| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: | 1Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites--Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth--became insolent |
| 2And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: | 2and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. |
| 3And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD? | 3They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly?" |
| 4And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: | 4When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. |
| 5And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. | 5Then he said to Korah and all his followers: "In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. |
| 6This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; | 6You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers |
| 7And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. | 7and tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them before the LORD. The man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!" |
| 8And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: | 8Moses also said to Korah, "Now listen, you Levites! |
| 9Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from 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 unto them? | 9Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? |
| 10And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also? | 10He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. |
| 11For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him? | 11It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?" |
| 12And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: | 12Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, "We will not come! |
| 13Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? | 13Isn't it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you also want to lord it over us! |
| 14Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up. | 14Moreover, you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No, we will not come!" |
| 15And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them. | 15Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them." |
| 16And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow: | 16Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow--you and they and Aaron. |
| 17And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer. | 17Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it--250 censers in all--and present it before the LORD. You and Aaron are to present your censers also." |
| 18And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron. | 18So each of them took his censer, put burning coals and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting. |
| 19And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation. | 19When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire assembly. |
| 20And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, | 20The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, |
| 21Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. | 21"Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." |
| 22And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? | 22But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, "O God, the God who gives breath to all living things, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?" |
| 23And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, | 23Then the LORD said to Moses, |
| 24Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. | 24"Say to the assembly, 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.'" |
| 25And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. | 25Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. |
| 26And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. | 26He warned the assembly, "Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins." |
| 27So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. | 27So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents. |
| 28And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. | 28Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: |
| 29If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. | 29If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me. |
| 30But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. | 30But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt." |
| 31And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: | 31As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart |
| 32And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. | 32and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. |
| 33They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. | 33They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. |
| 34And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. | 34At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!" |
| 35And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. | 35And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense. |
| 36And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, | 36The LORD said to Moses, |
| 37Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. | 37"Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the censers from the charred remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy-- |
| 38The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. | 38the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the LORD and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites." |
| 39And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: | 39So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, |
| 40To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses. | 40as the LORD directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the LORD, or he would become like Korah and his followers. |
| 41But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD. | 41The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. "You have killed the LORD's people," they said. |
| 42And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. | 42But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the tent of meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. |
| 43And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. | 43Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting, |
| 44And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, | 44and the LORD said to Moses, |
| 45Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. | 45"Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." And they fell facedown. |
| 46And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. | 46Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has started." |
| 47And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. | 47So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. |
| 48And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. | 48He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. |
| 49Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. | 49But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. |
| 50And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed. | 50Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped. |
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