Numbers 16
1 Then, behold, Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and also On the son of Peleth, of the sons of Ruben,
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took [men: ]
2 rose up against Moses, with two hundred fifty others of the sons of Israel, leading men of the assembly, and who, at the time of a council, would be called by name.
And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
3 And when they had stood against Moses and Aaron, they said: “Let it be sufficient for you that the entire multitude is of holy ones, and that the Lord is among them. Why do you elevate yourselves above the people of the Lord?”
And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, [Ye take] too much upon you, seeing all the congregation [are] holy, every one of them, and the LORD [is] among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?
4 When Moses had heard this, he fell prone on his face.
And when Moses heard [it], he fell upon his face:
5 And speaking to Korah, and to the entire multitude, he said: “In the morning, the Lord will cause it to be known who belongs to him, and which holy ones he will join to himself. And whomever he will choose, they shall be close to him.
And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who [are] his, and [who is] holy; and will cause [him] to come near unto him: even [him] whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.
6 Therefore, do this: Each one of you, Korah and all your associates, take your censer,
This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;
7 and drawing fire into it tomorrow, place incense upon it before the Lord. And whomever he will choose, the same shall be holy. You sons of Levi have been raised up greatly.”
And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be [that] the man whom the LORD doth choose, he [shall be] holy: [ye take] too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
8 And he said again to Korah: “Listen, sons of Levi.
And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:
9 Is it a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has separated you from all the people, and has joined you to himself, so that you would serve him in the rituals of the tabernacle, and stand before gatherings of the people, and minister to him?
[Seemeth it but] a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?
10 Was the reason that he caused you and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, to approach him, so that you would even claim for yourselves the priesthood too,
And he hath brought thee near [to him], and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?
11 and so that your entire group would stand against the Lord? For what is Aaron that you should murmur against him?”
For which cause [both] thou and all thy company [are] gathered together against the LORD: and what [is] Aaron, that ye murmur against him?
12 Therefore, Moses sent to call for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, who responded: “We will not come.
And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:
13 Is it a small matter to you, that you have led us away from a land that was flowing with milk and honey, so as to kill us in the desert, unless you could also be a ruler over us?
[Is it] a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?
14 You have led us, it is true, to a land that flows with streams of milk and honey, and you have given us possession of fields and vineyards. But will you also tear out our eyes? We will not come.”
Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
15 And Moses, being very angry, said to the Lord: “Do not look with favor on their sacrifices. You know that I have not accepted from them, at any time, so much as a young donkey, nor have I afflicted any of them.”
And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.
16 And he said to Korah: “You and your congregation, stand alone before the Lord, and apart from Aaron, tomorrow.
And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:
17 Let each one of you take censers, and place incense in them, offering to the Lord two hundred fifty censers. Let Aaron also hold his censer.”
And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each [of you] his censer.
18 When they had done this, Moses and Aaron stood up,
And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.
19 and, having crowded the entire multitude close to them at the door of the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord appeared to them all.
And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.
20 And the Lord, speaking to Moses and Aaron, said:
And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
21 “Separate yourselves from the midst of this congregation, so that I may suddenly destroy them.”
Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
22 But they fell prone on their faces, and they said, “O most strong One, the God of the spirits of all flesh, should your anger rage against all, for the sin of one?”
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
23 And the Lord said to Moses:
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
24 “Instruct the entire people to separate from the tents of Korah, and Dathan, and Abiram.”
Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
25 And Moses rose 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 the elders of Israel followed him.
26 and he said to the crowd, “Withdraw from the tabernacles of these impious men, and touch nothing which pertains to them, lest you become involved in their sins.”
And he spake unto 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.
27 And when they had withdrawn from their tents all around, Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance of their pavilions, with their wives and children, and with all their associates.
So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.
28 And Moses said: “By this shall you know that the Lord has sent me to do all that you discern, and that I have not brought these things out of my own heart:
And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for [I have] not [done them] of mine own mind.
29 If these men pass away by the common death of men, or if they will be visited by a scourge, of a kind by which others are often visited, then the Lord did not send me.
If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; [then] the LORD hath not sent me.
30 But if the Lord accomplishes something new, so that the earth opens its mouth and swallows them whole, along with everything that belongs to them, and they descend alive into the underworld, then you shall know that they have blasphemed the Lord.” (Sheol h7585)
But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that [appertain] unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. (Sheol h7585)
31 Therefore, as soon as he had ceased to speak, the earth broke open under their feet.
And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that [was] under them:
32 And opening its mouth, it devoured them with their tabernacles and their entire substance.
And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that [appertained] unto Korah, and all [their] goods.
33 And they descended alive, the ground closing around them, into the underworld, and they perished from the midst of the multitude. (Sheol h7585)
They, and all that [appertained] to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. (Sheol h7585)
34 Yet truly, all of Israel, which was standing all around, took flight at the clamor of those who were perishing, saying, “Lest perhaps the earth may swallow us whole also.”
And all Israel that [were] round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up [also].
35 Then, too, a fire, going forth from the Lord, put to death the two hundred fifty men who were offering the incense.
And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
36 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
37 “Instruct Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, to take up the censers which lie in the burning, and to scatter the fire to one side and another, because they were sanctified
Speak unto 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 hallowed.
38 in the deaths of these sinners. And let him form them into plates, and affix them to the altar, because incense had been offered in them to the Lord, and they were sanctified, and so that the sons of Israel may discern in them a sign and a memorial.”
The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates [for] a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
39 Therefore, Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, by which those whom the burning devoured had made an offering, and he formed them into plates, affixing them to the altar,
And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad [plates for] a covering of the altar:
40 so that the sons of Israel would have, thereafter, something to admonish them, lest any stranger, or anyone who is not of the offspring of Aaron, might approach to offer incense to the Lord, and lest he endure what happened to Korah, and to all his congregation, when the Lord spoke to Moses.
[To be] a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which [is] not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
41 Then, the following day, the entire multitude of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying: “You have put to death the people of the Lord.”
But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.
42 And when there arose a sedition, and the tumult increased,
And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered 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 Moses and Aaron fled to the tabernacle of the covenant. But after they had entered it, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.
And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
44 And the Lord said to Moses:
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
45 “Withdraw from the midst of this multitude, and I will destroy them immediately.” And while they were lying on the ground,
Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
46 Moses said to Aaron: “Take the censer, and draw fire into it from the altar; place incense upon it, and continue on, quickly, to the people, to pray for them. For already wrath has gone forth from the Lord, and the scourge rages.”
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.
47 When Aaron had done this, and he had run into the midst of the multitude, which the burning fire was now destroying, he offered the incense.
And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
48 And standing between the dead and the living, he prayed for the people, and the scourge ceased.
And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
49 But the number of those who were struck down was fourteen thousand men, and seven hundred, aside from those who had perished in the sedition of Korah.
Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
50 And Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of the covenant, after the destruction quieted.
And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
