| NET Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 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 | 1Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath son of Levi, along with some Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—conducted |
| 2and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders of the community, chosen from the assembly, famous men. | 2a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 men of Israel renowned as leaders of the congregation and representatives in the assembly. |
| 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?" | 3They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” |
| 4When Moses heard it he fell down with his face to the ground. | 4When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. |
| 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. | 5Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will reveal who belongs to Him and who is holy, and He will bring that person near to Himself. The one He chooses, He will bring near to Himself. |
| 6Do this, Korah, you and all your company: Take censers, | 6You, Korah, and all your followers are to do as follows: Take censers, |
| 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!" | 7and tomorrow you are to place fire and incense in them in the presence of the LORD. Then the man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. It is you sons of Levi who have taken too much upon yourselves!” |
| 8Moses said to Korah, "Listen now, you sons of Levi! | 8Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you sons of Levi! |
| 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? | 9Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near to Himself to perform the work at the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? |
| 10He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek the priesthood also? | 10He has brought you near, you and all your fellow Levites, but you are seeking the priesthood as well. |
| 11Therefore you and all your company have assembled together against the LORD! And Aaron--what is he that you murmur against him?" | 11Therefore, it is you and all your followers who have conspired against the LORD! As for Aaron, who is he that you should grumble against him?” |
| 12Then Moses summoned 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 said, “We will not come! |
| 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? | 13Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Must you also appoint yourself as ruler over us? |
| 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." | 14Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!” |
| 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!" | 15Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not regard their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them or mistreated a single one of them.” |
| 16Then Moses said to Korah, "You and all your company present yourselves before the LORD--you and they, and Aaron--tomorrow. | 16And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron. |
| 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." | 17Each man is to take his censer, place incense in it, and present it before the LORD—250 censers. You and Aaron are to present your censers as well.” |
| 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. | 18So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. |
| 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. | 19When Korah had gathered his whole assembly against them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole congregation. |
| 20The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron: | 20And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, |
| 21"Separate yourselves from among this community, that I may consume them in an instant." | 21“Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” |
| 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?" | 22But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?” |
| 23So the LORD spoke to Moses: | 23Then the LORD said to Moses, |
| 24"Tell the community: 'Get away from around the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'" | 24“Tell the congregation to move away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” |
| 25Then Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him. | 25So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. |
| 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." | 26And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” |
| 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. | 27So they moved away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Meanwhile, Dathan and Abiram had come out and stood at the entrances to their tents with their wives and children and infants. |
| 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. | 28Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things, for it was not my own doing: |
| 29If these men die a natural death, or if they share the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. | 29If these men die a natural death, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. |
| 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!" | 30But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.” |
| 31When he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open, | 31As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open, |
| 32and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah's men, and all their goods. | 32and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions. |
| 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. | 33They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly. |
| 34All the Israelites who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, "What if the earth swallows us too?" | 34At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!” |
| 35Then a fire went out from the LORD and devoured the 250 men who offered incense. | 35And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense. |
| 36The LORD spoke to Moses: | 36Then the LORD said to Moses, |
| 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. | 37“Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the censers from the flames and to scatter the coals far away, because the censers are holy. |
| 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." | 38As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.” |
| 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. | 39So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, |
| 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. | 40just as the LORD commanded him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his followers. |
| 41But on the next day the whole community of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the LORD's people!" | 41The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!” |
| 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. | 42But when the congregation gathered against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the Tent of Meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. |
| 43Then Moses and Aaron stood before the tent of meeting. | 43Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting, |
| 44The LORD spoke to Moses: | 44and the LORD said to Moses, |
| 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. | 45“Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown. |
| 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!" | 46Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.” |
| 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. | 47So Aaron took the censer as Moses had ordered and ran into the midst of the assembly. And seeing that the plague had begun among the people, he offered the incense and made atonement for the people. |
| 48He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. | 48He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted. |
| 49Now 14,700 people died in the plague, in addition to those who died in the event with Korah. | 49But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who had died on account of Korah. |
| 50Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped. | 50Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, since the plague had been halted. |
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