Numbers 16
1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, took Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, son of Reuben,
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 before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred fifty leaders of the congregation, called to 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 to them, "You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and YHWH is among them: why then lift yourselves up above the assembly of YHWH?"
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 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face:
When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.
5 and he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, "In the morning YHWH will show who are his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he has chosen he will bring near to 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 Do this: take censers, Korah, and all his company;
You, Korah, and all your followers are to do as follows: Take censers,
7 and put fire in them, and put incense on them before YHWH tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom YHWH chooses, he shall be holy. You have gone too far, you 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 Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi.
Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you sons of Levi!
9 Is it 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 YHWH, and to stand before the congregation to minister to 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 has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? and do you 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 you and all your company are gathered together against God. And Aaron, what is he that you 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 Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, "We won't 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 you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also make yourself 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 you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: will you put out the eyes of these men? We won't 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 Moses was very angry, and said to YHWH, "Do not respect their offering: I have not taken one donkey 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 Moses said to Korah, "You and all your company go before YHWH, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow:
And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron.
17 and each man take his censer, and put incense on them, and each man bring before YHWH his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer."
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 They each took his censer, 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 Korah assembled all the congregation against them to the door of the Tent of Meeting: and the glory of YHWH appeared to 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 YHWH spoke to Moses and to 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 They fell on their faces, and said, "God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry 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 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,
Then the LORD said to Moses,
24 "Speak to the congregation, saying, 'Get away from around the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'"
“Tell the congregation to move away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25 Moses rose up and went to 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 He spoke to the congregation, saying, "Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed 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 went away from the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, and 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 Moses said, "Hereby you shall know that YHWH has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my 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, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then YHWH hasn't 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 YHWH make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain to them, and they go down alive into Sheol; then you shall understand that these men have despised YHWH." (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 It happened, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground split apart that was under them;
As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open,
32 and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who appertained to 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 Sheol: and the earth closed on 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 All Israel that were around them fled at their cry; 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 Fire came forth from YHWH, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.
And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
36 YHWH 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 the fire yonder; for they are 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 censers of these sinners against their own lives; and let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before YHWH; therefore they are holy; and they shall be a sign to 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 Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who 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 to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger, who isn't of the descendants of Aaron, comes near to burn incense before YHWH; that he not be as Korah, and as his company: as YHWH spoke to him by 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 next day all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, "You have killed YHWH's people."
The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
42 It happened, when the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the Tent of Meeting: and look, the cloud covered it, and the glory of YHWH 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 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 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,
and the LORD said to Moses,
45 "Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." They fell on their faces.
“Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown.
46 Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer, and put fire from off the altar in it, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from YHWH. The plague has 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 Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and look, the plague has 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 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 those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those who 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 Aaron returned to Moses to 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.
