Korah, Dathan, and Abiram Rebel
1 Now Korah son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, the descendants of Reuben,
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took two hundred and fifty men from the {Israelites}, leaders of the community summoned from the assembly, {renowned men}, and {they confronted} Moses.
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They were assembled in front of Moses and Aaron, and they said to them, "{You take too much upon yourselves}! All of the community is holy, every one of them, and Yahweh [is] in their midst, so why do you raise yourselves over the assembly of Yahweh?"
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When Moses heard [this], he fell on his face.
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And he said to Korah and to his entire company, saying, "[Tomorrow] morning Yahweh will make known who [is] his and [who] is holy, and he will bring him near to him, whomever he chooses he will bring near to him.
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Do this: take for yourselves censers, Korah and all of your company;
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tomorrow put fire in them and place incense on them {before} Yahweh; the man whom Yahweh chooses [will be] the holy [one]. You take too much upon yourselves, sons of Levi!"
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And Moses said to Korah, "Please listen, sons of Levi!
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[Is it] too little for you that the God of Israel set you apart from the community of Israel {to allow you to approach him} to do the work of the tabernacle of Yahweh, to stand {before} the community to serve them?
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{He has allowed you to approach him}, you with all your brothers, the descendants of Levi, but yet you also seek the priesthood.
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Therefore you and your company that has banded together against Yahweh. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?"
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Moses sent to call [for] Dathan and Abiram son of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come!
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Is it too little that you have brought us from a land that flows with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, and that you also appoint yourself as a ruler over us?
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Surely, you have not brought us to a land that flows with milk and honey, and you have not given us the inheritance of fields and a vineyard. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come!"
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Then Moses became angry, and he said to Yahweh, "Do not notice their grain offering. I have not offered one donkey from them, and I have not mistreated one of them."
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And Moses said to Korah, "You and your entire company will be {before} Yahweh tomorrow, you and they and Aaron.
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Each one take his censer, and put incense on it and you will present it {before} Yahweh, and each of you bring his censer, two hundred and fifty censers, you and Aaron, each his censer."
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So each of them took his censer, and they put fire on them, and they placed incense on them; they stood [at the] doorway of the tent of the assembly of Moses and Aaron.
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And Korah summoned them, the entire community, by the doorway of the tent of assembly, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the community.
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And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
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"Separate yourselves from the midst of this community, that I can destroy them in a moment."
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And they fell on their faces, and they said, "God, God of the spirits of all flesh, will one man sin and you become angry toward the entire community?"
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Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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"Speak to the community, saying, 'Move away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'"
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So Moses stood up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed after him.
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He said to the community, saying, "Please turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything {that belongs to them}, or you will be destroyed with all their sins."
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And so they moved away from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out standing [at] the doorway of their tents, with their wives, sons, and little children.
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And Moses said, "In this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; [it is] not from my heart.
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{If they die a natural death} or {if a natural fate is visited upon them}, Yahweh has not sent me.
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But if Yahweh creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up and {all that belongs to them}, and they go down alive [to] Sheol, and you will know that these men have despised Yahweh."
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And it happened, as soon as he finished {speaking} all these words, the ground that [was] under them split open.
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The land opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their houses and every person {that belonged to Korah} and all the property.
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They went down alive [to] Sheol, they and all that belonged to them, and the land covered over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
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All Israel who [were] around them fled at their cry, because they said, "Lest the land swallow us up!"
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And fire went out from Yahweh, and it consumed the two hundred and fifty men presenting the incense.
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And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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"Say to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, '{Take out} the censers from among the place of burning because they are sacred, and scatter the fire outside.
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The censers of these {who have sinned} at the cost of their lives, let them be made into gilded leafing plating for the altar; because they presented them {before Yahweh}, they are holy; and they will be a sign for the {Israelites}.'"
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Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that the ones who were burned presented, and they hammered them out thinly [as] plating for the altar;
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[it was] a memorial for the {Israelites}, so that {no strange man} who is not from {the offspring} of Aaron should approach the presence [of] Yahweh to burn a smoke offering; he will not be like Korah and his company, just as Yahweh had spoken to him by the hand of Moses.