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: ]
And behold Core the son of Isaar, the son of Caath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab, and Hon the son of Pheleth of the children of Ruben,
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:
Rose up against Moses, and with them two hundred and fifty others of the children of Israel, leading men of the synagogue, and who in the time of assembly were called by name.
3 And they gathered 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 congregation of the LORD?
And when they had stood up against Moses and Aaron, they said: Let it be enough for you, that all the multitude consisteth of holy ones, and the Lord is among them: Why lift you up yourselves above the people of the Lord?
4 And when Moses heard [it], he fell upon his face:
When Moses heard this, he fell flat on his face:
5 And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who [are] his, and [who is] holy; and will cause [him] to come near unto him: even [him] whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.
And speaking to Core and all the multitude, he said: In the morning the Lord will make known who belong to him, and the holy he will join to himself: and whom he shall choose, they shall approach to him.
6 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;
Do this therefore: Take every man of you your censers, thou Core, and all thy company.
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 doth choose, he [shall be] holy: [ye take] too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
And putting fire in them tomorrow, put incense upon it before the Lord: and whomsoever he shall choose, the same shall be holy: you take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
8 And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:
And he said again to Core: Hear ye sons of Levi.
9 [Seemeth 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 unto you, that the God of Israel hath spared you from all the people, and joined you to himself, that you should serve him in the service of the tabernacle, and should stand before the congregation of the people, and should minister to him?
10 And he hath brought thee near [to him], and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?
Did he therefore make thee and all thy brethren the sons of Levi to approach unto him, that you should challenge to yourselves the priesthood also,
11 For which cause [both] thou and all thy company [are] gathered together against the LORD: and what [is] Aaron, that ye murmur against him?
And that all thy company should stand against the Lord? for what is Aaron that you murmur against him?
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:
Then Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab. But they answered: We will not come.
13 [Is it] a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?
Is it a small matter to thee, that thou hast brought us out of a land that flowed with milk and honey, to kill us in the desert, except thou rule also like a lord over us?
14 Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
Thou best brought us indeed into a land that floweth with rivers of milk and honey, and hast given us possessions of fields and vineyards; wilt thou also pull out our eyes? 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.
Moses therefore being very angry, raid to the Lord: Respect not their sacrifices: thou knowest that I have not taken of them so much as a young ass at any time, nor have injured any of them.
16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:
And he said to Core: Do thou and thy congregation stand apart before the Lord tomorrow, and Aaron apart.
17 And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each [of you] his censer.
Take every one of you censers, and put incense upon them, offering to the Lord two hundred and fifty censers: let Aaron also hold his censer.
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.
When they had done this, Moses and Aaron standing,
19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.
And had drawn up all the multitude against them to the door of the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord appeared to them all.
20 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
And the Lord speaking to Moses and Aaron, said:
21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may presently destroy them.
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?
They fell flat on their face, and said: O most mighty, the God of the spirits of all flesh, for one man’s sin shall thy wrath rage against all?
23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
And the Lord said to Moses:
24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
Command the whole people to separate themselves from the tents of Core and Dathan and Abiron.
25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
And Moses arose, and went to Dathan and Abiron: and the ancients of Israel following him,
26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.
He said to the multitude: Depart from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be involved in their sins.
27 So they gat 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.
And when they were departed from their tents round about, Dathan and Abiron coming out stood in the entry of their pavilions with their wives and children, and all the people.
28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for [I have] not [done them] of mine own mind.
And Moses said: By this you shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all things that you see, and that I have not forged them of my own head:
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 hath not sent me.
If these men die the common death of men, and if they be visited with a plague, wherewith others also are wont to be visited, the Lord did not send me.
30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that [appertain] unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. (Sheol h7585)
But if the Lord do a new thing, and the earth opening her mouth swallow them down, and all things that belong to them, and they go down alive into hell, you shall know that they have blasphemed the Lord. (Sheol h7585)
31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that [was] under them:
And immediately as he had made an end of speaking, the earth broke asunder under their feet:
32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that [appertained] unto Korah, and all [their] goods.
And opening her mouth, devoured them with their tents and all their substance.
33 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 congregation. (Sheol h7585)
And they went down alive into hell the ground closing upon them, and they perished from among the people. (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].
But all Israel, that was standing round about, fled at the cry of them that were perishing: saying: Lest perhaps the earth swallow us up also.
35 And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
And a fire coming out from the Lord, destroyed the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense.
36 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
37 Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.
Command Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers that lie in the burning, and to scatter the fire of one side and the other: because they are sanctified
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 unto the children of Israel.
In the deaths of the sinners: and let him beat them into plates, and fasten them to the altar, because incense hath been offered in them to the Lord, and they are sanctified, that the children of Israel may see them for a sign and a memorial.
39 And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad [plates for] a covering of the altar:
Then Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, wherein they had offered, whom the burning fire had devoured, and beat them into plates, fastening them to the altar:
40 [To be] a memorial unto 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.
That the children of Israel might have for the time to come wherewith they should be admonished, that no stranger or any one that is not of seed of Aaron should come near to offer incense to the Lord, lest he should suffer as Core suffered, and all his congregation, according as the Lord spoke to 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.
The following day all the multitude of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying: You have killed the people of the Lord.
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.
And when there arose a sedition, and the tumult increased,
43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
Moses and Aaron fled to the tabernacle of the covenant. And when the were gone into it, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.
44 And the LORD spake unto 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 upon their faces.
Get you out from the midst of this multitude, this moment will I destroy them. And as they were lying on the ground,
46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.
Moses said to Aaron: Take the censer, and putting fire in it from the altar, put incense upon it, and go quickly to the people to pray for them: for already wrath is gone out from the Lord, and the plague rageth.
47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
When Aaron had done this, and had run to the midst of the multitude which the burning fire was now destroying, he offered the incense:
48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
And standing between the dead and the living, he prayed for the people, and the plague ceased.
49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
And the number of them that were slain was fourteen thousand and seven hundred men, besides them that had perished in the sedition of Core.
50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant after the destruction was over.
