Korah Rebels Against Moses & Aaron |
Numbers 16:1-50 The Fourth Book of Moses Called Numbers |
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, [who was] the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan & Abiram [Eliab’s] sons, and On, [Peleth’s] son, [of] the sons of Reuben, took 250 princes of the assembly, [who were] famous men of renown, in the congregation, with some of the children [people] of Israel & they rose u before Moses. |
They gathered themselves together against Moses & Aaron & said to them, You take too much upon [yourselves, since] everyone of the congregation [is] holy & the Lord is among them. [Why do] you, then lift yourselves up above the congregation of the Lord? |
When Moses heard it, he fell upon his face & [spoke] to Korah & all his company, saying, Even tomorrow, the Lord will [show] you who are His & who is holy & will cause the one He has chosen to come near to Him. |
Do this; take [your] censers, Korah & all his company & put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow. It shall be that the man whom the Lord [chooses] shall be holy. You take too much upon [yourselves,] you sons of Levi. |
Moses said to Korah, I pray [that] you hear, you sons of Levi. [Does it seem] like a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to [Him] to do the service [for] the tabernacle of the Lord & to stand before the congregation to minister before them? |
[The Lord God] has brought you near to Him, and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you. [Do] you also seek the priesthood also? For [what reason are] both you & all your company gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron, that you should grumble] against him? |
Moses sent & [called] for Dathan & Abiram [Eliab’s] sons, [who] said, We will not come up. Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land that flows with milk & honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except [that] you [totally] make [yourself] prince over us? |
[Also,] you haven’t brought us into a land that flows with milk & honey, or given us [an] inheritance of fields & vineyards. Will you put the eyes out of all these men? We will not come up. Moses was very [angry] & said to the Lord, [Don’t] respect their offering. |
I haven’t taken 1 [donkey] from them, nor have I hurt 1 of them. Moses said to Korah, You & your company & Aaron [will] appear before the Lord tomorrow. Every man [is] to take his censer & put incense in them & bring them before the Lord. Every man with his censer, 250 censers. Also, you & Aaron, each of you [with] his censer. |
Every man took his censer & put fire in them & laid incense [in it] & stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses & Aaron. Korah gathered all [those] of the congregation [who] were against [Moses & Aaron] to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. The glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation. |
The Lord [God spoke] to Moses & Aaron, saying, Separate yourselves from among this congregation, [so] I may [destroy] them in a moment. [Moses & Aaron] fell on their faces & said, O God, the God of the [lives of people,] shall one man sin & will You be [angry] with the [whole] congregation? |
The Lord [spoke] to Moses, saying, Speak to the congregation saying, [Get away from the tents] of Korah, Dathan & Abiram. Moses rose up & went to Dathan & Abiram & the elders followed him. |
[Moses said] to the congregation, I pray [that] you depart from the tents of these wicked men & don’t touch [anything] of theirs, lest you be [destroyed] in all their sins. So, they got up from all [sides] of the [tent] of Korah, Dathan & Abiram. |
Dathan & Abiram, their wives, sons & children came out & stood in the door of their tents. Moses said, [Now] you shall know that the Lord [God] has sent me to do all these [things.] |
For I haven’t done them [on my] own. If these men die the [normal death] of all men, or they [are] visited with [a plague that affects] all men, then the Lord [God hasn’t] sent me. |
But if the Lord [makes some new consequence] & the earth opens [up its] mouth & swallows them up, with all [who] pertain to them go down [alive] into the pit. Then, you shall [know] these men have provoked the Lord [God.] |
It [happened,] as [Moses finished] speaking, the ground [caved in] under them & the earth opened [its] mouth & swallowed them them up & all [who pertained to Korah,] their houses, their [belongings,] went down alive into the pit & the earth closed [up] upon them. |
They perished from among the congregation. At their cry, all the [Israelites] fled & said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. A fire came out from the Lord & consumed the 250 men [who] offered incense. |
The Lord [spoke] to Moses, saying, Speak to Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, [so] he [collects] the censers [from] the burning [fire] & scatter [its remains some distance away,] for they are [holy.] |
Let the censers of these [sinful] men [who lost their lives] be made into broad plates of [brass] for a covering [for] the altar, [since] they offered them before the Lord. Therefore, they are [holy] & they shall be a sign to the children [people] of Israel. |
Eleazar, the priest, [took] the [brass] censers [from] where they had been burnt & offered & they were made into broad plates for a covering [for] the altar. |
As the Lord said to [Aaron] by the hand of Moses: [They are] to be a memorial to the children [people] of Israel, [so] no stranger, [who] isn’t of [Aaron’s descendants should] come near to offer incense before the Lord, [so he doesn’t end up like] Korah & his company. |
But [the next day,] all the congregation of the [people] of Israel [grumbled] against Moses & Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the Lord. |
It [happened] when the congregation gathered against Moses & Aaron, that they looked & a cloud covered the tabernacle of the congregation. And behold, the glory of the Lord appeared & Moses & Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. |
The Lord [spoke] to Moses, saying, Get [yourself] up from among this congregation, [so] that I may [destroy] them [now] & they fell [down] on their faces. Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer & put fire [in it] from off the altar & [put in] incense & go quickly to the congregation & make atonement for them. |
For the [anger] of the Lord has gone out & the plague [has] begun. Aaron [did what] Moses commanded & ran into [the middle] of the congregation & the plague [had started] among the people. And [Aaron] put [in the] incense & made an atonement for the people.f |
[Aaron] stood between the dead & the living & the plague was [stopped.] There were 14,700 [who] died, [besides those who] died about the matter of Korah. Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation & the plague [stopped.] |