Numbers 16
1 And Core the son of Isaar the son of Caath the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiron, sons of Eliab, and Aun the son of Phaleth the son of Ruben, spoke;
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 Pallu, the son of Reuben, made themselves ready,
2 and rose up before Moses, and two hundred and fifty men of the sons of Israel, chiefs of the assembly, chosen councillors, and men of renown.
And came before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty chiefs of the people, men of good name who had a place in the meeting of the people.
3 They rose up against Moses and Aaron, and said, Let it be enough for you that all the congregation [are] holy, and the Lord [is] amongst them; and why do you set up yourselves against the congregation of the Lord?
They came together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take overmuch on yourselves, seeing that all the people are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them; why then have you put yourselves in authority over the people of the Lord?
4 And when Moses heard it, he fell on his face.
And Moses, hearing this, went down on his face;
5 And he spoke to Core and all his assembly, saying, God has visited and known those that are his and who are holy, and has brought them to himself; and whom he has chosen for himself, he has brought to himself.
And he said to Korah and his band, In the morning the Lord will make clear who are his, and who is holy, and who may come near him: the man of his selection will be caused to come near him.
6 This do you: take to yourselves censers, Core and all his company;
So do this: let Korah and all his band take vessels for burning perfumes;
7 and put fire on them, and put incense on them before the Lord to-morrow; and it shall come to pass that the man whom the Lord has chosen, he shall be holy: let it be enough for you, you sons of Levi.
And put spices on the fire in them before the Lord tomorrow; then the man marked out by the Lord will be holy: you take overmuch on yourselves, you sons of Levi.
8 And Moses said to Core, Listen to me, you sons of Levi.
And Moses said to Korah, Give ear now, you sons of Levi:
9 Is it a little thing for you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, and brought you near to himself to minister in the services of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the tabernacle to minister for them?
Does it seem only a small thing to you that the God of Israel has made you separate from the rest of Israel, letting you come near himself to do the work of the House of the Lord, and to take your place before the people to do what has to be done for them;
10 And he has brought you near and all your brethren the sons of Levi with you, and do you seek to be priests also?
Letting you, and all your brothers the sons of Levi, come near to him? and would you now be priests?
11 Thus [it is with] you and all your congregation which is gathered together against God: and who is Aaron, that you murmur against him?
So you and all your band have come together against the Lord; and Aaron, who is he, that you are crying out against him?
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiron sons of Eliab; and they said, We will not go up.
Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: and they said, We will not come up:
13 Is it a little thing that you have brought us up to a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, [and] that you altogether rule over us?
Is it not enough that you have taken us from a land flowing with milk and honey, to put us to death in the waste land, but now you are desiring to make yourself a chief over us?
14 You are a prince, and have you brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and have you given us an inheritance of land and vineyards? would you have put out the eyes of those men? we will not go up.
And more than this, you have not taken us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us a heritage of fields and vine-gardens: will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.
15 And Moses was exceeding indignant, and said to the Lord, Do you take no heed to their sacrifice: I have not taken away the desire of any one of them, neither have I hurt any one of them.
Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, Give no attention to their offering: not one of their asses have I taken, or done wrong to any of them.
16 And Moses said to Core, Sanctify your company, and be ready before the Lord, you and Aaron and they, to-morrow.
And Moses said to Korah, You and all your band are to come before the Lord tomorrow, you and they and Aaron:
17 And take each man his censer, and you shall put incense upon them, and shall bring each one his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers, and you and Aaron shall bring each his censer.
And let every man take a vessel for burning perfumes, and put sweet spices in them; let every man take his vessel before the Lord, two hundred and fifty vessels; you and Aaron and everyone with his vessel.
18 And each man took his censer, and they put on them fire, and laid incense on them; and Moses and Aaron stood by the doors of the tabernacle of witness.
So every man took his vessel and they put fire in them, with spices, and came to the door of the Tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
19 And Core raised up against them all his company by the door of the tabernacle of witness; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.
And Korah made all the people come together against them to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the glory of the Lord was seen by all the people.
20 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
21 Separate your selves from the midst of this congregation, and I will consume them at once.
Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them.
22 And they fell on their faces, and said, O God, the God of spirits and of all flesh, if one man has sinned, [shall] the wrath of the Lord [be] upon the whole congregation?
Then falling down on their faces they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, because of one man's sin will your wrath be moved against all the people?
23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
And the Lord said to Moses,
24 Speak to the congregation, saying, Depart from the company of Core round about.
Say to the people, Come away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram.
25 And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiron, and all the elders of Israel went with him.
So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the responsible men of Israel went with him.
26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, Separate yourselves from the tents of these stubborn men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, lest you be consumed with them in all their sin.
And he said to the people, Come away now from the tents of these evil men, without touching anything of theirs, or you may be taken in the punishment of their sins.
