| New International Version | New Living Translation |
| 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 | 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 rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. | 2They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly. |
| 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?" | 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 facedown. | 4When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell face down on the ground. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 6You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers | 6Korah, you and all your followers must prepare your incense burners. |
| 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!" | 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!” |
| 8Moses also said to Korah, "Now listen, you Levites! | 8Then Moses spoke again to Korah: “Now listen, you Levites! |
| 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? | 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? |
| 10He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. | 10Korah, he has already given this special ministry to you and your fellow Levites. Are you now demanding the priesthood as well? |
| 11It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should 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 summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, "We will not come! | 12Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We refuse to come before you! |
| 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! | 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? |
| 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!" | 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 accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged 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 followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow--you and they and 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. |
| 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." | 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 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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, |
| 20The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, | 20and the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, |
| 21"Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." | 21“Get away from all these people so that I may instantly destroy them!” |
| 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?" | 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 said to Moses, | 23And the LORD said to Moses, |
| 24"Say to the assembly, 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.'" | 24“Then tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” |
| 25Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. | 25So Moses got up and rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed by the elders of Israel. |
| 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." | 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 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. | 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. |
| 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: | 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. |
| 29If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, 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. |
| 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." | 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 soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart | 31He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them. |
| 32and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 34At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!" | 34All the people around them fled when they heard their screams. “The earth will swallow us, too!” they cried. |
| 35And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense. | 35Then fire blazed forth from the LORD and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense. |
| 36The LORD said to Moses, | 36 And the LORD said to Moses, |
| 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-- | 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. |
| 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." | 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 collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death, and he had them hammered out to overlay 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 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. | 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. |
| 41The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. "You have killed the LORD's people," they said. | 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!” |
| 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. | 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 went to the front of the tent of meeting, | 43Moses and Aaron came and stood in front of the Tabernacle, |
| 44and the LORD said to Moses, | 44and the LORD said to Moses, |
| 45"Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." And they fell facedown. | 45“Get away from all these people so that I can instantly destroy them!” But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. |
| 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." | 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.” |
| 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. | 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 stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. | 48He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped. |
| 49But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because 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 entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped. | 50Then because the plague had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | 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. |
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