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,
Then took Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, —and Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth sons of Reuben;
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 rose up before Moses, with certain men of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty, —princes of assembly, called to the stated meeting, 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 gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said unto them Too much for you, when, all the assembly, are, all of them, holy, and in the midst of them, is Yahweh, —Wherefore, then, should ye set yourselves up, above the convocation of Yahweh?
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.
Then spake he unto Korah, and unto all his assembly, saying, In the morning, will Yahweh make known who are his, and who is the holy one and will cause him to come near unto himself, —yea him whom he shall choose, will he cause to come near unto himself.
6 Therefore, do this: Each one of you, Korah and all your associates, take your censer,
This do, —Take to you censers, Korah and all his assembly;
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 place therein fire, and put thereon incense before Yahweh, to-morrow, So shall it be—that, the man whom Yahweh shall choose, he shall be the holy one. Too much for 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?
Is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the assembly of Israel, to bring you near unto himself, —to do the laborious work of the habitation of Yahweh, and to stand before the assembly, to wait upon 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,
But having brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee, must ye seek priesthood also?
11 and so that your entire group would stand against the Lord? For what is Aaron that you should murmur against him?”
Wherefore thou and all thine assembly, are conspiring against Yahweh, —But Aaron, what is he, that ye should murmur against him?
12 Therefore, Moses sent to call for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, who responded: “We will not come.
Then sent Moses, to call for Dathan and for Abiram sons of Eliab, —and they 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?
Was it, a small thing, that thou didst bring us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to put us to death in the desert but thou must, continue even to lord it, 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.”
Certainly not into a land flowing with milk and honey, hast thou brought us, nor given unto us an inheritance of field and vineyard, —The eyes of those men, wilt thou dig out? 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.”
Then was Moses very angry, and he said unto Yahweh, Do not thou have respect unto their meal-offering. Not one ass, from them, have I taken, neither have I wronged 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, Thou, and all thine assembly, come ye before Yahweh, —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 ye each man his censer and put thereon incense, then shall ye bring near before Yahweh, each man his censer, two hundred and fifty Censers, —and, thou and Aaron, each man his censer.
18 When they had done this, Moses and Aaron stood up,
So they took each man his censer and put thereon fire, and placed thereon incense, —and took their stand at the entrance of the tent of meeting 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 together against them all the assembly, unto the entrance of the tent of meeting, —then appeared the glory of Yahweh, unto all the assembly.
20 And the Lord, speaking to Moses and Aaron, said:
Then spake Yahweh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:
21 “Separate yourselves from the midst of this congregation, so that I may suddenly destroy them.”
Separate yourselves out of the midst of this assembly, —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 against all the assembly, wilt thou be wroth.
23 And the Lord said to Moses:
And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying,
24 “Instruct the entire people to separate from the tents of Korah, and Dathan, and Abiram.”
Speak unto the assembly, saying, —Get ye up from round about the habitation 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 rose up, and went, unto Dathan and Abiram, —then went, after him the elders of Israel.
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 assembly, saying—Remove I pray you from beside the tents of these lawless men, and do not touch aught that pertaineth unto them, —lest ye be carried off, 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 went up from beside the habitation of Korah, Dathan and Abiram on every side, —and, Dathan and Abiram, came out and stationed themselves at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and their sons and their little ones.
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:
Then said Moses, Hereby, shall ye know, that, Yahweh hath sent me, to do all these works, —verily, not out of my own heart:
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, as all human beings die, these do die, and the visitation of all human beings, be visited upon them, Yahweh, 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, a creation, Yahweh create, and the ground open wide her mouth and swallow them up, with all that pertain unto them, and so they go down alive unto hades, then shall ye know, that these men have despised Yahweh. (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 made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground which was under them, clave asunder;
32 And opening its mouth, it devoured them with their tabernacles and their entire substance.
and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up them, and their households, —and all the human beings who pertained unto Korah, with 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)
so, they, and all that pertained unto them, went down, alive unto hades, —and the earth, closed upon them, and they perished out of the midst of the convocation. (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 who were round about them, fled at their cry, —for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up.
35 Then, too, a fire, going forth from the Lord, put to death the two hundred fifty men who were offering the incense.
Fire also came forth, from Yahweh, —and consumed the two hundred and fifty men, who offered the incense.
36 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
Then spake Yahweh 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
Say unto Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the midst of the burning, and the fire, scatter thou yonder, —for they have been 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.”
As for the censers of these sinners against their own persons, they shall be made into beaten-out plates as an overlay for the altar, for they had brought them near before Yahweh and hallowed them, —so shall they become a sign unto the sons 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 censers of bronze, which the consumed men had brought near, —and beat them out into plates for overlaying 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.
a memorial unto the sons of Israel, That no stranger, who is not of the seed of Aaron, shall draw near to offer incense before Yahweh, —lest he become like Korah and like his assembly, As spake Yahweh by the hand of Moses with regard thereto.
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.”
And all the assembly of the sons of Israel murmured, on the morrow, against Moses and against, Aaron, saying, —Ye, have caused the death of the people of Yahweh.
42 And when there arose a sedition, and the tumult increased,
And it came to pass, when the assembly gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, that they turned towards the tent of meeting, and lo! the cloud had covered it: and the glory of Yahweh, 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 in, before the tent of meeting.
44 And the Lord said to Moses:
Then spake Yahweh 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,
Lift yourselves up out of the midst of this assembly, 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.”
Then said Moses unto Aaron—Take the censer and place thereon fire, from off the altar, and put incense [thereon], and, going quickly into the assembly, put a propitiatory-covering over them, —for wrath hath gone forth from before Yahweh the plague, hath 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.
Then took Aaron, as Moses spake, and ran into the midst of the convocation, and lo! the plague had begun among the people, —so he placed the incense, and put a propitiatory-covering over the people:
48 And standing between the dead and the living, he prayed for the people, and the scourge ceased.
thus did he take his stand between the dead and the living, —and the plague was restrained.
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.
And so it was that they who died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, —besides them who died over 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 entrance of the tent of meeting, —when, the plague, had been restrained.
