Numbers 16
1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
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.
2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
They rebelled against Moses, and were joined by 250 well-respected Israelite leaders and members of the assembly.
3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take too much on you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: why then lift you up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?
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?”
4 And when Moses heard it, he fell on his face:
When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell facedown on the ground.
5 And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he has chosen will he cause to come near to him.
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.
6 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;
This is what you, Korah, and everyone with you are going to do. Take some incense burners,
7 And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD does choose, he shall be holy: you take too much on you, you sons of Levi.
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!”
8 And Moses said to Korah, Hear, I pray you, you sons of Levi:
Moses also told Korah, “Listen, you Levites!
9 Seems it but a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has 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 to them?
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?
10 And he has brought you near to him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you: and seek you the priesthood also?
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!
11 For which cause both you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that you murmur against him?
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?”
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:
Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We're not going to appear before you!
13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except you make yourself altogether a prince over us?
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?
14 Moreover you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: will you put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
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!”
15 And Moses was very wroth, and said to the LORD, Respect not you their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.
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.”
16 And Moses said to Korah, Be you and all your company before the LORD, you, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:
Moses told Korah, “You and all those who have joined you must appear before the Lord tomorrow—all of you and Aaron too.
17 And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring you before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.
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.”
18 And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.
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.
19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.
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.
20 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
“Step away from these Israelites and I will destroy them right away.”
22 And they fell on their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be wroth with all the congregation?
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?”
23 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Then the Lord told Moses,
24 Speak to the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
“Tell the people to move away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25 And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
So Moses went over to Dathan and Abiram, and the Israelite elders of Israel followed him.
26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.
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.”
27 So they got up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.
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.
28 And Moses said, Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of my own mind.
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.
29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD has not sent me.
If these men die a natural death, experiencing the destiny of every human being, then the Lord didn't sent me.
30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain to them, and they go down quick into the pit; then you shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. (Sheol h7585)
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)
31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground split asunder that was under them:
Immediately Moses finished saying all this the ground under the rebels split apart,
32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained to Korah, and all their goods.
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.
33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed on them: and they perished from among the congregation. (Sheol h7585)
They went down alive into Sheol with all that they had. The earth closed over them, and they were no more. (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 also.
When they heard their cries, all the Israelites nearby ran away, shouting, “Watch out! The earth could swallow us too!”
35 And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
Fire burst out from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
36 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Then the Lord said to Moses,
37 Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter you the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.
“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.
38 The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign to the children of Israel.
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.”
39 And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, with which they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:
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,
40 To be a memorial to the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
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.
41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the LORD.
The next day all the Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord's people!”
42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
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.
43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
Moses and Aaron went and stood at the front of the Tent of Meeting,
44 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
and the Lord said to Moses,
45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell on their faces.
“Get away from these people and I will finish them off immediately.” Moses and Aaron fell facedown on the ground.
46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly to the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.
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.”
47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the middle of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
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.
48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
He stood between those who had died and those who were still alive, and the plague was stopped.
49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
However, 14,700 died from the plague in addition to those who'd died because of Korah.
50 And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
Then Aaron went back to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting because the plague had been stopped.
