New American Standard Bible 1995

New Living Translation

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 action,

1One day Korah son of Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the tribe of Reuben.

2and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown.

2They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly.

3They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"

3They united against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far! The whole community of Israel has been set apart by the LORD, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than the rest of the LORD’s people?”

4When Moses heard this, he fell on his face;

4When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell face down on the ground.

5and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, "Tomorrow morning the LORD will show who is His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself.

5Then he said to Korah and his followers, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will show us who belongs to him and who is holy. The LORD will allow only those whom he selects to enter his own presence.

6"Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company,

6Korah, you and all your followers must prepare your incense burners.

7and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of the LORD tomorrow; and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!"

7Light fires in them tomorrow, and burn incense before the LORD. Then we will see whom the LORD chooses as his holy one. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!”

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

8Then Moses spoke again to Korah: “Now listen, you Levites!

9is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of 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;

9Does it seem insignificant to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the community of Israel to be near him so you can serve in the LORD’s Tabernacle and stand before the people to minister to them?

10and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking for the priesthood also?

10Korah, he has already given this special ministry to you and your fellow Levites. Are you now demanding the priesthood as well?

11"Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD; but as for Aaron, who is he that you grumble against him?"

11The LORD is the one you and your followers are really revolting against! For who is Aaron that you are complaining about him?”

12Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, "We will not come up.

12Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We refuse to come before you!

13"Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us?

13Isn’t it enough that you brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us here in this wilderness, and that you now treat us like your subjects?

14"Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!"

14What’s more, you haven’t brought us into another land flowing with milk and honey. You haven’t given us a new homeland with fields and vineyards. Are you trying to fool these men? We will not come.”

15Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not regard their offering! I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them."

15Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not accept their grain offerings! I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single one of them.”

16Moses said to Korah, "You and all your company be present before the LORD tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron.

16And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers must come here tomorrow and present yourselves before the LORD. Aaron will also be here.

17"Each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan."

17You and each of your 250 followers must prepare an incense burner and put incense on it, so you can all present them before the LORD. Aaron will also bring his incense burner.”

18So they each took his own censer and put fire on it, and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron.

18So each of these men prepared an incense burner, lit the fire, and placed incense on it. Then they all stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron.

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

19Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up the entire community against Moses and Aaron, and they all gathered at the Tabernacle entrance. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to the whole community,

20Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

20and the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

21"Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly."

21“Get away from all these people so that I may instantly destroy them!”

22But they fell on their faces and said, "O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?"

22But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. “O God,” they pleaded, “you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Must you be angry with all the people when only one man sins?”

23Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

23And the LORD said to Moses,

24"Speak to the congregation, saying, 'Get back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.'"

24“Then tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

25Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him,

25So Moses got up and rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed by the elders of Israel.

26and he spoke to the congregation, saying, "Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, or you will be swept away in all their sin."

26“Quick!” he told the people. “Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don’t touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins.”

27So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and their sons and their little ones.

27So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, together with their wives and children and little ones.

28Moses said, "By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing.

28And Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things that I have done—for I have not done them on my own.

29"If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.

29If these men die a natural death, or if nothing unusual happens, then the LORD has not sent me.

30"But if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the LORD."

30But if the LORD does something entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have shown contempt for the LORD.”

31As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open;

31He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them.

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

32The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the men, along with their households and all their followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned.

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

33So they went down alive into the grave, along with all their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished from among the people of Israel.

34All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, "The earth may swallow us up!"

34All the people around them fled when they heard their screams. “The earth will swallow us, too!” they cried.

35Fire also came forth from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.

35Then fire blazed forth from the LORD and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.

36Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

36 And the LORD said to Moses,

37"Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad.

37“Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pull all the incense burners from the fire, for they are holy. Also tell him to scatter the burning coals.

38"As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the LORD and they are holy; and they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel."

38Take the incense burners of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and hammer the metal into a thin sheet to overlay the altar. Since these burners were used in the LORD’s presence, they have become holy. Let them serve as a warning to the people of Israel.”

39So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar,

39So Eleazar the priest collected the 250 bronze incense burners that had been used by the men who died in the fire, and the bronze was hammered into a thin sheet to overlay the altar.

40as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman who is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the LORD; so that he will not become like Korah and his company-- just as the LORD had spoken to him through Moses.

40This would warn the Israelites that no unauthorized person—no one who was not a descendant of Aaron—should ever enter the LORD’s presence to burn incense. If anyone did, the same thing would happen to him as happened to Korah and his followers. So the LORD’s instructions to Moses were carried out.

41But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You are the ones who have caused the death of the LORD'S people."

41But the very next morning the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”

42It 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 the glory of the LORD appeared.

42As the community gathered to protest against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of the LORD appeared.

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

43Moses and Aaron came and stood in front of the Tabernacle,

44and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

44and the LORD said to Moses,

45"Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly." Then they fell on their faces.

45“Get away from all these people so that I can instantly destroy them!” But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground.

46Moses 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 make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun!"

46And Moses said to Aaron, “Quick, take an incense burner and place burning coals on it from the altar. Lay incense on it, and carry it out among the people to purify them and make them right with the LORD. The LORD’s anger is blazing against them—the plague has already begun.”

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

47Aaron did as Moses told him and ran out among the people. The plague had already begun to strike down the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified the people.

48He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.

48He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped.

49But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who died on account of Korah.

49But 14,700 people died in that plague, in addition to those who had died in the affair involving Korah.

50Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.

50Then because the plague had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.