Numbers 16
1 Now Korah son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben, gathered some men.
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 They rose up against Moses, along with other men from the people of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the community who were well-known members in the community.
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 They assembled themselves together to confront Moses and Aaron. They said to them, “You have gone too far! All the community is set apart, every one of them, and Yahweh is among them. Why do you lift up yourselves above the rest of Yahweh's community?”
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 When Moses heard that, he lay facedown.
And Moses, hearing this, went down on his face;
5 He spoke to Korah and to all those with him, “In the morning Yahweh will make known who belongs to him and who is set apart to him. He will bring that person near to him. The one he chooses he will bring near to 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 Do this, Korah and all your group. Take censers
So do this: let Korah and all his band take vessels for burning perfumes;
7 tomorrow and put fire and incense in them before Yahweh. The one whom Yahweh chooses, that man will be set apart to Yahweh. You have gone too far, you descendants 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 Again, Moses said to Korah, “Now listen, you descendants of Levi:
And Moses said to Korah, Give ear now, you sons of Levi:
9 is it a small thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do work in Yahweh's tabernacle, and to stand before the community to serve 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 He has brought you near, and all your kinfolk, the descendants of Levi, with you, yet you are seeking the priesthood also!
Letting you, and all your brothers the sons of Levi, come near to him? and would you now be priests?
11 That is why you and all your group have gathered together against Yahweh. So why are you complaining about Aaron, who obeys Yahweh?”
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 Moses called for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but 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 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? Now you want to make yourself ruler 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 In addition, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us the fields and vineyards as an inheritance. Now do you want to blind us with empty promises? We will not come to you.”
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 Moses was very angry and said to Yahweh, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed any 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 Then Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow you and all your company must go before Yahweh—you and they, and Aaron.
And Moses said to Korah, You and all your band are to come before the Lord tomorrow, you and they and Aaron:
17 Each of you must take his censer and put incense in it. Then each man must bring before Yahweh his censer, two hundred and fifty censers. You and Aaron, also, must each bring your 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 every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense in it, and stood at the entrance to 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 Korah assembled all the community against Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and Yahweh's glory appeared to all the community.
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 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron:
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
21 “Separate yourselves from among this community that I may consume them immediately.”
Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them.
22 Moses and Aaron lay facedown and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all humanity, if one man sins, must you be angry with all the community?”
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 Yahweh replied to Moses. He said,
And the Lord said to Moses,
24 “Speak to the community. Say, 'Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'”
Say to the people, Come away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram.
25 Then Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed him.
So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the responsible men of Israel went with him.
26 He spoke to the community and said, “Now leave the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be consumed by 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 the community on every side of the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram left them. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents, with their wives, 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 Moses said, “By this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own accord.
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 these men die a natural death such as normally happens, then Yahweh has 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 Yahweh creates something new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that they possess, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you must understand 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 As soon as Moses finished speaking all these words, the ground opened under those men.
And while these words were on his lips, the earth under them was parted in two;
32 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their families, and all the people who belonged to Korah, as well as all their possessions.
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 they possessed went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed over them, and they perished from among the community. (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 All Israel around them fled from their cries. They exclaimed, “The earth may swallow us up also!”
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 Then fire flashed out from Yahweh and devoured the 250 men who had offered incense.
Then fire came out from the Lord, burning up the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the perfume.
36 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,
And the Lord said to Moses,
37 “Speak to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest and let him take up the censers out of the flames, for the censers are set apart to me. Then let him scatter the burning coals at a distance.
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 Take the censers of those who lost their lives because of their sin. Let them be made into hammered plates as a covering over the altar. Those men did offer them before me, so they are set apart to me. They will be a sign of my presence to the people 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 Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that had been used by the men who were burned up, and they were hammered out into a covering for 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 to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider who was not descended from Aaron should come up to burn incense before Yahweh, so they might not become like Korah and his group—just as Yahweh had commanded through Moses.
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 But the next morning all the community of the people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. They said, “You have killed Yahweh's people.”
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 Then it happened, when the community had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting and, behold, the cloud was covering it. Yahweh's glory 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 to the front of the tent of meeting.
Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of meeting.
44 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
And the Lord said to Moses,
45 “Go away from in front of this community so that I may consume them immediately.” Then Moses and Aaron lay down with their faces to the ground.
Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them. And they went down on their faces.
46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put fire in it from off the altar, put incense in it, carry it quickly to the community, and make atonement for them, because anger is coming from Yahweh. The plague has 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 So Aaron did as Moses directed. He ran into the middle of the community. The plague had quickly started to spread among the people, so he put in the incense and made atonement for 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 Aaron stood between the dead and the living; in this way the plague was stopped.
And he took his place between the dead and the living: and the disease was stopped.
49 Those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who had died in 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 Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the plague ended.
Then Aaron went back to Moses to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the disease came to a stop.
