Numbers 16
1 And Core the son of Isaar the son of Caath the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiron, sons of Eliab, and Aun the son of Phaleth the son of Ruben, spoke;
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 rose up before Moses, and two hundred and fifty men of the sons of Israel, chiefs of the assembly, chosen councillors, and men of renown.
They rebelled against Moses, and were joined by 250 well-respected Israelite leaders and members of the assembly.
3 They rose up against Moses and Aaron, and said, Let it be enough for you that all the congregation [are] holy, and the Lord [is] among them; and why do you set up yourselves against 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 Core and all his assembly, saying, God has visited and known those that are his and who are holy, and has brought them to himself; and whom he has chosen for himself, he has brought to himself.
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 you: take to yourselves censers, Core 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 on them, and put incense on them before the Lord to-morrow; and it shall come to pass that the man whom the Lord has chosen, he shall be holy: let it be enough for 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 Core, Listen to me, you sons of Levi.
Moses also told Korah, “Listen, you Levites!
9 Is it a little thing for you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, and brought you near to himself to minister in the services of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the tabernacle to minister for 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 and all your brethren the sons of Levi with you, and do you seek to be priests 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 Thus [it is with] you and all your congregation which is gathered together against God: and who 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 Abiron sons of Eliab; and they said, We will not go 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 little thing that you have brought us up to a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, [and] that you altogether rule 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 You are a prince, and have you brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and have you given us an inheritance of land and vineyards? would you have put out the eyes of those men? we will not go 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 exceeding indignant, and said to the Lord, Do you take no heed to their sacrifice: I have not taken away the desire of any one of them, neither have I hurt any 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 Core, Sanctify your company, and be ready before the Lord, you and Aaron and they, 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 each man his censer, and you shall put incense upon them, and shall bring each one his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers, and you and Aaron shall bring each 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 each man took his censer, and they put on them fire, and laid incense on them; and Moses and Aaron stood by the doors of the tabernacle of witness.
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 Core raised up against them all his company by the door of the tabernacle of witness; 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 Aaron, saying,
The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
21 Separate your selves from the midst of this congregation, and I will consume them at once.
“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 spirits and of all flesh, if one man has sinned, [shall] the wrath of the Lord [be] upon the whole 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, Depart from the company of Core round about.
“Tell the people to move away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25 And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiron, and all the elders of Israel went with 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, Separate yourselves from the tents of these stubborn men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, lest you be consumed with them in all their sin.
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 And they stood aloof from the tent of Core round about; and Dathan and Abiron went forth and stood by the doors of their tents, and their wives and their children and their store.
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 shall you know that the Lord has sent me to perform all these works, that [I have] not [done them] of myself.
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 shall die according to the death of all men, if also their visitation shall be according to 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 shall show by a wonder, and the earth shall open her mouth and swallow them up, and their houses, and their tents, and all that belongs to them, and they shall go down alive into Hades, then you shall know 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 when he ceased speaking all these words, the ground clave asunder beneath them.
Immediately Moses finished saying all this the ground under the rebels split apart,
32 And the ground opened, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that were with Core, and their cattle.
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 And they went down and all that they had, alive into Hades; and the ground covered them, and they perished from the midst of 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 round about them fled from the sound 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 fire went forth from the Lord, and devoured 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 said to Moses,
Then the Lord said to Moses,
37 and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, Take up the brazen censers out of the midst of the men that have been burnt, and scatter the strange fire yonder, for they have sanctified the censers
“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 of these sinners against their own souls, and do you make them beaten plates a covering to the altar, because they were brought before the Lord and hallowed; and they became 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 son of Aaron the priest took the brazen censers, which the men who had been burnt brought near, and they put them as a covering on 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 a memorial to the children of Israel that no stranger might draw near, who is not of the seed of Aaron, to offer incense before the Lord; so he shall not be as Core and as they that conspired with him, as the Lord spoke 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 And the children of Israel murmured the next day against Moses and 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 combined against Moses and Aaron, that they ran impetuously to the tabernacle of witness; and 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 went in, in front of the tabernacle of witness.
Moses and Aaron went and stood at the front of the Tent of Meeting,
44 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
and the Lord said to Moses,
45 Depart out of the midst of this congregation, and I will consume them at once: and they fell upon 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 on it fire from the altar, and put incense on it, and carry it away quickly into the camp, and make atonement for them; for wrath is gone forth from the presence of the Lord, it has begun to destroy the people.
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 spoke to him, and ran among the congregation, for already the plague had 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 ceased.
He stood between those who had died and those who were still alive, and the plague was stopped.
49 And they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those that died on account of Core.
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 witness, and the plague ceased.
Then Aaron went back to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting because the plague had been stopped.
