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Korah Rises Up Against Moses

¹ Now ^(C1)Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with ^(C2)Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took others,² and they rose up before Moses, ^(F1)together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, ^(F2)(C1)those called upon by the assembly, men of renown.³ Then they assembled together ^(C1)against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "^(F1)(C2)You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and ^(C3)Yahweh is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of Yahweh?"

⁴ And Moses heard this and ^(C1)fell on his face;⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his congregation, saying, "Tomorrow morning Yahweh will show who is His, and ^(C1)who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even ^(C2)the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself.⁶ "Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all ^(F1)your congregation,⁷ and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of Yahweh tomorrow; and the man whom Yahweh chooses shall be the one who is holy. ^(F1)(C1)You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!"

⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi,^9 (C1)is it ^(F1)not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, ^(C2)to bring you near to Himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of Yahweh, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;¹⁰ and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you ^(C1)seeking for the priesthood also?¹¹ "Therefore you and all your congregation are gathered together ^(C1)against Yahweh; but as for Aaron, ^(F1)who is he that ^(C2)you grumble against him?"

¹² Then Moses sent ^(F1)a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, "We will not come up.¹³ "Is it ^(F1)not enough that you have brought us up out of a ^(C1)land flowing with milk and honey ^(C2)to put us to death in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us?¹⁴ "Indeed, you have not brought us ^(C1)into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of ^(C2)fields and vineyards. Would you ^(F1)(C3)put out the eyes of ^(F2)these men? We will not come up!"

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to Yahweh, "^(C1)Do not regard their offering! ^(C2)I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them."¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, "You and all your congregation be present before Yahweh tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron.¹⁷ "And each of you take his firepan and put incense on ^(F1)it, and each of you bring his censer near before Yahweh, 250 firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan."¹⁸ So they each took his own censer and put fire on ^(F1)it, and laid incense on ^(F1)it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron.¹⁹ Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And ^(C1)the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,²¹ "^(C1)Separate yourselves from among this congregation, ^(C2)that I may consume them instantly."²² But they fell on their faces and said, "O God, ^(C1)God of the spirits of all flesh, ^(C2)when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?"

²³ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,²⁴ "Speak to the congregation, saying, '^(C1)Get back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.'"

²⁵ Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him,²⁶ and he spoke to the congregation, saying, "^(C1)Turn aside now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, ^(C2)lest you be swept away in all their sin."²⁷ So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; but Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and ^(C1)their sons and their little ones.²⁸ And Moses said, "By this you shall know that ^(C1)Yahweh has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not from my heart.²⁹ "If these men die ^(F1)the death of all men or ^(F2)if they suffer the ^(C1)fate of all men, then Yahweh has not sent me.³⁰ "But ^(C1)if Yahweh creates an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they ^(C2)go down to Sheol alive, then you will know that these men have spurned Yahweh."

³¹ And it happened that as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open;³² and ^(C1)the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and ^(C2)all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions.³³ So they and all that belonged to them went down to Sheol alive; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.³⁴ Then all Israel who were around them fled at their ^(F1)outcry, for they said, "Lest the earth swallow us up!"^35 (C1)Fire also came forth from Yahweh and consumed the ^(C2)250 men who were bringing near the incense.

^36 (F1)Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,³⁷ "Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the ^(F1)blaze, and you scatter ^(F2)the burning coals abroad; for they are holy.³⁸ "As for the censers of these ^(F1)men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, make them into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they brought them near before Yahweh, and they are holy; and ^(C1)they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel."³⁹ So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had brought near, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar,⁴⁰ as a ^(F1)memorial to the sons of Israel that ^(C1)no ^(F2)outsider who is not of the seed of Aaron should come near ^(C2)to burn incense before Yahweh; so that he will not become like Korah and his congregation—just as Yahweh had spoken to him by the hand of Moses.

Grumbling and Plague

⁴¹ But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel ^(C1)grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You are the ones who have caused the death of the people of Yahweh."⁴² It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and ^(C1)the glory of Yahweh appeared.⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting,⁴⁴ and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,⁴⁵ "^(F1)(C1)Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly." Then they fell on their faces.⁴⁶ And Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and ^(C1)make atonement for them, for ^(C2)wrath has gone forth from Yahweh, the plague has begun!"⁴⁷ Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. ^(C1)So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.⁴⁸ And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.^49 (C1)But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who ^(C2)died on account of Korah.⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.