< Numbers 16 >
1 One day Korah, who was the son of Izhar and a descendant of Levi’s son Kohath, conspired with Dathan and Abiram, who were the sons of Eliab, and On, who was the son of Peleth. Those three men were from the tribe of Reuben.
Nowe Korah the sonne of Izhar, the sonne of Kohath, the sonne of Leui went apart with Dathan, and Abiram the sonnes of Eliab, and On the sonne of Peleth, the sonnes of Reuben:
2 Korah and those other three men incited 250 other people who were leaders among the Israeli people to join them in rebelling against Moses/me.
And they rose vp against Moses, with certaine of the children of Israel, two hundreth and fiftie captaines of the assemblie, famous in the Congregation, and men of renoume,
3 They came together to criticize Aaron and Moses/me. They said to them/us, “You two are using more [authority] than you should! Yahweh has set apart all of us Israeli people, and he is with/helping all of us. So why do you act as though you are more important than the rest of us people who belong to Yahweh [RHQ]?”
Who gathered themselues together against Moses, and against Aaron, and sayde vnto them, Ye take too much vpon you, seeing all the Congregation is holie, euery one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherfore then lift ye your selues aboue the Congregation of the Lord?
4 When Moses/I heard what they were saying, he/I prostrated himself/myself on the ground.
But when Moses heard it, hee fell vpon his face,
5 Then he/I said to Korah and those [Israeli leaders] who were with Korah, “Tomorrow morning Yahweh will show us whom he has chosen to be his [priest], and who is holy and allowed to come near to him. Yahweh will permit [only] those whom he chooses to come into his presence.
And spake to Korah and vnto all his companie, saying, To morow the Lord will shew who is his, and who is holy, and who ought to approche neere vnto him: and whom he hath chosen, hee will cause to come neere to him.
6 So Korah, tomorrow you and those who are with you must prepare your pans to burn incense.
This doe therefore, Take you censers, both Korah, and all his companie,
7 Then you must light a fire in them and burn the incense in the presence of Yahweh. Then we will see which one of us Yahweh has chosen to be his holy servant. It is you men who are descendants of Levi who are trying to use more [authority] than you should!”
And put fire therein, and put incense in the before the Lord to morowe: and the man whome the Lord doeth chuse, the same shalbe holie: ye take too much vpon you, ye sonnes of Leui.
8 Then Moses/I spoke again to Korah. He/I said, “You men who are descendants of Levi, listen to me!
Againe Moses saide vnto Korah, Heare, I pray you, ye sonnes of Leui.
9 The God of us Israelis has chosen all of you to be close to him in order that you can work for him at his Sacred Tent and serve the people. (Is that unimportant/Does that mean nothing) to you [RHQ]?
Seemeth it a small thing vnto you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the multitude of Israel, to take you neere to himselfe, to doe the seruice of the Tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the Congregation and to minister vnto them?
10 Yahweh has brought you, [Korah], and your fellow descendants of Levi, near to himself. Now are you demanding to become priests also?
He hath also taken thee to him, and all thy brethren the sonnes of Leui with thee, and seeke ye the office of the Priest also?
11 It is really Yahweh against whom you and your fellow descendants of Levi are rebelling. Aaron is not the one about whom you are really complaining [RHQ].”
For which cause, thou, and all thy companie are gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron, that ye murmure against him?
12 Then Moses/I summoned Dathan and Abiram, but [they refused to come]. They [sent a message] saying, “We will not come to you!
And Moses sent to call Dathan, and Abiram the sonnes of Eliab: who answered, We will not come vp.
13 You brought us out of Egypt, which was a very fertile [IDM] land, in order to cause us to die here in this desert. That was bad. But now you are also trying to boss us [RHQ], and that is worse.
Is it a small thing that thou hast brought vs out of a lande that floweth with milke and honie, to kill vs in the wildernesse, except thou make thy selfe lord and ruler ouer vs also?
14 You have not given us a new land to live in, a land that has good fields and vineyards. You are only trying to [RHQ] trick these people. So we will not come to you.”
Also thou hast not brought vs vnto a land that floweth with milke and honie, neither giuen vs inheritance of fieldes and vineyardes: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come vp.
