Numbers 16

¹Now 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,

²And 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.

³They 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?

⁴And Moses, hearing this, went down on his face;

⁵And 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.

⁶So do this: let Korah and all his band take vessels for burning perfumes;

⁷And 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.

⁸And Moses said to Korah, Give ear now, you sons of Levi:

⁹Does 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;

¹⁰Letting you, and all your brothers the sons of Levi, come near to him? and would you now be priests?

¹¹So you and all your band have come together against the Lord; and Aaron, who is he, that you are crying out against him?

¹²Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: and they said, We will not come up:

¹³Is 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?

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵Then 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.

¹⁶And Moses said to Korah, You and all your band are to come before the Lord tomorrow, you and they and Aaron:

¹⁷And 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.

¹⁸So 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.

¹⁹And 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.

²⁰And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

²¹Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them.

²²Then 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?

²³And the Lord said to Moses,

²⁴Say to the people, Come away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram.

²⁵So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the responsible men of Israel went with him.

²⁶And 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.

²⁷So 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.

²⁸And 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.

²⁹If 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.

³⁰But 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.

³¹And while these words were on his lips, the earth under them was parted in two;

³²And the earth, opening her mouth, took them in, with their families, and all the men who were joined to Korah, and their goods.

³³So 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.

³⁴And 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.

³⁵Then fire came out from the Lord, burning up the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the perfume.

³⁶And the Lord said to Moses,

³⁷Say 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;

³⁸And 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.

³⁹So 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:

⁴⁰To 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.

⁴¹But 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.

⁴²Now 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.

⁴³Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of meeting.

⁴⁴And the Lord said to Moses,

⁴⁵Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them. And they went down on their faces.

⁴⁶And 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.

⁴⁷And 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.

⁴⁸And he took his place between the dead and the living: and the disease was stopped.

⁴⁹Now 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.

⁵⁰Then Aaron went back to Moses to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the disease came to a stop.

Numbers 16

¹Now 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 Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:

²and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown;

³and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, "You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and the Lord is among them: why then lift yourselves up above the assembly of the Lord?"

⁴When Moses heard it, he fell on his face:

⁵and he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, "In the morning the Lord will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he shall choose he will cause to come near to him.

⁶Do this: take censers, Korah, and all his company;

⁷and put fire in them, and put incense on them before the Lord tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses, he shall be holy. You have gone too far, you sons of Levi!"

⁸Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi!

⁹Is it a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;

¹⁰and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? and do you seek the priesthood also?

¹¹Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord: and Aaron, what is he that you murmur against him?"

¹²Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, "We won't come up:

¹³is 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, but you must also make yourself a prince over us?

¹⁴Moreover you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: will you put out the eyes of these men? We won't come up."

¹⁵Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, "Do not respect their offering: I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them."

¹⁶Moses said to Korah, "You and all your company go before the Lord, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow:

¹⁷and each man take his censer, and put incense on them, and each man bring before the Lord his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer."

¹⁸They each took his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood at the door of the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron.

¹⁹Korah assembled all the congregation against them to the door of the Tent of Meeting: and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

²¹"Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!"

²²They fell on their faces, and said, "God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?"

²³The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁴"Speak to the congregation, saying, 'Get away from around the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram!'"

²⁵Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

²⁶He spoke to the congregation, saying, "Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins!"

²⁷So they went away from the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.

²⁸Moses said, "Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own mind.

²⁹If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord hasn't sent me.

³⁰But if the Lord make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain to them, and they go down alive into Sheol; then you shall understand that these men have despised the Lord."

³¹It happened, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground split apart that was under them;

³²and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who appertained to Korah, and all their goods.

³³So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into Sheol: and the earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly.

³⁴All Israel that were around them fled at their cry; for they said, "Lest the earth swallow us up!"

³⁵Fire came forth from the Lord, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.

³⁶The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

³⁷"Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire yonder; for they are holy,

³⁸even the censers of these sinners against their own lives; and let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the Lord; therefore they are holy; and they shall be a sign to the children of Israel."

³⁹Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burnt had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar,

⁴⁰to be a memorial to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger, who isn't of the seed of Aaron, comes near to burn incense before the Lord; that he not be as Korah, and as his company: as the Lord spoke to him by Moses.

⁴¹But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, "You have killed the Lord's people!"

⁴²It happened, when the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the Tent of Meeting: and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

⁴³Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting.

⁴⁴The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴⁵"Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!" They fell on their faces.

⁴⁶Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer, and put fire from off the altar in it, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the Lord! The plague has begun."

⁴⁷Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague has begun among the people: and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.

⁴⁸He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.

⁴⁹Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those who died about the matter of Korah.

⁵⁰Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the Tent of Meeting: and the plague was stayed.