Numbers 16
1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took,
Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi tried to take over leadership, along with Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth, who were from the tribe of Reuben.
2 and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty rulers of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown,
They rebelled against Moses, and were joined by 250 well-respected Israelite leaders and members of the assembly.
3 and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, Ye take too much upon you, since all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and Jehovah is among them. Why then do ye lift up yourselves above the assembly of Jehovah?
They joined together in opposition to Moses and Aaron, telling them, “You've taken too much power for yourselves! Every one of the Israelites is holy, and the Lord is among them. So why do you set yourselves above the Lord's assembly?”
4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face.
When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell facedown on the ground.
5 And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, In the morning Jehovah will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him, even him whom he shall choose will he cause to come near to him.
Then he told Korah and all those with him, “In the morning the Lord is going to make it clear who is his and who is holy, and allow that person to approach him. He will only allow whoever he chooses to approach him.
6 This do: Take you censers, Korah, and all his company,
This is what you, Korah, and everyone with you are going to do. Take some incense burners,
7 and put fire in them, and put incense upon them before Jehovah tomorrow. And it shall be that the man whom Jehovah chooses, he is holy. Ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
and tomorrow put incense in them and set it on fire in the presence of the Lord. Then the man the Lord chooses is the one who is holy. It is you Levites who are taking too much power for yourselves!”
8 And Moses said to Korah, Hear now, ye sons of Levi.
Moses also told Korah, “Listen, you Levites!
9 Is it a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of Jehovah, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them,
Do you think it's something insignificant that the God of Israel chose you from all the other Israelites and allowed you to approach him and carry out the work in the Lord's Tabernacle, to stand before the Israelites and serve them?
10 and that he has brought thee near, and all thy brothers the sons of Levi with thee? And ye seek the priesthood also?
He has allowed you the privilege of approaching him, Korah, you and all the other Levites, but now you want to have the priesthood as well!
11 Therefore thou and all thy company are gathered together against Jehovah. And Aaron, what is he that ye murmur against him?
So in reality you and those who have joined you are fighting against the Lord—because who is Aaron that you should complain about him?”
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. And they said, We will not come up.
Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We're not going to appear before you!
13 Is it a small thing that thou have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but thou must make thyself also a ruler over us?
Haven't you done enough by taking us away from a land flowing with milk and honey in order to kill us out here in the desert? Do you have to make yourself a dictator as well, someone to rule us?
14 Moreover thou have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will thou put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.
On top of that you haven't taken us to a land flowing with milk and honey or given us fields and vineyards to own. Do you really think you can fool everyone? No, we will not attend!”
15 And Moses was very angry, and said to Jehovah, Do not respect thou their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them.
Moses got really angry and said to the Lord, “Don't accept their offerings. I have never taken even a donkey from them or treated any of them badly.”
16 And Moses said to Korah, Be thou and all thy company before Jehovah, thou, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow.
Moses told Korah, “You and all those who have joined you must appear before the Lord tomorrow—all of you and Aaron too.
17 And take ye every man his censer, and put incense upon them, and bring ye before Jehovah every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers, thou also, and Aaron, each his censer.
Each one will take his incense burner, put incense in it, and offer it before the Lord. All 250 of you will use your incense burners and Aaron will as well.”
18 And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
So each one took his incense burner, put incense in it, set it on fire, and stood together with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
19 And Korah assembled all the congregation against them to the door of the tent of meeting. And the glory of Jehovah appeared to all the congregation.
When Korah had gathered all his rebellious group at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the Lord's glory appeared before the whole congregation.
20 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
“Step away from these Israelites and I will destroy them right away.”
22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will thou be angry with all the congregation?
But Moses and Aaron fell facedown on the ground said, “God—God of everything that lives—when it's just one man who sins, do you have to be angry with the everybody?”
23 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
Then the Lord told Moses,
24 Speak to the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
“Tell the people to move away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25 And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
So Moses went over to Dathan and Abiram, and the Israelite elders of Israel followed him.
26 And he spoke to 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.
He ordered the people, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them, otherwise you will be destroyed along with them in all their sins.”
27 So they got up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side. And Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.
The people moved away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances to their tents along with their wives, children and little ones.
28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that Jehovah has sent me to do all these works, for it is not of my own mind.
Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord did send me to carry out everything I've done, for it wasn't anything I thought up.
29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men, then Jehovah has not sent me.
If these men die a natural death, experiencing the destiny of every human being, then the Lord didn't sent me.
30 But if Jehovah makes a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that pertains to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then ye shall understand that these men have despised Jehovah. (Sheol h7585)
But if the Lord does something totally different, and the earth opens up and swallows them down along with everything that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have acted with contempt to the Lord.” (Sheol h7585)
31 And it came to pass, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground split asunder that was under them,
Immediately Moses finished saying all this the ground under the rebels split apart,
32 and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that pertained to Korah, and all their goods.
and the earth opened up and swallowed them and their households down, as well as everyone who was there with Korah and everything that belonged to them.
33 So they, and all that pertained to them, went down alive into Sheol. And the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the assembly. (Sheol h7585)
They went down alive into Sheol with all that they had. The earth closed over them, and they were no more. (Sheol h7585)
34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them, for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up.
When they heard their cries, all the Israelites nearby ran away, shouting, “Watch out! The earth could swallow us too!”
35 And fire came forth from Jehovah, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men who offered the incense.
Fire burst out from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
36 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
Then the Lord said to Moses,
37 Speak to 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 holy,
“Tell Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, to collect the holy incense burners from among those who have been burned up, and scatter the coals used for the incense well away from the camp.
38 even the censers of these sinners against their own lives, and let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered them before Jehovah, therefore they are holy, and they shall be a sign to the sons of Israel.
Have the incense burners of those who sinned at the expense of their own lives hammered into metal sheets as a covering for the altar, because they were offered before the Lord, and so have become holy. They will be a reminder to Israelites of what happened.”
39 And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, which those who were burnt had offered, and they beat them out for a covering of the altar,
So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze incense burners used by those who had been burned up, and had them hammered out as a covering for the altar,
40 to be a memorial to the sons of Israel, to the end that no stranger, who is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to burn incense before Jehovah, that he not be as Korah, and as his company, as Jehovah spoke to him by Moses.
following the instructions given to him from the Lord through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one who is not a descendant of Aaron should come and offer incense before the Lord, otherwise they could end up like Korah and those with him.
41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of Jehovah.
The next day all the Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord's people!”
42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting, and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Jehovah appeared.
But as the people gathered to confront them, Moses and Aaron went over to the Tent of Meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered it and the Lord's glory appeared.
43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting.
Moses and Aaron went and stood at the front of the Tent of Meeting,
44 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
and the Lord said to Moses,
45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
“Get away from these people and I will finish them off immediately.” Moses and Aaron fell facedown on the ground.
46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take thy censer, and put fire in it from off the altar, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them, for there is wrath gone out from Jehovah. The plague has begun.
Moses told Aaron, “Put some coals from the altar and some incense in your incense burner. Then run to the people and make them right before the Lord, for the Lord is angry with them and a plague has started.”
47 And Aaron took as Moses spoke, and ran into the midst of the assembly. And, behold, the plague had begun among the people. And he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.
Aaron took the incense burner just as Moses had told him and ran into the middle of the assembly. He saw that the plague had started to affect the people so he offered the incense and made the people right with the Lord.
48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.
He stood between those who had died and those who were still alive, and the plague was stopped.
49 Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those who died about the matter of Korah.
However, 14,700 died from the plague in addition to those who'd died because of Korah.
50 And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped.
Then Aaron went back to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting because the plague had been stopped.