15 Then Moses/I became very angry. He/I said to Yahweh, “Do not accept the grain offerings that they have brought. I have not taken anything from them, not even one donkey, and I have never done anything wrong to them, [so they have no reason to complain about me].”
Then Moses waxed verie angry, and saide vnto the Lord, Looke not vnto their offring: I haue not taken so much as an asse from them, neither haue I hurt any of them.
16 Then Moses/I said to Korah, “You and all those who are with you must come here tomorrow and stand in front of Yahweh. Aaron will also be here.
And Moses said vnto Korah, Bee thou and al thy companie before the Lord: both thou, they, and Aaron to morowe:
17 You and all the 250 men who are with you must each take a pan in which to burn incense, and put incense in it, to [burn it to be] an offering to Yahweh. Aaron will do the same thing.”
And take euery man his censor, and put incense in them, and bring ye euery man his censor before the Lord, two hundreth and fiftie censors: thou also and Aaron, euery one his censor.
18 So [the next day] each of those men got a pan to burn incense. They put in it incense and hot coals to light it, and then they all stood at the entrance of the Sacred Tent with Aaron and Moses/me.
So they tooke euery man his censor, and put fire in them, and laide incense thereon, and stoode in the doore of the Tabernacle of the Congregation with Moses and Aaron.
19 Then Korah summoned all the people who supported him and who were against Moses/me, and they also gathered at the entrance of the tent. Then the glory of Yahweh appeared to all of them/us,
And Korah gathered all the multitude against them vnto the doore of the Tabernacle of the Congregation: then the glorie of the Lord appeared vnto all the Congregation.
20 and Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,
And the Lord spake vnto Moses and to Aaron, saying,
21 “Get away from all these people, in order that I can get rid of them immediately!”
Separate your selues from among this Cogregation, that I may consume them at once.
22 But Aaron and Moses/I prostrated themselves/ourselves on the ground. We pleaded with Yahweh, saying, “God, you are the one who caused all these people to live [MTY]. Only one of these men has sinned; so, (is it right for you to be angry with all the people?/it is not right for you to be angry with all the people!) [RHQ]”
And they fell vpon their faces and saide, O God the God of the spirits, of all fleshe, hath not one man onely sinned, and wilt thou bee wroth with all the Congregation?
23 Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,
24 “[Okay], but tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
Speake vnto the Congregation and say, Get you away from about the Tabernacle of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
25 So Moses/I stood up and went to the tents of Dathan and Abiram. The Israeli leaders followed him/me.
Then Moses rose vp, and went vnto Dathan and Abiram, and the Elders of Israel followed him.
26 He/I told the people, “Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that belongs to them! If you touch anything, you will die because of their sins!”
And he spake vnto the Congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tentes of these wicked men, and touche nothing of theirs, lest ye perish in all their sinnes.
27 So all the people moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram came out of their tents with their wives and children and babies, and stood at the entrances of their tents.
So they gate them away from the Tabernacle of Korah, Dathan and Abiram on euerie side: and Dathan, and Abiram came out and stood in the doore of their tentes with their wiues, and their sonnes, and their little children.
28 Then Moses/I said, “I was not the one who decided to do all these things that I have done. It was Yahweh who [chose me and] sent me to do them. And now he will prove that to you.
And Moses saide, Hereby yee shall knowe that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works: for I haue not done them of mine owne minde.
29 If these men die in a normal way, then it will be clear that Yahweh did not choose me.
If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men, the Lord hath not sent me.
30 But if Yahweh does something that has never happened before, if he causes the ground [that is under their feet] to open up and swallow these men [and their families] and all their possessions, and they fall into the opening and are buried while they are still alive, then you will know that these men have insulted Yahweh.” (Sheol )
But if the Lord make a newe thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallowe them vp with all that they haue, and they goe downe quicke into ye pit, then ye shall vnderstand that these men haue prouoked the Lord. (Sheol )
31 As soon as Moses/I said this, the ground split open beneath those men.
And assoone as he had made an ende of speaking all these wordes, euen the ground claue asunder that was vnder them,
32 It swallowed them and their families and all those who were standing there with Korah and all of their possessions.
And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them vp, with their families, and all the men that were with Korah, and all their goods.
