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 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.
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;
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.
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 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?”
4 And, when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face.
When Moses heard that, he lay facedown.
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.
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.
6 This do, —Take to you censers, Korah and all his assembly;
Do this, Korah and all your group. Take censers
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!
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.”
8 And Moses said unto Korah, —Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi!
Again, Moses said to Korah, “Now listen, you descendants 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?
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?
10 But having brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee, must ye seek priesthood also?
He has brought you near, and all your kinfolk, the descendants of Levi, with you, yet you are seeking the priesthood also!
11 Wherefore thou and all thine assembly, are conspiring against Yahweh, —But Aaron, what is he, that ye should murmur against him?
That is why you and all your group have gathered together against Yahweh. So why are you complaining about Aaron, who obeys Yahweh?”
12 Then sent Moses, to call for Dathan and for Abiram sons of Eliab, —and they said We will not come up:
Then Moses called for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but 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 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!
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.
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.”
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.
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.”
16 And Moses said unto Korah, Thou, and all thine assembly, come ye before Yahweh, —thou, and they, and Aaron to-morrow.
Then Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow you and all your company must go before Yahweh—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.
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.”
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 censer, put fire in it, laid incense in it, and stood at the entrance to 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.
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.
20 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron:
21 Separate yourselves out of the midst of this assembly, —that I may consume them in a moment.
“Separate yourselves from among this community that I may consume them immediately.”
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.
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?”
23 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying,
Yahweh replied to Moses. He said,
24 Speak unto the assembly, saying, —Get ye up from round about the habitation of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
“Speak to the community. Say, 'Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'”
25 So Moses rose up, and went, unto Dathan and Abiram, —then went, after him the elders of Israel.
Then Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed 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.
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.”
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 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.
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:
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.
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 die a natural death such as normally happens, then Yahweh 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 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)
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;
As soon as Moses finished speaking all these words, the ground opened under those men.
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:
The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their families, and all the people who belonged to Korah, as well as all their possessions.
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 that they possessed went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed over them, and they perished from among the community. (Sheol h7585)
34 And, all Israel who were round about them, fled at their cry, —for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up.
All Israel around them fled from their cries. They exclaimed, “The earth may swallow us up also!”
35 Fire also came forth, from Yahweh, —and consumed the two hundred and fifty men, who offered the incense.
Then fire flashed out from Yahweh and devoured the 250 men who had offered incense.
36 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:
Again Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,
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.
“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.
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.
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.”
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:
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,
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 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.
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 the next morning all the community of the people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. They said, “You have killed Yahweh'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.
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,
43 And Moses and Aaron came in, before the tent of meeting.
and Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting.
44 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
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.
“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.
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.
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.”
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:
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.
48 thus did he take his stand between the dead and the living, —and the plague was restrained.
Aaron stood between the dead and the living; in this way the plague 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.
Those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who had died in the matter of Korah.
50 And Aaron returned unto Moses, unto the entrance of the tent of meeting, —when, the plague, had been restrained.
Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the plague ended.
