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.
Now Korach, the son of Yizhar, the son of Kehath, the son of Levi, was presumptuous, together with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons 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.
So that they rose up before Moses, with certain men of the children of Israel, in number two hundred and fifty; [who were] princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown.
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]?”
And they assembled themselves against Moses, and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye assume too much; for the whole of the congregation are all of them holy, and the Lord is among them; wherefore then will you lift yourselves up above the congregation of the Lord?
4 When Moses/I heard what they were saying, he/I prostrated himself/myself on the ground.
And when Moses heard it, he fell upon 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 he spoke unto Korach and unto all his company, saying, Tomorrow, —then will the Lord make known who is his, and who is holy, that he may cause them to come near unto him; and him whom he shall choose will he cause to come near unto him.
6 So Korah, tomorrow you and those who are with you must prepare your pans to burn incense.
This do ye: Take yourselves censers, Korach and all his company;
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 therein fire, and put upon them incense before the Lord, tomorrow; and it shall be that the man whom the Lord will choose, he shall be the holy one; you assume too much, ye sons of Levi.
8 Then Moses/I spoke again to Korah. He/I said, “You men who are descendants of Levi, listen to me!
And Moses said unto Korach, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:
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]?
It is too little for you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near unto himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister for them?
10 Yahweh has brought you, [Korah], and your fellow descendants of Levi, near to himself. Now are you demanding to become priests also?
And he hath brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and now will ye seek the priesthood 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 [beware], thou and all thy company that are gathered together against the Lord; for Aaron, what is he, that ye should murmur 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 sons of Eliab; but they said, We will not come up:
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 too little that thou hast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that thou wilt assume to make thyself also a prince over us?
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.”
Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and thou hast not given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou bore out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
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].”
And this displeased Moses greatly, and he said unto the Lord, Have no respect unto their offering: I have not taken away an ass of any one of them, nor have I done wrong to any one 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 unto Korach, Thou and all thy company, be ye before the Lord, thou, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow:
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 ye every man his censer, and put incense upon them, and bring ye near before the Lord every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each his censer.
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.
And they took every man his censer, and put fire on them, and laid incense thereupon; and they stood at the door 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 Korach assembled against them all the congregation unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and the glory of the Lord then appeared unto all the congregation.
20 and Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,
And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
21 “Get away from all these people, in order that I can get rid of them immediately!”
Separate yourselves from the midst of this congregation, and I will make an end of them in a moment.
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 upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, this one man doth sin, and with all the congregation wouldst thou be wroth!
23 Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
24 “[Okay], but tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you away from about the dwelling of Korach, Dathan, and Abiram.
25 So Moses/I stood up and went to the tents of Dathan and Abiram. The Israeli leaders followed him/me.
And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and there went after him the elders of Israel.
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 spoke unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing which belongeth to them, lest ye be destroyed through all their sins.
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 got away from the dwelling of Korach, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, standing [boldly] at the door of their tents, with their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.
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 said, Through this shall ye know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these deeds; that [I have] not done them out of my own heart.
29 If these men die in a normal way, then it will be clear that Yahweh did not choose me.
If these men die as all men die, and if the visitation of all men be visited on them: then hath the Lord 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 h7585)
But if the Lord do create a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertaineth unto them, and they go down alive into the pit: then shall ye understand that these men have provoked the Lord. (Sheol h7585)
31 As soon as Moses/I said this, the ground split open beneath those men.
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground that was under them was cloven asunder:
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 up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korach, 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 h7585)
And they went down, they, and all they that appertained to them, alive into the pit; and the earth closed over them, and they disappeared from the midst of the congregation. (Sheol h7585)
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 round about them fled at their cry; for they said, Perhaps the earth may swallow us up [also].
35 And then a fire from Yahweh came down [from the sky] and burned up the 250 men who were burning the incense!
And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that had offered the incense.
36 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And the Lord spoke unto 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].
Speak unto Elazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he lift up the censers out of the burning, and throw out the fire far away; for they have been hallowed:
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 of these sinners against their own lives; and they shall make of them broad plates for a covering for the altar; for they brought them near before the Lord, and they have thus become hallowed; and they shall serve for a sign unto 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.
And Elazar the priest took the copper censers, which they that were burnt had brought near; and they beat them out for a covering unto 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.
As a memorial unto the children of Israel, in order that no stranger, who is not of the seed of Aaron, should come near to burn incense before the Lord; that he become not as Korach, and as his company; as the Lord had spoken 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!”
And all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, on the morrow, saying, It is you who have caused the people of the Lord to die.
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 it came to pass, when the congregation assembled 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.
43 Aaron and Moses/I went and stood in front of the Sacred Tent.
And Moses came with Aaron before the tabernacle of the congregation.
44 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And the Lord spoke unto 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].
Remove yourselves from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell upon 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 unto Aaron, Take the censer, and put therein fire from off the altar, and put on incense, and carry [it] quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them; for the wrath is gone forth from the Lord; the plague hath begun.
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.
And Aaron took as Moses had commanded, and he ran into the midst of the assembly; and, behold, the plague had begun among the people: and he put on the 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 he stood between the dead and the living; and 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.
And those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those that had died about the matter of Korach.
50 Then after the plague had ended, Aaron and Moses/I returned to the entrance of the Sacred Tent.
And Aaron returned unto Moses, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, after the plague had been stayed.