27 And they stood aloof from the tent of Core round about; and Dathan and Abiron went forth and stood by the doors of their tents, and their wives and their children and their store.
So on every side they went away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram: and Dathan and Abiram came out to the door of their tents, with their wives and their sons and their little ones.
28 And Moses said, Hereby shall you know that the Lord has sent me to perform all these works, that [I have] not [done them] of myself.
And Moses said, Now you will see that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and I have not done them of myself.
29 If these men shall die according to the death of all men, if also their visitation shall be according to the visitation of all men, then the Lord has not sent me.
If these men have the common death of men, or if the natural fate of all men overtakes them, then the Lord has not sent me.
30 But if the Lord shall show by a wonder, and the earth shall open her mouth and swallow them up, and their houses, and their tents, and all that belongs to them, and they shall go down alive into Hades, then you shall know that these men have provoked the Lord. (Sheol h7585)
But if the Lord does something new, opening the earth to take them in, with everything which is theirs, and they go down living into the underworld, then it will be clear to you that the Lord has not been honoured by these men. (Sheol h7585)
31 And when he ceased speaking all these words, the ground clave asunder beneath them.
And while these words were on his lips, the earth under them was parted in two;
32 And the ground opened, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that were with Core, and their cattle.
And the earth, opening her mouth, took them in, with their families, and all the men who were joined to Korah, and their goods.
33 And they went down and all that they had, alive into Hades; and the ground covered them, and they perished from the midst of the congregation. (Sheol h7585)
So they and all theirs went down living into the underworld, and the earth was shut over them, and they were cut off from among the meeting of the people. (Sheol h7585)
34 And all Israel round about them fled from the sound of them, for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up [also].
And all Israel round about them went in flight at their cry, For fear, said they, that we go down into the heart of the earth.
35 And fire went forth from the Lord, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
Then fire came out from the Lord, burning up the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the perfume.
36 And the Lord said to Moses,
And the Lord said to Moses,
37 and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, Take up the brazen censers out of the midst of the men that have been burnt, and scatter the strange fire yonder, for they have sanctified the censers
Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he is to take out of the flames the vessels with the perfumes in them, turning the fire out of them, for they are holy;
38 of these sinners against their own souls, and do you make them beaten plates a covering to the altar, because they were brought before the Lord and hallowed; and they became a sign to the children of Israel.
And let the vessels of those men, who with their lives have made payment for their sin, be hammered out into plates as a cover for the altar; for they have been offered before the Lord and are holy; so that they may be a sign to the children of Israel.
39 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest took the brazen censers, which the men who had been burnt brought near, and they put them as a covering on the altar:
So Eleazar the priest took the brass vessels which had been offered by those who were burned up, and they were hammered out to make a cover for the altar:
40 a memorial to the children of Israel that no stranger might draw near, who is not of the seed of Aaron, to offer incense before the Lord; so he shall not be as Core and as they that conspired with him, as the Lord spoke to him by the hand of Moses.
To be a sign, kept in memory for ever by the children of Israel, that no man who is not of the seed of Aaron has the right of burning spices before the Lord, so that he may not be like Korah and his band: as the Lord said to him by the mouth of Moses.
41 And the children of Israel murmured the next day against Moses and Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the Lord.
But on the day after, all the children of Israel made an outcry against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have put to death the Lord's people.
42 And it came to pass when the congregation combined against Moses and Aaron, that they ran impetuously to the tabernacle of witness; and the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.
Now when the people had come together against Moses and Aaron, looking in the direction of the Tent of meeting, they saw the cloud covering it, and the glory of the Lord came before their eyes.
43 And Moses and Aaron went in, in front of the tabernacle of witness.
Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of meeting.
44 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
And the Lord said to Moses,
45 Depart out of the midst of this congregation, and I will consume them at once: and they fell upon their faces.
Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them. And they went down on their faces.
46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer, and put on it fire from the altar, and put incense on it, and carry it away quickly into the camp, and make atonement for them; for wrath is gone forth from the presence of the Lord, it has begun to destroy the people.
And Moses said to Aaron, Take your vessel and put in it fire from the altar, and sweet spices, and take it quickly into the meeting of the people, and make them free from sin: for wrath has gone out from the Lord, and the disease is starting.
47 And Aaron took as Moses spoke to him, and ran amongst the congregation, for already the plague had begun amongst the people; and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
And at the words of Moses, Aaron took his vessel, and went running among the people; and even then the disease had made a start among them; and he put spices in his vessel to take away the sin of the people.
48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague ceased.
And he took his place between the dead and the living: and the disease was stopped.
49 And they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those that died on account of Core.
Now fourteen thousand, seven hundred deaths were caused by that disease, in addition to those who came to their end because of what Korah had done.
50 And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of witness, and the plague ceased.
Then Aaron went back to Moses to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the disease came to a stop.
