| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. | 1Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, took men |
| 2And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. | 2and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders of the community, chosen from the assembly, famous men. |
| 3They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in 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?” | 3And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, "You take too much upon yourselves, seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the LORD?" |
| 4When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, | 4When Moses heard it he fell down with his face to the ground. |
| 5and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him. | 5Then he said to Korah and to all his company, "In the morning the LORD will make known who are his, and who is holy. He will cause that person to approach him; the person he has chosen he will cause to approach him. |
| 6Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company; | 6Do this, Korah, you and all your company: Take censers, |
| 7put fire in them and put incense on 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!” | 7put fire in them, and set incense on them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!" |
| 8And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: | 8Moses said to Korah, "Listen now, you sons of Levi! |
| 9is 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, | 9Does it seem too small a thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel to bring you near to himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the community to minister to them? |
| 10and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? | 10He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek the priesthood also? |
| 11Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?” | 11Therefore you and all your company have assembled together against the LORD! And Aaron--what is he that you murmur against him?" |
| 12And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up. | 12Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, "We will not 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, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? | 13Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince over us? |
| 14Moreover, 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.” | 14Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind these men? We will not come up." |
| 15And Moses was very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.” | 15Moses was very angry, and he said to the LORD, "Have no respect for their offering! I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them!" |
| 16And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. | 16Then Moses said to Korah, "You and all your company present yourselves before the LORD--you and they, and Aaron--tomorrow. |
| 17And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.” | 17And each of you take his censer, put incense in it, and then each of you present his censer before the LORD: 250 censers, along with you, and Aaron--each of you with his censer." |
| 18So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. | 18So everyone took his censer, put fire in it, and set incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. |
| 19Then 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. | 19When Korah assembled the whole community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, then the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole community. |
| 20And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, | 20The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron: |
| 21“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” | 21"Separate yourselves from among this community, that I may consume them in an instant." |
| 22And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” | 22Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all people, will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?" |
| 23And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, | 23So the LORD spoke to Moses: |
| 24“Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” | 24"Tell the community: 'Get away from around the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'" |
| 25Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. | 25Then Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him. |
| 26And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.” | 26And he said to the community, "Move away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because of all their sins." |
| 27So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. | 27So they got away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stationed themselves in the entrances of their tents with their wives, their children, and their toddlers. |
| 28And 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. | 28Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. |
| 29If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me. | 29If these men die a natural death, or if they share the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. |
| 30But 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.” | 30But if the LORD does something entirely new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up along with all that they have, and they go down alive to the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the LORD!" |
| 31And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. | 31When he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open, |
| 32And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. | 32and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah's men, and all their goods. |
| 33So 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. | 33They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community. |
| 34And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” | 34All the Israelites who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, "What if the earth swallows us too?" |
| 35And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men offering the incense. | 35Then a fire went out from the LORD and devoured the 250 men who offered incense. |
| 36Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, | 36The LORD spoke to Moses: |
| 37“Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide, for they have become holy. | 37"Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pick up the censers out of the flame, for they are holy, and then scatter the coals of fire at a distance. |
| 38As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they offered them before the LORD, and they became holy. Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel.” | 38As for the censers of these men who sinned at the cost of their lives, they must be made into hammered sheets for covering the altar, because they presented them before the LORD and sanctified them. They will become a sign to the Israelites." |
| 39So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar, | 39So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers presented by those who had been burned up, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar. |
| 40to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the LORD said to him through Moses. | 40It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to burn incense before the LORD, that he might not become like Korah and his company--just as the LORD had spoken by the authority of Moses. |
| 41But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.” | 41But on the next day the whole community of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the LORD's people!" |
| 42And 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. | 42When the community assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting--and the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. |
| 43And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, | 43Then Moses and Aaron stood before the tent of meeting. |
| 44and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, | 44The LORD spoke to Moses: |
| 45“Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. | 45"Get away from this community, so that I can consume them in an instant!" But they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. |
| 46And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it 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 out from the LORD; the plague has begun.” | 46Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take the censer, put burning coals from the altar in it, place incense on it, and go quickly into the assembly and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD--the plague has begun!" |
| 47So 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. | 47So Aaron did as Moses commanded and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people. |
| 48And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. | 48He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. |
| 49Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the affair of Korah. | 49Now 14,700 people died in the plague, in addition to those who died in the event with Korah. |
| 50And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped. | 50Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped. |
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