The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Pallu, the son of Reuben, made themselves ready,
1
Korah son of Izhar, from the Levite clan of Kohath, rebelled against the leadership of Moses. He was joined by three members of the tribe of Reuben - Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth - and by 250 other Israelites, well-known leaders chosen by the community.
2 And came before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty chiefs of the people, men of good name who had a place in the meeting of the people.
3 They came together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take overmuch on yourselves, seeing that all the people are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them; why then have you put yourselves in authority over the people of the Lord?
3
They assembled before Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! All the members of the community belong to the Lord, and the Lord is with all of us. Why, then, Moses, do you set yourself above the Lord's community?"
4 And Moses, hearing this, went down on his face;
4
When Moses heard this, he threw himself on the ground and prayed.
5 And he said to Korah and his band, In the morning the Lord will make clear who are his, and who is holy, and who may come near him: the man of his selection will be caused to come near him.
5
Then he said to Korah and his followers, "Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to him; he will let the one who belongs to him, that is, the one he has chosen, approach him at the altar.
6 So do this: let Korah and all his band take vessels for burning perfumes;
6
Tomorrow morning you and your followers take fire pans, put live coals and incense on them, and take them to the altar. Then we will see which of us the Lord has chosen. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!"
7 And put spices on the fire in them before the Lord tomorrow; then the man marked out by the Lord will be holy: you take overmuch on yourselves, you sons of Levi.
8 And Moses said to Korah, Give ear now, you sons of Levi:
8
Moses continued to speak to Korah. "Listen, you Levites!
9 Does it seem only a small thing to you that the God of Israel has made you separate from the rest of Israel, letting you come near himself to do the work of the House of the Lord, and to take your place before the people to do what has to be done for them;
9
Do you consider it a small matter that the God of Israel has set you apart from the rest of the community, so that you can approach him, perform your service in the Lord's Tent, and minister to the community and serve them?
10 Letting you, and all your brothers the sons of Levi, come near to him? and would you now be priests?
10
He has let you and all the other Levites have this honor - and now you are trying to get the priesthood too!
11 So you and all your band have come together against the Lord; and Aaron, who is he, that you are crying out against him?
11
When you complain against Aaron, it is really against the Lord that you and your followers are rebelling."
12 Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: and they said, We will not come up:
12
Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, but they said, "We will not come!
13 Is it not enough that you have taken us from a land flowing with milk and honey, to put us to death in the waste land, but now you are desiring to make yourself a chief over us?
13
Isn't it enough that you have brought us out of the fertile land of Egypt to kill us here in the wilderness? Do you also have to lord it over us?
14 And more than this, you have not taken us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us a heritage of fields and vine-gardens: will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.
14
You certainly have not brought us into a fertile land or given us fields and vineyards as our possession, and now you are trying to deceive us. We will not come!"
15 Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, Give no attention to their offering: not one of their asses have I taken, or done wrong to any of them.
15
Moses became angry and said to the Lord, "Do not accept any offerings these men bring. I have not wronged any of them; I have not even taken one of their donkeys."
16 And Moses said to Korah, You and all your band are to come before the Lord tomorrow, you and they and Aaron:
16
Moses said to Korah, "Tomorrow you and your 250 followers must come to the Tent of the Lord's presence; Aaron will also be there.
17 And let every man take a vessel for burning perfumes, and put sweet spices in them; let every man take his vessel before the Lord, two hundred and fifty vessels; you and Aaron and everyone with his vessel.
17
Each of you will take his fire pan, put incense on it, and then present it at the altar."
18 So every man took his vessel and they put fire in them, with spices, and came to the door of the Tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
18
So they each took their fire pans, put live coals and incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tent with Moses and Aaron.
19 And Korah made all the people come together against them to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the glory of the Lord was seen by all the people.
19
Then Korah gathered the whole community, and they stood facing Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent. Suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to the whole community,
20 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
20
and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
21 Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them.
21
"Move back from these people, and I will destroy them immediately."
22 Then falling down on their faces they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, because of one man's sin will your wrath be moved against all the people?
22
But Moses and Aaron bowed down with their faces to the ground and said, "O God, you are the source of all life. When one of us sins, do you become angry with the whole community?"
23 And the Lord said to Moses,
23
The Lord said to Moses,
24 Say to the people, Come away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram.
24
"Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."
25 So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the responsible men of Israel went with him.
25
Then Moses, accompanied by the leaders of Israel, went to Dathan and Abiram.
26 And he said to the people, Come away now from the tents of these evil men, without touching anything of theirs, or you may be taken in the punishment of their sins.
