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 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 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;
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 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 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 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face.
When Moses heard that, he lay 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.
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 do: take you censors, Korah, and all his company;
Do this, Korah and all your group. 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.'
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 And Moses said unto Korah: 'Hear now, ye sons of Levi:
Again, Moses said to Korah, “Now listen, you descendants 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 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 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, and all your kinfolk, the descendants of Levi, with you, yet you are seeking the priesthood also!
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?'
That is why you and all your group have gathered together against Yahweh. So why are you complaining about Aaron, who obeys Yahweh?”
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said: 'We will not come up;
Then Moses called for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up.
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 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 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.'
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 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.'
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 And Moses said unto Korah: 'Be thou and all thy congregation before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to-morrow;
Then Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow you and all your company must go before Yahweh—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 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 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 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 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.
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 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron:
21 'Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.'
“Separate yourselves from among this community that I may consume them immediately.”
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?'
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 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
Yahweh replied to Moses. He said,
24 'Speak unto the congregation, saying: Get you up from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'
“Speak to the community. Say, 'Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'”
25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
Then Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; 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.'
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 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 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 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, “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 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 such as normally happens, then Yahweh 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 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 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 finished speaking all these words, the ground opened under those men.
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.
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 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)
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 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them; for they said: 'Lest the earth swallow us up.'
All Israel around them fled from their cries. They exclaimed, “The earth may swallow us up also!”
35 And fire came forth from the LORD, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense.
Then fire flashed out from Yahweh and devoured the 250 men who had offered incense.
36 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
Again Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,
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;
“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 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.'
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 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,
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 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.
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 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.'
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 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.
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 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting.
and Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting.
44 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
45 'Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.' And they fell upon their faces.
“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 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 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 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 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 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
Aaron stood between the dead and the living; in this way the plague was stopped.
49 Now they that died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died about the matter of Korah.
Those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who had died in the matter of Korah.
50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stayed.
Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the plague ended.