33 They fell into the opening in the ground while they were still alive, and all their possessions fell into the opening also. They disappeared, and the ground closed back up again. (Sheol )
So they and all that they had, went down aliue into the pit, and the earth couered them: so they perished from among the Congregation. (Sheol )
34 They screamed as they fell, and all the people who were standing nearby heard them scream. The people [were terrified and] cried out as they ran away, saying, “[We do not want] the ground to swallow us also!”
And all Israel that were about them, fled at the crie of them: for they said, Let vs flee, least the earth swalow vs vp.
35 And then a fire from Yahweh came down [from the sky] and burned up the 250 men who were burning the incense!
But there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundreth and fiftie men that offred the incense.
36 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,
37 “Tell Aaron’s son Eleazar to take the pans that had incense in them away from the fire and to scatter the burning coals. The pans that those men [were carrying] are (holy/dedicated to me) [because they burned incense to me in them].
Speake vnto Eleazar, the sonne of Aaron the Priest, that he take vp the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire beyond the altar: for they are halowed,
38 Those men have now died because of their sin; so [Eleazar must] take their pans and hammer the metal to make it become very thin. He must make a covering for the altar with that metal. Those pans were used to offer incense to me, so they are (holy/dedicated to me). [What happened to] those pans will now warn the Israeli people.”
The censers, I say, of these sinners, that destroyed themselues: and let them make of them broade plates for a couering of the Altar: for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they shalbe holy, and they shall be a signe vnto the children of Israel.
39 So Eleazar the priest collected the 250 pans for burning incense that had been used by the men who died in the fire. He hammered the pans very thin to make a covering for the altar, as Yahweh told Moses/me should be done.
Then Eleazar the Priest tooke the brasen censers, which they, that were burnt, had offred, and made broade plates of them for a couering of the Altar.
40 That warned the Israeli people that only those who were descendants of Aaron were permitted to burn incense for an offering to Yahweh. If anyone else did that, the same thing that happened to Korah and those who were with him would happen to them.
It is a remembrance vnto the children of Israel, that no stranger which is not of the seede of Aaron, come neere to offer incense before the Lord, that he be not like Korah and his company, as the Lord said to him by the hand of Moses.
41 But the following morning, all the Israeli people started to complain against Aaron and Moses/me, saying “You have killed many people who belonged to Yahweh!”
But on the morowe all the multitude of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye haue killed the people of the Lord.
42 When all the people gathered together to protest about what Aaron and Moses/I had done, they looked at the Sacred Tent and saw that the sacred cloud had covered it, and the glory of Yahweh had appeared.
And when the Congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, then they turned their faces toward the Tabernacle of the Congregation: and beholde, the cloude couered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.
43 Aaron and Moses/I went and stood in front of the Sacred Tent.
Then Moses and Aaron were come before the Tabernacle of the Congregation.
44 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,
45 “Get away from these people, in order that I can get rid of them immediately [without injuring you two]!” But Aaron and Moses/I prostrated themselves/ourselves on the ground [and prayed].
Get you vp from among this Congregation: for I wil consume them quickly: then they fell vpon their faces.
46 Moses/I said to Aaron, “Quickly take another pan and put in it some burning/hot coals from the altar. Put incense in the pan, and carry it out among the people to atone for the sins of the people. Yahweh is very angry with them, and [I know that] a (severe plague/bad sickness) has already started among them.”
And Moses said vnto Aaron, Take the censer and put fire therein of the Altar, and put therein incense, and goe quickly vnto the Congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord: the plague is begunne.
47 So Aaron did what Moses/I told him. He took the burning incense out among the people. The plague had already started to strike the people, but Aaron continued to burn the incense so that God would forgive them for the sins they had committed.
Then Aaron tooke as Moses commanded him, and ranne into the middes of the Congregation, and beholde, the plague was begun among the people, and hee put in incense, and made an atonement for the people.
48 He stood between the people who had already died and those who were still alive, and then the plague stopped.
And when hee stoode betweene the dead, and them that were aliue, the plague was stayed.
49 But 14,700 people had already died from that plague/sickness, in addition to the people who died with Korah.
So they died of this plague fourtene thousande and seuen hundreth, beside them that dyed in the conspiracie of Korah.
50 Then after the plague had ended, Aaron and Moses/I returned to the entrance of the Sacred Tent.
And Aaron went againe vnto Moses before the doore of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the plague was stayed.