Numbers 16
1 Then took Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, —and Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth sons of Reuben;
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Pallu, the son of Reuben, made themselves ready,
2 and rose up before Moses, with certain men of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty, —princes of assembly, called to the stated meeting, men of renown;
And came before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty chiefs of the people, men of good name who had a place in the meeting of the people.
3 and gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said unto them Too much for you, when, all the assembly, are, all of them, holy, and in the midst of them, is Yahweh, —Wherefore, then, should ye set yourselves up, above the convocation of Yahweh?
They came together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take overmuch on yourselves, seeing that all the people are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them; why then have you put yourselves in authority over the people of the Lord?
4 And, when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face.
And Moses, hearing this, went down on his face;
5 Then spake he unto Korah, and unto all his assembly, saying, In the morning, will Yahweh make known who are his, and who is the holy one and will cause him to come near unto himself, —yea him whom he shall choose, will he cause to come near unto himself.
And he said to Korah and his band, In the morning the Lord will make clear who are his, and who is holy, and who may come near him: the man of his selection will be caused to come near him.
6 This do, —Take to you censers, Korah and all his assembly;
So do this: let Korah and all his band take vessels for burning perfumes;
7 and place therein fire, and put thereon incense before Yahweh, to-morrow, So shall it be—that, the man whom Yahweh shall choose, he shall be the holy one. Too much for you ye sons of Levi!
And put spices on the fire in them before the Lord tomorrow; then the man marked out by the Lord will be holy: you take overmuch on yourselves, you sons of Levi.
8 And Moses said unto Korah, —Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi!
And Moses said to Korah, Give ear now, you sons of Levi:
9 Is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the assembly of Israel, to bring you near unto himself, —to do the laborious work of the habitation of Yahweh, and to stand before the assembly, to wait upon them?
Does it seem only a small thing to you that the God of Israel has made you separate from the rest of Israel, letting you come near himself to do the work of the House of the Lord, and to take your place before the people to do what has to be done for them;
10 But having brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee, must ye seek priesthood also?
Letting you, and all your brothers the sons of Levi, come near to him? and would you now be priests?
11 Wherefore thou and all thine assembly, are conspiring against Yahweh, —But Aaron, what is he, that ye should murmur against him?
So you and all your band have come together against the Lord; and Aaron, who is he, that you are crying out against him?
12 Then sent Moses, to call for Dathan and for Abiram sons of Eliab, —and they said We will not come up:
Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: and they said, We will not come up:
13 Was it, a small thing, that thou didst bring us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to put us to death in the desert but thou must, continue even to lord it, over us?
Is it not enough that you have taken us from a land flowing with milk and honey, to put us to death in the waste land, but now you are desiring to make yourself a chief over us?
14 Certainly not into a land flowing with milk and honey, hast thou brought us, nor given unto us an inheritance of field and vineyard, —The eyes of those men, wilt thou dig out? We will not come up.
And more than this, you have not taken us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us a heritage of fields and vine-gardens: will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.
15 Then was Moses very angry, and he said unto Yahweh, Do not thou have respect unto their meal-offering. Not one ass, from them, have I taken, neither have I wronged one of them.
Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, Give no attention to their offering: not one of their asses have I taken, or done wrong to any of them.
16 And Moses said unto Korah, Thou, and all thine assembly, come ye before Yahweh, —thou, and they, and Aaron to-morrow.
And Moses said to Korah, You and all your band are to come before the Lord tomorrow, you and they and Aaron:
17 And take ye each man his censer and put thereon incense, then shall ye bring near before Yahweh, each man his censer, two hundred and fifty Censers, —and, thou and Aaron, each man his censer.
And let every man take a vessel for burning perfumes, and put sweet spices in them; let every man take his vessel before the Lord, two hundred and fifty vessels; you and Aaron and everyone with his vessel.
18 So they took each man his censer and put thereon fire, and placed thereon incense, —and took their stand at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
So every man took his vessel and they put fire in them, with spices, and came to the door of the Tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
19 And Korah gathered together against them all the assembly, unto the entrance of the tent of meeting, —then appeared the glory of Yahweh, unto all the assembly.
And Korah made all the people come together against them to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the glory of the Lord was seen by all the people.
20 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
21 Separate yourselves out of the midst of this assembly, —that I may consume them in a moment.
Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them.
22 And they fell upon their faces and said, O GOD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, —shall, one man, sin, and against all the assembly, wilt thou be wroth.
Then falling down on their faces they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, because of one man's sin will your wrath be moved against all the people?
23 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying,
And the Lord said to Moses,
24 Speak unto the assembly, saying, —Get ye up from round about the habitation of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
Say to the people, Come away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram.
25 So Moses rose up, and went, unto Dathan and Abiram, —then went, after him the elders of Israel.
So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the responsible men of Israel went with him.
26 And he spake unto the assembly, saying—Remove I pray you from beside the tents of these lawless men, and do not touch aught that pertaineth unto them, —lest ye be carried off, in all their sins.
And he said to the people, Come away now from the tents of these evil men, without touching anything of theirs, or you may be taken in the punishment of their sins.
27 So they went up from beside the habitation of Korah, Dathan and Abiram on every side, —and, Dathan and Abiram, came out and stationed themselves at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and their sons and their little ones.
