁷For it is better that he say to you, “Come up here,” Than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, Whom your eyes have seen. ⁸Do not go hastily to court; For what will you do in the end, When your neighbor has put you to shame? ⁹Debate your case with your neighbor, And do not disclose the secret to another; ¹⁰Lest he who hears it expose your shame, And your reputation be ruined. ¹¹A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver. ¹²Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold Is a wise rebuker to an obedient ear. ¹³Like the cold of snow in time of harvest Is a faithful messenger to those who send him, For he refreshes the soul of his masters. ¹⁴Whoever falsely boasts of giving Is like clouds and wind without rain. ¹⁵By long forbearance a ruler is persuaded, And a gentle tongue breaks a bone. ¹⁶Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, Lest you be filled with it and vomit. ¹⁷Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house, Lest he become weary of you and hate you. ¹⁸A man who bears false witness against his neighbor Is like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow. ¹⁹Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble Is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint. ²⁰Like one who takes away a garment in cold weather, And like vinegar on soda, Is one who sings songs to a heavy heart. ²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; ²²For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And the Lᴏʀᴅ will reward you. ²³The north wind brings forth rain, And a backbiting tongue an angry countenance. ²⁴It is better to dwell in a corner of a housetop, Than in a house shared with a contentious woman. ²⁵As cold water to a weary soul, So is good news from a far country. ²⁶A righteous man who falters before the wicked Is like a murky spring and a polluted well. ²⁷It is not good to eat much honey; So to seek one’s own glory is not glory. ²⁸Whoever has no rule over his own spirit Is like a city broken down, without walls.

¹Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; ²for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, ⁵not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. ⁷For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. ⁸Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit. ⁹But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; ¹¹that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, ¹²that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing. ¹³But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. ¹⁵For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸Therefore comfort one another with these words.