Numbers 16
1 And Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, made bold, and [with him] Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, the sons of Reuben;
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
2 and they rose up against Moses, with two hundred and fifty men of the children of Israel, princes of the assembly, summoned to the council, men of renown;
a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 men of Israel renowned as leaders of the congregation and representatives in the assembly.
3 and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, It is enough; for all the assembly, all of them are holy, and Jehovah is among them; and why do ye lift up yourselves above the congregation of Jehovah?
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?”
4 When Moses heard this, he fell on his face.
When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.
5 And he spoke to Korah and to all his band, saying, Even to-morrow will Jehovah make known who is his, and who is holy; and he will cause him to come near to him; and him whom he has chosen, him will he cause to come near to him.
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.
6 This do: take you censers, Korah, and all his band,
You, Korah, and all your followers are to do as follows: Take censers,
7 and put fire therein, and lay incense thereon before Jehovah to-morrow; and it shall be that the man whom Jehovah doth choose, he shall be holy. It is enough, ye sons of Levi!
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!”
8 And Moses said to Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi!
Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you sons of Levi!
9 Is it too little for you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the assembly of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the work of the tabernacle of Jehovah, and to stand before the assembly to minister to them?
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?
10 — that he has brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee; and seek ye now the priesthood also?
He has brought you near, you and all your fellow Levites, but you are seeking the priesthood as well.
11 For which cause thou and all thy band are banded together against Jehovah; and Aaron, who is he that ye murmur against him?
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?”
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, We will not come up!
Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come!
13 Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that thou must make thyself altogether a ruler over us?
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?
14 Moreover, thou hast not brought us into a land flowing 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!
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!”
15 Then Moses was very wroth, and said to Jehovah, Have no regard to their oblation: not one ass have I taken from them, neither have I hurt one of them.
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.”
16 And Moses said to Korah, Be thou and all thy band before Jehovah, thou, and they, and Aaron, to-morrow.
And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron.
17 And take each his censer, and put incense thereon, and present before Jehovah every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; and thou, and Aaron, each his censer.
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.”
18 And they took each his censer, and put fire on them, and laid incense thereon, and stood before the entrance to the tent of meeting, as well as Moses and Aaron.
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.
19 And Korah gathered the whole assembly against them to the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of Jehovah appeared to all the assembly.
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.
20 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
21 Separate yourselves from the midst of this assembly, and I will consume them in a moment.
“Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.”
22 And they fell on their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh! shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with the whole assembly?
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?”
23 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
Then the LORD said to Moses,
24 Speak unto the assembly, saying, Get you up from about the habitation of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
“Tell the congregation to move away from the dwellings 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 got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
26 And he spoke to the assembly, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye perish in all their sins.
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.”
27 And they got up from the habitation of Koran, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side. And Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the entrance of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.
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.
28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that Jehovah has sent me to do all these deeds, for they are not out of my own heart:
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:
29 if these men die as all men die, and are visited with the visitation of all men, Jehovah has not sent me;
If these men die a natural death, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.
30 but if Jehovah make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, and all that they have, and they go down alive into Sheol, then ye shall know that these men have despised Jehovah. (Sheol h7585)
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)
31 And it came to pass when he had ended speaking all these words, that the ground clave apart that was under them.
As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open,
32 And the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that belonged to Korah, and all their property.
and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions.
33 And they went down, they and all that they had, alive into Sheol, and the earth covered them; and they perished from among the congregation. (Sheol h7585)
They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly. (Sheol h7585)
34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at their cry; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up!
At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!”
35 And there came out a fire from Jehovah, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that had presented incense.
And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
36 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
Then the LORD said to Moses,
37 Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning; and scatter the fire afar; for they are hallowed,
“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.
38 the censers of these sinners who have forfeited their life; and they shall make them into broad plates for the covering of the altar; for they presented them before Jehovah, therefore they are hallowed; and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
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.”
39 And Eleazar the priest took the copper censers, which they that were burnt had presented; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:
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,
40 as a memorial to the children of Israel, that no stranger who is not of the seed of Aaron come near to burn incense before Jehovah, that he be not as Korah, and as his band, — as Jehovah had said to him through Moses.
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.
41 And the whole assembly of the children of Israel murmured on the morrow against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of Jehovah.
The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
42 And it came to pass, when the assembly was gathered together against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Jehovah appeared.
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.
43 And Moses and Aaron went before the tent of meeting.
Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting,
44 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
and the LORD said to Moses,
45 Get you up from the midst of this assembly, and I will consume them in a moment. And they fell on their faces.
“Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown.
46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take the censer, and put fire thereon from off the altar, and lay on incense, and carry it quickly to the assembly, and make atonement for them; for there is wrath gone out from Jehovah: the plague is begun.
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.”
47 And Aaron took as Moses had said, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and behold, the plague had begun among the people; and he put on incense, and made atonement for the people.
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.
48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted.
49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides them that had died because of the matter of Korah.
But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who had died on account of Korah.
50 And Aaron returned to Moses to the entrance of the tent of meeting; and the plague was stayed.
Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, since the plague had been halted.