So on every side they went away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram: and Dathan and Abiram came out to the door of their tents, with their wives and their sons and their little ones.
28 Then said Moses, Hereby, shall ye know, that, Yahweh hath sent me, to do all these works, —verily, not out of my own heart:
And Moses said, Now you will see that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and I have not done them of myself.
29 If, as all human beings die, these do die, and the visitation of all human beings, be visited upon them, Yahweh, hath not sent me.
If these men have the common death of men, or if the natural fate of all men overtakes them, then the Lord has not sent me.
30 But, if, a creation, Yahweh create, and the ground open wide her mouth and swallow them up, with all that pertain unto them, and so they go down alive unto hades, then shall ye know, that these men have despised Yahweh. (Sheol h7585)
But if the Lord does something new, opening the earth to take them in, with everything which is theirs, and they go down living into the underworld, then it will be clear to you that the Lord has not been honoured by these men. (Sheol h7585)
31 And it came to pass as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground which was under them, clave asunder;
And while these words were on his lips, the earth under them was parted in two;
32 and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up them, and their households, —and all the human beings who pertained unto Korah, with all their goods:
And the earth, opening her mouth, took them in, with their families, and all the men who were joined to Korah, and their goods.
33 so, they, and all that pertained unto them, went down, alive unto hades, —and the earth, closed upon them, and they perished out of the midst of the convocation. (Sheol h7585)
So they and all theirs went down living into the underworld, and the earth was shut over them, and they were cut off from among the meeting of the people. (Sheol h7585)
34 And, all Israel who were round about them, fled at their cry, —for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up.
And all Israel round about them went in flight at their cry, For fear, said they, that we go down into the heart of the earth.
35 Fire also came forth, from Yahweh, —and consumed the two hundred and fifty men, who offered the incense.
Then fire came out from the Lord, burning up the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the perfume.
36 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:
And the Lord said to Moses,
37 Say unto Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the midst of the burning, and the fire, scatter thou yonder, —for they have been hallowed.
Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he is to take out of the flames the vessels with the perfumes in them, turning the fire out of them, for they are holy;
38 As for the censers of these sinners against their own persons, they shall be made into beaten-out plates as an overlay for the altar, for they had brought them near before Yahweh and hallowed them, —so shall they become a sign unto the sons of Israel.
And let the vessels of those men, who with their lives have made payment for their sin, be hammered out into plates as a cover for the altar; for they have been offered before the Lord and are holy; so that they may be a sign to the children of Israel.
39 And Eleazar the priest took the censers of bronze, which the consumed men had brought near, —and beat them out into plates for overlaying the altar:
So Eleazar the priest took the brass vessels which had been offered by those who were burned up, and they were hammered out to make a cover for the altar:
40 a memorial unto the sons of Israel, That no stranger, who is not of the seed of Aaron, shall draw near to offer incense before Yahweh, —lest he become like Korah and like his assembly, As spake Yahweh by the hand of Moses with regard thereto.
To be a sign, kept in memory for ever by the children of Israel, that no man who is not of the seed of Aaron has the right of burning spices before the Lord, so that he may not be like Korah and his band: as the Lord said to him by the mouth of Moses.
41 And all the assembly of the sons of Israel murmured, on the morrow, against Moses and against, Aaron, saying, —Ye, have caused the death of the people of Yahweh.
But on the day after, all the children of Israel made an outcry against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have put to death the Lord's people.
42 And it came to pass, when the assembly gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, that they turned towards the tent of meeting, and lo! the cloud had covered it: and the glory of Yahweh, appeared.
Now when the people had come together against Moses and Aaron, looking in the direction of the Tent of meeting, they saw the cloud covering it, and the glory of the Lord came before their eyes.
43 And Moses and Aaron came in, before the tent of meeting.
Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of meeting.
44 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:
And the Lord said to Moses,
45 Lift yourselves up out of the midst of this assembly, that I may consume them, as in a moment, —And they fell upon their faces.
Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them. And they went down on their faces.
46 Then said Moses unto Aaron—Take the censer and place thereon fire, from off the altar, and put incense [thereon], and, going quickly into the assembly, put a propitiatory-covering over them, —for wrath hath gone forth from before Yahweh the plague, hath begun.
And Moses said to Aaron, Take your vessel and put in it fire from the altar, and sweet spices, and take it quickly into the meeting of the people, and make them free from sin: for wrath has gone out from the Lord, and the disease is starting.
47 Then took Aaron, as Moses spake, and ran into the midst of the convocation, and lo! the plague had begun among the people, —so he placed the incense, and put a propitiatory-covering over the people:
And at the words of Moses, Aaron took his vessel, and went running among the people; and even then the disease had made a start among them; and he put spices in his vessel to take away the sin of the people.
48 thus did he take his stand between the dead and the living, —and the plague was restrained.
And he took his place between the dead and the living: and the disease was stopped.
49 And so it was that they who died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, —besides them who died over the matter of Korah.
Now fourteen thousand, seven hundred deaths were caused by that disease, in addition to those who came to their end because of what Korah had done.
50 And Aaron returned unto Moses, unto the entrance of the tent of meeting, —when, the plague, had been restrained.
Then Aaron went back to Moses to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the disease came to a stop.
