1 Now 1Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with 2Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took action,
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and they rose up beforeMoses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fiftyleaders of the congregation, 3chosen in the assembly, men of renown.
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They assembled together 4againstMoses and Aaron, and said to them, "5You have gone farenough, for all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and 6the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"
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and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, "Tomorrowmorning the LORD will showwho is His, and 8who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even 9the one whom He will choose, He will bringnear to Himself.
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"Dothis: takecensers for yourselves, Korah and all your company,
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and putfire in them, and layincense upon them in the presence of the LORDtomorrow; and the manwhom the LORDchooses shall be the onewho is holy. 10You have gone farenough, you sons of Levi!"
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Then Mosessaid to Korah, "Hearnow, you sons of Levi,
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11is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, 12to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to standbefore the congregation to minister to them;
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and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you 13seeking for the priesthoodalso?
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"Therefore you and all your company are gathered together 14against the LORD; but as for Aaron, who is he that 15you grumbleagainst him?"
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Then Mosessent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, "We will not come up.
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"Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a 16landflowing with milk and honey17to have us die in the wilderness, but you would alsolord it over us?
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"Indeed, you have not brought us 18into a landflowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of 19fields and vineyards. Would you 20put out the eyes of thesemen? We will not come up!"
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Then Mosesbecameveryangry and said to the LORD, "21Do not regard their offering! 22I have not taken a singledonkey from them, nor have I doneharm to any of them."
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Mosessaid to Korah, "You and all your company be presentbefore the LORDtomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron.
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"Each of you take his firepan and putincense on it, and each of you bring his censerbefore the LORD, two hundred and fiftyfirepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan."
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So they eachtook his own censer and putfire on it, and laidincense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron.
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Thus Korahassembledall the congregationagainst them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And 23the glory of the LORDappeared to all the congregation.
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"Speak to the congregation, saying, '28Getback from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.' "
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Then Mosesarose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israelfollowing* him,
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and he spoke to the congregation, saying, "29Departnow from the tents of thesewickedmen, and touchnothing* that belongs to them, 30or you will be sweptaway in all their sin."
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So they gotback from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiramcame out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and 31their sons and their littleones.
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Mosessaid, "By this you shall know that 32the LORD has sent me to doallthesedeeds; for this is not my doing*.
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"Ifthesemendie the death of allmen or if they suffer the 33fate of allmen, then the LORD has not sent me.
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"But 34if the LORDbringsabout an entirelynewthing and the groundopens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they 35descendalive into Sheol, then you will understand that thesemen have spurned the LORD."
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As he finishedspeakingallthesewords, the ground that was under them splitopen;
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and 36the earthopened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and 37all the menwho belonged to Korah with their possessions.
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So they and all that belonged to them wentdownalive to Sheol; and the earthclosedover them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
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AllIsraelwho were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, "The earth may swallow us up!"
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38Fire also cameforth from the LORD and consumed the 39two hundred and fiftymen who were offering the incense.
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"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 burningcoalsabroad.
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"As for the censers of thesemen*who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammeredsheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the LORD and they are holy; and 40they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel."
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So Eleazar the priesttook the bronzecenserswhich the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar,
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as a reminder to the sons of Israel that 41nolaymanwho is not of the descendants of Aaron should comenear42to burnincensebefore the LORD; so that he will not become like Korah and his company-just as the LORD had spoken to him throughMoses.
Murmuring and Plague
41 But on the nextdayall the congregation of the sons of Israel43grumbledagainstMoses and Aaron, saying, "You are the ones who have caused the death of the LORD'Speople."
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It came about, however, when the congregation had assembledagainstMoses and Aaron, that they turnedtoward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloudcovered it and 44the glory of the LORDappeared.
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Then Moses and Aaroncame to the front of the tent of meeting,
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"45Getaway from amongthiscongregation, that I may consume them instantly." Then they fell on their faces.
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Mosessaid to Aaron, "Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and layincense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and 46makeatonement for them, for 47wrath has goneforth from the LORD, the plague has begun!"
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Then Aarontook it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. 48So he put on the incense and madeatonement for the people.
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He took his standbetween the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.
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49But those who died by the plague were 14,700****, besides* those who 50died on account* of Korah.
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Then Aaronreturned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.