Numbers 16
1 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;
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 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;
a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 men of Israel renowned as leaders of the congregation and representatives in the assembly.
3 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?'
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 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face.
When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.
5 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.
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 censors, Korah, and all his company;
You, Korah, and all your followers are to do as follows: Take censers,
7 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.'
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 unto Korah: 'Hear now, ye sons of Levi:
Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you sons of Levi!
9 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;
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 and that He hath brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee? and will ye seek the priesthood also?
He has brought you near, you and all your fellow Levites, but you are seeking the priesthood as well.
11 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?'
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; and 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, but thou must needs make thyself also a prince 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, nor 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 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.'
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 unto Korah: 'Be thou and all thy congregation before the LORD, 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 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.'
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 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.
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 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.
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 the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:
And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
21 'Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.'
“Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.”
22 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?'
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 the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
Then the LORD said to Moses,
24 'Speak unto the congregation, saying: Get you up from about the dwelling 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 unto 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 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.'
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 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.
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 the LORD hath sent me to do all these works, and that I have not done them of mine own mind.
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 the common death of all men, and be visited after the visitation of all men, then the LORD hath 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 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)
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, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground did cleave asunder that was under them.
As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open,
32 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.
and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions.
33 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)
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 the cry of them; 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 fire came forth from the LORD, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense.
And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
36 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
Then the LORD said to Moses,
37 '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;
“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 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.'
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 brazen fire-pans, which they that were burnt had offered; and they beat them out 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 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.
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 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.'
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 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.
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 came to the front of the tent of meeting.
Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting,
44 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
and the LORD said to Moses,
45 'Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.' And they fell upon 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 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.'
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 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.
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 by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died about 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 unto Moses unto the door 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.
