Numbers 16
1 Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi tried to take over leadership, along with Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth, who were from the tribe of Reuben.
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 Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men;
2 They rebelled against Moses, and were joined by 250 well-respected Israelite leaders and members of the assembly.
and they rose up in face of Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty men; they were princes of the congregation, the elect men of the assembly, men of renown;
3 They joined together in opposition to Moses and Aaron, telling them, “You've taken too much power for yourselves! Every one of the Israelites is holy, and the Lord is among them. So why do you set yourselves above the Lord's assembly?”
and they assembled 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 assembly of the LORD?'
4 When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell facedown on the ground.
And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face.
5 Then he told Korah and all those with him, “In the morning the Lord is going to make it clear who is his and who is holy, and allow that person to approach him. He will only allow whoever he chooses to approach him.
And he spoke unto Korah and unto all his company, saying: 'In the morning the LORD will show who are His, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near unto Him; even him whom He may choose will He cause to come near unto Him.
6 This is what you, Korah, and everyone with you are going to do. Take some incense burners,
This do: take you censors, Korah, and all his company;
7 and tomorrow put incense in them and set it on fire in the presence of the Lord. Then the man the Lord chooses is the one who is holy. It is you Levites who are taking too much power for yourselves!”
and put fire therein, and put incense upon 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 Moses also told Korah, “Listen, you Levites!
And Moses said unto Korah: 'Hear now, ye sons of Levi:
9 Do you think it's something insignificant that the God of Israel chose you from all the other Israelites and allowed you to approach him and carry out the work in the Lord's Tabernacle, to stand before the Israelites and serve them?
is 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 He has allowed you the privilege of approaching him, Korah, you and all the other Levites, but now you want to have the priesthood as well!
and that He hath brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee? and will ye seek the priesthood also?
11 So in reality you and those who have joined you are fighting against the Lord—because who is Aaron that you should complain about him?”
Therefore thou and all thy company that are gathered together against the LORD —; and as to Aaron, what is he that ye murmur against him?'
12 Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We're not going to appear before you!
And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said: 'We will not come up;
13 Haven't you done enough by taking us away from a land flowing with milk and honey in order to kill us out here in the desert? Do you have to make yourself a dictator as well, someone to rule us?
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, but thou must needs make thyself also a prince over us?
14 On top of that you haven't taken us to a land flowing with milk and honey or given us fields and vineyards to own. Do you really think you can fool everyone? No, we will not attend!”
Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards; wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.'
15 Moses got really angry and said to the Lord, “Don't accept their offerings. I have never taken even a donkey from them or treated any of them badly.”
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 Moses told Korah, “You and all those who have joined you must appear before the Lord tomorrow—all of you and Aaron too.
And Moses said unto Korah: 'Be thou and all thy congregation before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to-morrow;
17 Each one will take his incense burner, put incense in it, and offer it before the Lord. All 250 of you will use your incense burners and Aaron will as well.”
and take ye every man his fire-pan, and put incense upon them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his fire-pan, two hundred and fifty fire-pans; thou also, and Aaron, each his fire-pan.'
18 So each one took his incense burner, put incense in it, set it on fire, and stood together with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
And they took every man his fire-pan, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood at the door of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
19 When Korah had gathered all his rebellious group at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the Lord's glory appeared before the whole congregation.
And Korah assembled all the congregation against them unto the door of the tent of meeting; and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.
20 The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:
21 “Step away from these Israelites and I will destroy them right away.”
'Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.'
22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown on the ground said, “God—God of everything that lives—when it's just one man who sins, do you have to be angry with the everybody?”
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 Then the Lord told Moses,
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
24 “Tell the people to move away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
'Speak unto the congregation, saying: Get you up from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'
25 So Moses went over to Dathan and Abiram, and the Israelite elders of Israel followed him.
And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
26 He ordered the people, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them, otherwise you will be destroyed along with them in all their sins.”
And he spoke unto the congregation, saying: 'Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be swept away in all their sins.'
27 The people moved away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances to their tents along with their wives, children and little ones.
So they got them up from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side; and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.
28 Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord did send me to carry out everything I've done, for it wasn't anything I thought up.
And Moses said: 'Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works, and that I have not done them of mine own mind.
29 If these men die a natural death, experiencing the destiny of every human being, then the Lord didn't sent me.
If these men die the common death of all men, and be visited after the visitation of all men, then the LORD hath not sent Me.
30 But if the Lord does something totally different, and the earth opens up and swallows them down along with everything that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have acted with contempt to the Lord.” (Sheol h7585)
But if the LORD make a new thing, and the ground open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down alive into the pit, then ye shall understand that these men have despised the LORD.' (Sheol h7585)
31 Immediately Moses finished saying all this the ground under the rebels split apart,
And it came to pass, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground did cleave asunder that was under them.
32 and the earth opened up and swallowed them and their households down, as well as everyone who was there with Korah and everything that belonged to them.
And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
33 They went down alive into Sheol with all that they had. The earth closed over them, and they were no more. (Sheol h7585)
So 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 assembly. (Sheol h7585)
34 When they heard their cries, all the Israelites nearby ran away, shouting, “Watch out! The earth could swallow us too!”
And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them; for they said: 'Lest the earth swallow us up.'
35 Fire burst out from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
And fire came forth from the LORD, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense.
36 Then the Lord said to Moses,
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
37 “Tell Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, to collect the holy incense burners from among those who have been burned up, and scatter the coals used for the incense well away from the camp.
'Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the fire-pans out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are become holy;
38 Have the incense burners of those who sinned at the expense of their own lives hammered into metal sheets as a covering for the altar, because they were offered before the Lord, and so have become holy. They will be a reminder to Israelites of what happened.”
even the fire-pans of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar — for they are become holy, because they were offered before the LORD — that they may be a sign unto the children of Israel.'
39 So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze incense burners used by those who had been burned up, and had them hammered out as a covering for the altar,
And Eleazar the priest took the brazen fire-pans, which they that were burnt had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar,
40 following the instructions given to him from the Lord through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one who is not a descendant of Aaron should come and offer incense before the Lord, otherwise they could end up like Korah and those with him.
to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, to the end that no common man, that is not of the seed of Aaron, draw near to burn incense before the LORD; that he fare not as Korah, and as his company; as the LORD spoke unto him by the hand of Moses.
41 The next day all the Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord's people!”
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 But as the people gathered to confront them, Moses and Aaron went over to the Tent of Meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered it and the Lord's glory appeared.
And it came to pass, when the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting; and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
43 Moses and Aaron went and stood at the front of the Tent of Meeting,
And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting.
44 and the Lord said to Moses,
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
45 “Get away from these people and I will finish them off immediately.” Moses and Aaron fell facedown on the ground.
'Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.' And they fell upon their faces.
46 Moses told Aaron, “Put some coals from the altar and some incense in your incense burner. Then run to the people and make them right before the Lord, for the Lord is angry with them and a plague has started.”
And Moses said unto Aaron: 'Take thy fire-pan, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense thereon, and carry it quickly unto the congregation, and make atonement for them; for there is wrath gone out from the LORD: the plague is begun.'
47 Aaron took the incense burner just as Moses had told him and ran into the middle of the assembly. He saw that the plague had started to affect the people so he offered the incense and made the people right with the Lord.
And Aaron took as Moses spoke, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people; and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.
48 He stood between those who had died and those who were still alive, and the plague was stopped.
And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
49 However, 14,700 died from the plague in addition to those who'd died because of Korah.
Now they that died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died about the matter of Korah.
50 Then Aaron went back to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting because the plague had been stopped.
And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stayed.
