Numbers, 16

1. Now Korah son of Izhar, son of Kohath the Levite, and the Reubenites Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth were proud

1. Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abi'ram the sons of Eli'ab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben,

2. and rebelled against Moses with two hundred and fifty Israelites who were leaders of the community, prominent at the solemn feasts, men of repute.

2. took men; and they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men;

3. These banded together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, 'You take too much on yourselves! The whole community, all its members, are consecrated, and Yahweh lives among them. Why set yourselves higher than Yahweh's community?'

3. and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, "You have gone too far! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them; why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"

4. On hearing this, Moses threw himself on his face.

4. When Moses heard it, he fell on his face;

5. Then he said to Korah and all in his party, 'Tomorrow morning Yahweh will reveal who is his, who the consecrated man whom he will allow to approach him. The one he allows to approach is the one whom he has chosen.

5. and he said to Korah and all his company, "In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him; him whom he will choose he will cause to come near to him.

6. This is what you must do: take the censers of Korah and all in his party,

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

7. put fire in them and put incense in them before Yahweh tomorrow, and the one whom Yahweh chooses will be the consecrated man. Levites, you take too much on yourselves!'

7. put fire in them and put incense upon them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!"

8. Moses then said to Korah, 'Now listen, you Levites!

8. And Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi:

9. Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has singled you out of the community of Israel, and called you to be near him, to serve in Yahweh's Dwelling and to represent the community by officiating on its behalf?

9. is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;

10. He has called you to be near him, you and all your brother Levites with you, and now you want to be priests as well!

10. and that he has brought you near him, and all your brethren the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?

11. For which reason, you and all in your party have banded together against Yahweh himself: for what is Aaron, that you should mutter against him?'

11. Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together; what is Aaron that you murmur against him?"

12. Moses then summoned Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab. They replied, 'We will not come.

12. And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abi'ram the sons of Eli'ab; and they said, "We will not come up.

13. Is it not enough for you to have brought us away from a country flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, without your making yourself our absolute ruler?

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, that you must also make yourself a prince over us?

14. What is more, you have not brought us to a country flowing with milk and honey and you have not given us fields and vineyards for our heritage. Do you think you can hoodwink these people? We will not come.'

14. Moreover you have not 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 will not come up."

15. Moses flew into a rage and said to Yahweh, 'Disregard their cereal offering! I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.'

15. And Moses was very angry, and said to the LORD, "Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one ass from them, and I have not harmed one of them."

16. Moses said to Korah, 'You and all your party, come before Yahweh tomorrow, you and they, and Aaron too.

16. And Moses said to Korah, "Be present, you and all your company, before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow;

17. Each will take his censer, put incense in it, and bring his censer before Yahweh -- two hundred and fifty censers. You and Aaron too will each bring his censer.'

17. and let every one of you take his censer, and put incense upon it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer."

18. Each of them took his censer, put fire in it and placed incense on it, and stood at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron.

18. So every man took his censer, and they put fire in them and laid incense upon them, and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.

19. Then, Korah having assembled the whole community to confront them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of Yahweh appeared to the whole community.

19. Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.

20. Yahweh then spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said,

20. And the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron,

21. 'Get away from this community. I am going to destroy them here and now.'

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

22. They threw themselves on their faces and cried out, 'O God, God of the spirits that give life to every living thing, will you be angry with the whole community because one man has sinned?'

22. And they fell on their faces, and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be angry with all the congregation?"

23. Yahweh then said to Moses,

23. And the LORD said to Moses,

24. 'Speak to the community and say, "Stand well clear of Korah's tent." '

24. "Say to the congregation, Get away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abi'ram."

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

25. Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abi'ram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

26. He spoke to the community and said, 'Stand away, I tell you, from the tents of these sinners, and touch nothing that belongs to them, for fear that with all their sins you too will be swept away.'

26. And he said to the congregation, "Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins."

27. So they moved away from Korah's tent. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at their tent doors, with their wives, their sons and their little ones.

27. So they got away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abi'ram; and Dathan and Abi'ram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.

28. Moses said, 'This is how you will know that Yahweh himself has sent me to perform all these tasks and that I am not doing them of my own accord.

28. And Moses said, "Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord.

29. If these people die a natural death such as people commonly die, then Yahweh has not sent me.

29. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they are visited by the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.

30. But if Yahweh does something utterly new, if the earth should open its mouth and swallow them and all their belongings, so that they go down alive to Sheol, then you will know that they held Yahweh in contempt.'

30. But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD."

31. The moment he finished saying all this, the ground split apart under their feet,

31. And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split asunder;

32. the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their families, all Korah's people and all their property.

32. and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men that belonged to Korah and all their goods.

33. They went down alive to Sheol with all their belongings. The earth closed over them and they disappeared in the middle of the community.

33. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.

34. At their cries, all the Israelites round them took to their heels, saying, 'We do not want the earth to swallow us too!'

34. And all Israel that were round about them fled at their cry; for they said, "Lest the earth swallow us up!"

35. Fire then shot out from Yahweh and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering incense.

35. And fire came forth from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense.

36.

36. Then the LORD said to Moses,

37.

37. "Tell Elea'zar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze; then scatter the fire far and wide. For they are holy,

38.

38. the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives; so let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they offered them before the LORD; therefore they are holy. Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel."

39.

39. So Elea'zar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered; and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar,

40.

40. to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no one who is not a priest, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become as Korah and as his company -- as the LORD said to Elea'zar through Moses.

41.

41. But on the morrow all the congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of the LORD."

42.

42. And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting; and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.

43.

43. And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting,

44.

44. and the LORD said to Moses,

45.

45. "Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." And they fell on their faces.

46.

46. And Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun."

47.

47. So Aaron took it as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had already begun among the people; and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.

48.

48. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stopped.

49.

49. Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the affair of Korah.

50.

50. And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped.