Numbers 16
1 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,
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 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.
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 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?
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 When Moses heard this, he fell flat on his face:
And Moses, hearing this, went down on his face;
5 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.
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 Do this therefore: Take every man of you your censers, thou Core, and all thy company.
So do this: let Korah and all his band take vessels for burning perfumes;
7 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.
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 he said again to Core: Hear ye sons of Levi.
And Moses said to Korah, Give ear now, you sons of Levi:
9 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?
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 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,
Letting you, and all your brothers the sons of Levi, come near to him? and would you now be priests?
11 And that all thy company should stand against the Lord? for what 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 Then Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab. But they answered: We will not come.
Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: and they said, We will not come up:
13 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?
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 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.
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 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.
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 he said to Core: Do thou and thy congregation stand apart before the Lord tomorrow, and Aaron apart.
And Moses said to Korah, You and all your band are to come before the Lord tomorrow, you and they and Aaron:
17 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.
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 When they had done this, Moses and Aaron standing,
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 had drawn up all the multitude against them to the door of the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord appeared to them all.
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 speaking to Moses and Aaron, said:
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may presently destroy them.
Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them.
22 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?
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 said to Moses:
And the Lord said to Moses,
24 Command the whole people to separate themselves from the tents of Core and Dathan and Abiron.
Say to the people, Come away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram.
25 And Moses arose, and went to Dathan and Abiron: and the ancients of Israel following him,
So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the responsible men of Israel went with him.
26 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.
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 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.
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: 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:
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 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.
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 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)
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 immediately as he had made an end of speaking, the earth broke asunder under their feet:
And while these words were on his lips, the earth under them was parted in two;
32 And opening her mouth, devoured them with their tents and all their substance.
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 alive into hell the ground closing upon them, and they perished from among the people. (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 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.
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 a fire coming out from the Lord, destroyed the two hundred and fifty men that offered the 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 spoke to Moses, saying:
And the Lord said to Moses,
37 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
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 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.
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 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:
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 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.
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 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.
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 when there arose a sedition, and the tumult increased,
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 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.
Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of meeting.
44 And the Lord said to Moses:
And the Lord said to Moses,
45 Get you out from the midst of this multitude, this moment will I destroy them. And as they were lying on the ground,
Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them. And they went down on their faces.
46 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.
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 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:
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 standing between the dead and the living, he prayed for the people, and the plague ceased.
And he took his place between the dead and the living: and the disease was stopped.
49 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.
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 the covenant after the destruction was over.
Then Aaron went back to Moses to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the disease came to a stop.
