Numbers 16
1 Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath son of Levi, along with some Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—conducted
Now Korach, the son of Yizhar, the son of Kehath, the son of Levi, was presumptuous, together with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben:
2 a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 men of Israel renowned as leaders of the congregation and representatives in the assembly.
So that they rose up before Moses, with certain men of the children of Israel, in number two hundred and fifty; [who were] princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown.
3 They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
And they assembled themselves against Moses, and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye assume too much; for the whole of the congregation are all of them holy, and the Lord is among them; wherefore then will you lift yourselves up above the congregation of the Lord?
4 When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.
And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:
5 Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will reveal who belongs to Him and who is holy, and He will bring that person near to Himself. The one He chooses, He will bring near to Himself.
And he spoke unto Korach and unto all his company, saying, Tomorrow, —then will the Lord make known who is his, and who is holy, that he may cause them to come near unto him; and him whom he shall choose will he cause to come near unto him.
6 You, Korah, and all your followers are to do as follows: Take censers,
This do ye: Take yourselves censers, Korach and all his company;
7 and tomorrow you are to place fire and incense in them in the presence of the LORD. Then the man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. It is you sons of Levi who have taken too much upon yourselves!”
And put therein fire, and put upon them incense before the Lord, tomorrow; and it shall be that the man whom the Lord will choose, he shall be the holy one; you assume too much, ye sons of Levi.
8 Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you sons of Levi!
And Moses said unto Korach, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:
9 Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near to Himself to perform the work at the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them?
It is too little for you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near unto himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister for them?
10 He has brought you near, you and all your fellow Levites, but you are seeking the priesthood as well.
And he hath brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and now will ye seek the priesthood also?
11 Therefore, it is you and all your followers who have conspired against the LORD! As for Aaron, who is he that you should grumble against him?”
For which cause [beware], thou and all thy company that are gathered together against the Lord; for Aaron, what is he, that ye should murmur against him:
12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come!
And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, We will not come up:
13 Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Must you also appoint yourself as ruler over us?
Is it too little that thou hast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that thou wilt assume to make thyself also a prince over us?
14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!”
Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and thou hast not given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou bore out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not regard their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them or mistreated a single one of them.”
And this displeased Moses greatly, and he said unto the Lord, Have no respect unto their offering: I have not taken away an ass of any one of them, nor have I done wrong to any one of them.
16 And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron.
And Moses said unto Korach, Thou and all thy company, be ye before the Lord, thou, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow:
17 Each man is to take his censer, place incense in it, and present it before the LORD—250 censers. You and Aaron are to present your censers as well.”
And take ye every man his censer, and put incense upon them, and bring ye near before the Lord every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each his censer.
18 So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
And they took every man his censer, and put fire on them, and laid incense thereupon; and they stood at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.—
19 When Korah had gathered his whole assembly against them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole congregation.
And Korach assembled against them all the congregation unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and the glory of the Lord then appeared unto all the congregation.
20 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
21 “Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.”
Separate yourselves from the midst of this congregation, and I will make an end of them in a moment.
22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, this one man doth sin, and with all the congregation wouldst thou be wroth!
23 Then the LORD said to Moses,
And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
24 “Tell the congregation to move away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you away from about the dwelling of Korach, Dathan, and Abiram.
25 So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and there went after him the elders of Israel.
26 And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”
And he spoke unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing which belongeth to them, lest ye be destroyed through all their sins.
27 So they moved away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Meanwhile, Dathan and Abiram had come out and stood at the entrances to their tents with their wives and children and infants.
So they got away from the dwelling of Korach, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, standing [boldly] at the door of their tents, with their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.
28 Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things, for it was not my own doing:
And Moses said, Through this shall ye know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these deeds; that [I have] not done them out of my own heart.
29 If these men die a natural death, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.
If these men die as all men die, and if the visitation of all men be visited on them: then hath the Lord not sent me.
30 But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.” (Sheol h7585)
But if the Lord do create a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertaineth unto them, and they go down alive into the pit: then shall ye understand that these men have provoked the Lord. (Sheol h7585)
31 As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open,
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground that was under them was cloven asunder:
32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions.
And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korach, and all their goods.
33 They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly. (Sheol h7585)
And they went down, they, and all they that appertained to them, alive into the pit; and the earth closed over them, and they disappeared from the midst of the congregation. (Sheol h7585)
34 At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!”
And all Israel that were round about them fled at their cry; for they said, Perhaps the earth may swallow us up [also].
35 And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that had offered the incense.
36 Then the LORD said to Moses,
And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
37 “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the censers from the flames and to scatter the coals far away, because the censers are holy.
Speak unto Elazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he lift up the censers out of the burning, and throw out the fire far away; for they have been hallowed:
38 As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.”
The censers of these sinners against their own lives; and they shall make of them broad plates for a covering for the altar; for they brought them near before the Lord, and they have thus become hallowed; and they shall serve for a sign unto the children of Israel.
39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar,
And Elazar the priest took the copper censers, which they that were burnt had brought near; and they beat them out for a covering unto the altar:
40 just as the LORD commanded him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his followers.
As a memorial unto the children of Israel, in order that no stranger, who is not of the seed of Aaron, should come near to burn incense before the Lord; that he become not as Korach, and as his company; as the Lord had spoken to him by the hand of Moses.
41 The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
And all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, on the morrow, saying, It is you who have caused the people of the Lord to die.
42 But when the congregation gathered against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the Tent of Meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.
And it came to pass, when the congregation assembled 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 Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting,
And Moses came with Aaron before the tabernacle of the congregation.
44 and the LORD said to Moses,
And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
45 “Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown.
Remove yourselves from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.”
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take the censer, and put therein fire from off the altar, and put on incense, and carry [it] quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them; for the wrath is gone forth from the Lord; the plague hath begun.
47 So Aaron took the censer as Moses had ordered and ran into the midst of the assembly. And seeing that the plague had begun among the people, he offered the incense and made atonement for the people.
And Aaron took as Moses had commanded, and he ran into the midst of the assembly; and, behold, the plague had begun among the people: and he put on the incense, and made an atonement for the people.
48 He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted.
And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
49 But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who had died on account of Korah.
And those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those that had died about the matter of Korach.
50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, since the plague had been halted.
And Aaron returned unto Moses, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, after the plague had been stayed.
