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 son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben, gathered some men.
2 They rebelled against Moses, and were joined by 250 well-respected Israelite leaders and members of the assembly.
They rose up against Moses, along with other men from the people of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the community who were well-known members in the community.
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?”
They assembled themselves together to confront Moses and Aaron. They said to them, “You have gone too far! All the community is set apart, every one of them, and Yahweh is among them. Why do you lift up yourselves above the rest of Yahweh's community?”
4 When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell facedown on the ground.
When Moses heard that, he lay facedown.
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.
He spoke to Korah and to all those with him, “In the morning Yahweh will make known who belongs to him and who is set apart to him. He will bring that person near to him. The one he chooses he will bring near to himself.
6 This is what you, Korah, and everyone with you are going to do. Take some incense burners,
Do this, Korah and all your group. Take censers
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!”
tomorrow and put fire and incense in them before Yahweh. The one whom Yahweh chooses, that man will be set apart to Yahweh. You have gone too far, you descendants of Levi.”
8 Moses also told Korah, “Listen, you Levites!
Again, Moses said to Korah, “Now listen, you descendants 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 a small thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do work in Yahweh's tabernacle, and to stand before the community to serve 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!
He has brought you near, and all your kinfolk, the descendants of Levi, with you, yet you are seeking 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?”
That is why you and all your group have gathered together against Yahweh. So why are you complaining about Aaron, who obeys Yahweh?”
12 Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We're not going to appear before you!
Then Moses called for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but 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 you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now you want to make yourself ruler 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!”
In addition, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us the fields and vineyards as an inheritance. Now do you want to blind us with empty promises? We will not come to you.”
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.”
Moses was very angry and said to Yahweh, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed any 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.
Then Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow you and all your company must go before Yahweh—you and they, and Aaron.
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.”
Each of you must take his censer and put incense in it. Then each man must bring before Yahweh his censer, two hundred and fifty censers. You and Aaron, also, must each bring your censer.”
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.
So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense in it, and stood at the entrance to 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.
Korah assembled all the community against Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and Yahweh's glory appeared to all the community.
20 The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron:
21 “Step away from these Israelites and I will destroy them right away.”
“Separate yourselves from among this community that I may consume them immediately.”
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?”
Moses and Aaron lay facedown and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all humanity, if one man sins, must you be angry with all the community?”
23 Then the Lord told Moses,
Yahweh replied to Moses. He said,
24 “Tell the people to move away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
“Speak to the community. Say, 'Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'”
25 So Moses went over to Dathan and Abiram, and the Israelite elders of Israel followed him.
Then Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; 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.”
He spoke to the community and said, “Now leave the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be consumed by 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 the community on every side of the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram left them. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents, with their wives, 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.
Then Moses said, “By this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own accord.
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 a natural death such as normally happens, then Yahweh has 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 Yahweh creates something new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that they possess, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you must understand that these men have despised Yahweh.” (Sheol h7585)
31 Immediately Moses finished saying all this the ground under the rebels split apart,
As soon as Moses finished speaking all these words, the ground opened under those men.
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.
The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their families, and all the people who belonged to Korah, as well as all their possessions.
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 they possessed went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed over them, and they perished from among the community. (Sheol h7585)
34 When they heard their cries, all the Israelites nearby ran away, shouting, “Watch out! The earth could swallow us too!”
All Israel around them fled from their cries. They exclaimed, “The earth may swallow us up also!”
35 Fire burst out from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
Then fire flashed out from Yahweh and devoured the 250 men who had offered incense.
36 Then the Lord said to Moses,
Again Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,
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 to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest and let him take up the censers out of the flames, for the censers are set apart to me. Then let him scatter the burning coals at a distance.
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.”
Take the censers of those who lost their lives because of their sin. Let them be made into hammered plates as a covering over the altar. Those men did offer them before me, so they are set apart to me. They will be a sign of my presence to the people 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,
Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that had been used by the men who were burned up, and they were hammered out into a covering for 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 reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider who was not descended from Aaron should come up to burn incense before Yahweh, so they might not become like Korah and his group—just as Yahweh had commanded through Moses.
41 The next day all the Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord's people!”
But the next morning all the community of the people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. They said, “You have killed Yahweh's people.”
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.
Then it happened, when the community had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting and, behold, the cloud was covering it. Yahweh's glory 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,
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
45 “Get away from these people and I will finish them off immediately.” Moses and Aaron fell facedown on the ground.
“Go away from in front of this community so that I may consume them immediately.” Then Moses and Aaron lay down with their faces to the ground.
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.”
Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put fire in it from off the altar, put incense in it, carry it quickly to the community, and make atonement for them, because anger is coming from Yahweh. The plague has 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.
So Aaron did as Moses directed. He ran into the middle of the community. The plague had quickly started to spread among the people, so he put in 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.
Aaron stood between the dead and the living; in this way the plague was stopped.
49 However, 14,700 died from the plague in addition to those who'd died because of Korah.
Those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who had died in 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.
Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the plague ended.
