³ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.^(A) And he still maintains his integrity,^(B) though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”^(C)

The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People

³ Dear friends,^(A) although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share,^(B) I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend^(C) for the faith^(D) that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.^{(E) 4} For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about^[a] long ago have secretly slipped in among you.^(F) They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.^(G)

¹⁰ Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.^(A)

¹¹ Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain;^(B) they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error;^(C) they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.^(D)

Korah, Dathan and Abiram

16 Korah^(A) son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram^(B), sons of Eliab,^(C) and On son of Peleth—became insolent^{[a] 2} and rose up against Moses.^(D) With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.^{(E) 3} They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron^(F) and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy,^(G) every one of them, and the Lord is with them.^(H) Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”^(I)

⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.^{(J) 5} Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy,^(K) and he will have that person come near him.^(L) The man he chooses^(M) he will cause to come near him.

²¹ “Separate yourselves^(A) from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.”^(B)

²² But Moses and Aaron fell facedown^(C) and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things,^(D) will you be angry with the entire assembly^(E) when only one man sins?”^(F)

²³ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”

⁴¹ The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the Lord’s people,” they said.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit^(A) on all occasions^(B) with all kinds of prayers and requests.^(C) With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying^(D) for all the Lord’s people.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up^(A) in your most holy faith^(B) and praying in the Holy Spirit,^(C)