Numbers 16
1 And Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, taketh both Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, sons of Reuben,
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 they rise up before Moses, with men of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty, princes of the company, called of the convention, men of name,
They rebelled against Moses, and were joined by 250 well-respected Israelite leaders and members of the assembly.
3 and they are assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and say unto them, 'Enough of you! for all the company — all of them [are] holy, and in their midst [is] Jehovah; and wherefore do ye lift yourselves up above the assembly of Jehovah?'
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 Moses heareth, and falleth on his face,
When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell facedown on the ground.
5 and he speaketh unto Korah, and unto all his company, saying, 'Morning! — and Jehovah is knowing those who are his, and him who is holy, and hath brought near unto Him; even him whom He doth fix on He bringeth near unto Him.
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: take to yourselves censers, Korah, and all his company,
This is what you, Korah, and everyone with you are going to do. Take some incense burners,
7 and put in them fire, and put on them perfume, before Jehovah to-morrow, and it hath been, the man whom Jehovah chooseth, he [is] the holy one; — enough of 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 saith unto Korah, 'Hear ye, I pray you, sons of Levi;
Moses also told Korah, “Listen, you Levites!
9 is it little to you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the company of Israel to bring you near unto Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of Jehovah, and to stand before the company to serve 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 yea, He doth bring thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee — and ye have sought also the priesthood!
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 Therefore, thou and all thy company who are met [are] against Jehovah; and Aaron, what [is] he, that ye 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 sendeth to call for Dathan and for Abiram sons of Eliab, and they say, 'We do not come up;
Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We're not going to appear before you!
13 is it little that thou hast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to put us to death in a wilderness that thou also certainly makest thyself prince 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 Yea, unto a land flowing with milk and honey thou hast not brought us in, nor dost thou give to us an inheritance of field and vineyard; the eyes of these men dost thou pick out? we do not come 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 it is very displeasing to Moses, and he saith unto Jehovah, 'Turn not Thou unto their present; not one ass from them have I taken, nor have I afflicted 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 saith unto Korah, 'Thou and all thy company, be ye before Jehovah, thou, and they, and Aaron, 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 ye each his censer, and ye have put on them perfume, and brought near before Jehovah, each his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; and thou and Aaron, 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 they take each his censer, and put on them fire, and lay on them perfume, and they stand at the opening of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron.
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 Korah assembleth against them all the company unto the opening of the tent of meeting, and the honour of Jehovah is seen by all the company.
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 Jehovah speaketh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
21 'Be ye separated from the midst of this company, and I consume them in a moment;'
“Step away from these Israelites and I will destroy them right away.”
22 and they fall on their faces, and say, 'God, God of the spirits of all flesh — the one man sinneth, and against all the company Thou art wroth!'
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 Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
Then the Lord told Moses,
24 'Speak unto the company, saying, Go ye up from round about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'
“Tell the people to move away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25 And Moses riseth, and goeth unto Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel go after him,
So Moses went over to Dathan and Abiram, and the Israelite elders of Israel followed him.
26 and he speaketh unto the company, saying, 'Turn aside, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and come not against anything that they have, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.'
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 go up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, from round about, and Dathan, and Abiram have come out, standing at the opening of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their infants.
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 saith, 'By this ye do know that Jehovah hath sent me to do all these works, that [they are] not from my own heart;
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 according to the death of all men these die — or the charge of all men is charged upon them — Jehovah hath 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 and if a strange thing Jehovah do, and the ground hath opened her mouth and swallowed them, and all that they have, and they have gone down alive to Sheol — then ye have known that these men have despised Jehovah.' (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 it cometh to pass at his finishing speaking all these words, that the ground which [is] under them cleaveth,
Immediately Moses finished saying all this the ground under the rebels split apart,
32 and the earth openeth her mouth, and swalloweth them, and their houses, and all the men who [are] for Korah, and all the goods,
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 go down, they, and all that they have, alive to Sheol, and the earth closeth over them, and they perish from the midst of the assembly; (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 who [are] round about them have fled at their voice, for they said, 'Lest the earth swallow us;'
When they heard their cries, all the Israelites nearby ran away, shouting, “Watch out! The earth could swallow us too!”
35 and fire hath come out from Jehovah, and consumeth the two hundred and fifty men bringing near the perfume.
Fire burst out from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
36 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
Then the Lord said to Moses,
37 'Say unto Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, and he lifteth up the censers from the midst of the burning, and the fire scatter thou yonder, for they have been hallowed,
“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 [even] the censers of these sinners against their own souls; and they have made them spread-out plates, a covering for the altar, for they have brought them near before Jehovah, and they are hallowed; and they are become a sign to the sons 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 priest taketh the brazen censers which they who are burnt had brought near, and they spread them out, a covering for 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 sons of Israel, so that a stranger who is not of the seed of Aaron doth not draw near to make a perfume before Jehovah, and is not as Korah, and as his company, — as Jehovah hath spoken by the hand of Moses to him.
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 all the company of the sons of Israel murmur, on the morrow, against Moses and against Aaron, saying, 'Ye — ye have put to death the people of Jehovah.'
The next day all the Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord's people!”
42 And it cometh to pass, in the company being assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they turn towards the tent of meeting, and lo, the cloud hath covered it, and the honour of Jehovah is seen;
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 cometh — Aaron also — unto the front of the tent of meeting.
Moses and Aaron went and stood at the front of the Tent of Meeting,
44 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
and the Lord said to Moses,
45 'Get you up from the midst of this company, and I consume them in a moment;' and they fall on 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 saith unto Aaron, 'Take the censer, and put on it fire from off the altar, and place perfume, and go, hasten unto the company, and make atonement for them, for the wrath hath gone out from the presence of Jehovah — the plague hath begun.'
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 taketh as Moses hath spoken, and runneth unto the midst of the assembly, and lo, the plague hath begun among the people; and he giveth the perfume, and maketh 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 standeth between the dead and the living, and the plague is restrained;
He stood between those who had died and those who were still alive, and the plague was stopped.
49 and those who die by the plague are fourteen thousand and seven hundred, apart from those who die for the matter of Korah;
However, 14,700 died from the plague in addition to those who'd died because of Korah.
50 and Aaron turneth back unto Moses, unto the opening of the tent of meeting, and the plague hath been restrained.
Then Aaron went back to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting because the plague had been stopped.
