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;
And behold Core the son of Isaar, the son of Caath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab, and Hon the son of Pheleth of the children of Ruben,
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.
Rose up against Moses, and with them two hundred and fifty others of the children of Israel, leading men of the synagogue, and who in the time of assembly were called by name.
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?
And when they had stood up against Moses and Aaron, they said: Let it be enough for you, that all the multitude consisteth of holy ones, and the Lord is among them: Why lift you up yourselves above the people of the Lord?
4 And when Moses heard it, he fell on his face.
When Moses heard this, he fell flat 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 speaking to Core and all the multitude, he said: In the morning the Lord will make known who belong to him, and the holy he will join to himself: and whom he shall choose, they shall approach to him.
6 This do you: take to yourselves censers, Core and all his company;
Do this therefore: Take every man of you your censers, thou Core, and all thy company.
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 putting fire in them tomorrow, put incense upon it before the Lord: and whomsoever he shall choose, the same shall be holy: you take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
8 And Moses said to Core, Listen to me, you sons of Levi.
And he said again to Core: Hear ye 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?
Is it a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath spared you from all the people, and joined you to himself, that you should serve him in the service of the tabernacle, and should stand before the congregation of the people, and should minister to him?
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?
Did he therefore make thee and all thy brethren the sons of Levi to approach unto him, that you should challenge to yourselves the priesthood also,
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?
And that all thy company should stand against the Lord? for what is Aaron that you murmur 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 to call Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab. But they answered: We will not come.
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 a small matter to thee, that thou hast brought us out of a land that flowed with milk and honey, to kill us in the desert, except thou rule also like a lord 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.
Thou best brought us indeed into a land that floweth with rivers of milk and honey, and hast given us possessions of fields and vineyards; wilt thou also pull out our eyes? We will not come.
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.
Moses therefore being very angry, raid to the Lord: Respect not their sacrifices: thou knowest that I have not taken of them so much as a young ass at any time, nor have injured 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 he said to Core: Do thou and thy congregation stand apart before the Lord tomorrow, and Aaron apart.
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.
Take every one of you censers, and put incense upon them, offering to the Lord two hundred and fifty censers: let Aaron also hold his censer.
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.
When they had done this, Moses and Aaron standing,
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 had drawn up all the multitude against them to the door of the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord appeared to them all.
20 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
And the Lord speaking to Moses and Aaron, said:
21 Separate your selves from the midst of this congregation, and I will consume them at once.
Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may presently destroy 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?
They fell flat on their face, and said: O most mighty, the God of the spirits of all flesh, for one man’s sin shall thy wrath rage against all?
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.
Command the whole people to separate themselves from the tents of Core and Dathan and Abiron.
25 And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiron, and all the elders of Israel went with him.
And Moses arose, and went to Dathan and Abiron: and the ancients of Israel following 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.
He said to the multitude: Depart from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be involved in 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.
And when they were departed from their tents round about, Dathan and Abiron coming out stood in the entry of their pavilions with their wives and children, and all the people.
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: By this you shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all things that you see, and that I have not forged them of my own head:
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 die the common death of men, and if they be visited with a plague, wherewith others also are wont to be visited, the Lord did not send 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 do a new thing, and the earth opening her mouth swallow them down, and all things that belong to them, and they go down alive into hell, you shall know that they have blasphemed the Lord. (Sheol h7585)
31 And when he ceased speaking all these words, the ground clave asunder beneath them.
And immediately as he had made an end of speaking, the earth broke asunder under their feet:
32 And the ground opened, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that were with Core, and their cattle.
And opening her mouth, devoured them with their tents and all their substance.
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)
And they went down alive into hell the ground closing upon them, and they perished from among 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].
But all Israel, that was standing round about, fled at the cry of them that were perishing: saying: Lest perhaps the earth swallow us up also.
35 And fire went forth from the Lord, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
And a fire coming out from the Lord, destroyed the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense.
36 And the Lord said to Moses,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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
Command Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers that lie in the burning, and to scatter the fire of one side and the other: because they are sanctified
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.
In the deaths of the sinners: and let him beat them into plates, and fasten them to the altar, because incense hath been offered in them to the Lord, and they are sanctified, that the children of Israel may see them for a sign and a memorial.
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:
Then Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, wherein they had offered, whom the burning fire had devoured, and beat them into plates, fastening them to 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.
That the children of Israel might have for the time to come wherewith they should be admonished, that no stranger or any one that is not of seed of Aaron should come near to offer incense to the Lord, lest he should suffer as Core suffered, and all his congregation, according as the Lord spoke to Moses.
41 And the children of Israel murmured the next day against Moses and Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the Lord.
The following day all the multitude of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying: You have killed the people of the Lord.
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.
And when there arose a sedition, and the tumult increased,
43 And Moses and Aaron went in, in front of the tabernacle of witness.
Moses and Aaron fled to the tabernacle of the covenant. And when the were gone into it, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.
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.
Get you out from the midst of this multitude, this moment will I destroy them. And as they were lying on the ground,
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.
Moses said to Aaron: Take the censer, and putting fire in it from the altar, put incense upon it, and go quickly to the people to pray for them: for already wrath is gone out from the Lord, and the plague rageth.
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.
When Aaron had done this, and had run to the midst of the multitude which the burning fire was now destroying, he offered the incense:
48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague ceased.
And standing between the dead and the living, he prayed for the people, and the plague ceased.
49 And they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those that died on account of Core.
And the number of them that were slain was fourteen thousand and seven hundred men, besides them that had perished in the sedition of Core.
50 And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of witness, and the plague ceased.
And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant after the destruction was over.