26
He said to the people, "Get away from the tents of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. Otherwise, you will be wiped out with them for all their sins."
27 So on every side they went away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram: and Dathan and Abiram came out to the door of their tents, with their wives and their sons and their little ones.
27
So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and children.
28 And Moses said, Now you will see that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and I have not done them of myself.
28
Moses said to the people, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it is not by my own choice that I have done them.
29 If these men have the common death of men, or if the natural fate of all men overtakes them, then the Lord has not sent me.
29
If these men die a natural death without some punishment from God, then the Lord did not send me.
30 But if the Lord does something new, opening the earth to take them in, with everything which is theirs, and they go down living into the underworld, then it will be clear to you that the Lord has not been honoured by these men.
30
But if the Lord does something unheard of, and the earth opens up and swallows them with all they own, so that they go down alive to the world of the dead, you will know that these men have rejected the Lord."
31 And while these words were on his lips, the earth under them was parted in two;
31
As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground under Dathan and Abiram split open
32 And the earth, opening her mouth, took them in, with their families, and all the men who were joined to Korah, and their goods.
32
and swallowed them and their families, together with all of Korah's followers and their possessions.
33 So they and all theirs went down living into the underworld, and the earth was shut over them, and they were cut off from among the meeting of the people.
33
So they went down alive to the world of the dead, with their possessions. The earth closed over them, and they vanished.
34 And all Israel round about them went in flight at their cry, For fear, said they, that we go down into the heart of the earth.
34
All the people of Israel who were there fled when they heard their cry. They shouted, "Run! The earth might swallow us too!"
35 Then fire came out from the Lord, burning up the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the perfume.
35
Then the Lord sent a fire that blazed out and burned up the 250 men who had presented the incense.
36 And the Lord said to Moses,
36
Then the Lord said to Moses,
37 Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he is to take out of the flames the vessels with the perfumes in them, turning the fire out of them, for they are holy;
37
"Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the bronze fire pans from the remains of those who have been burned, and scatter the coals from the fire pans somewhere else, because the fire pans are holy.
38 And let the vessels of those men, who with their lives have made payment for their sin, be hammered out into plates as a cover for the altar; for they have been offered before the Lord and are holy; so that they may be a sign to the children of Israel.
38
They became holy when they were presented at the Lord's altar. So take the fire pans of these who were put to death for their sin, beat them into thin plates, and make a covering for the altar. It will be a warning to the people of Israel."
39 So Eleazar the priest took the brass vessels which had been offered by those who were burned up, and they were hammered out to make a cover for the altar:
39
So Eleazar the priest took the fire pans and had them beaten into thin plates to make a covering for the altar.
40 To be a sign, kept in memory for ever by the children of Israel, that no man who is not of the seed of Aaron has the right of burning spices before the Lord, so that he may not be like Korah and his band: as the Lord said to him by the mouth of Moses.
40
This was a warning to the Israelites that no one who was not a descendant of Aaron should come to the altar to burn incense for the Lord. Otherwise he would be destroyed like Korah and his men. All this was done as the Lord had commanded Eleazar through Moses.
41 But on the day after, all the children of Israel made an outcry against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have put to death the Lord's people.
41
The next day the whole community complained against Moses and Aaron and said, "You have killed some of the Lord's people."
42 Now when the people had come together against Moses and Aaron, looking in the direction of the Tent of meeting, they saw the cloud covering it, and the glory of the Lord came before their eyes.
42
After they had all gathered to protest to Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tent and saw that the cloud was covering it and that the dazzling light of the Lord's presence had appeared.
43 Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of meeting.
43
Moses and Aaron went and stood in front of the Tent,
44 And the Lord said to Moses,
44
and the Lord said to Moses,
45 Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them. And they went down on their faces.
45
"Move back from these people, and I will destroy them on the spot!" The two of them bowed down with their faces to the ground,
46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take your vessel and put in it fire from the altar, and sweet spices, and take it quickly into the meeting of the people, and make them free from sin: for wrath has gone out from the Lord, and the disease is starting.
46
and Moses said to Aaron, "Take your fire pan, put live coals from the altar in it, and put some incense on the coals. Then hurry with it to the people and perform the ritual of purification for them. Hurry! The Lord's anger has already broken out and an epidemic has already begun."
47 And at the words of Moses, Aaron took his vessel, and went running among the people; and even then the disease had made a start among them; and he put spices in his vessel to take away the sin of the people.
47
Aaron obeyed, took his fire pan and ran into the middle of the assembled people. When he saw that the plague had already begun, he put the incense on the coals and performed the ritual of purification for the people.
48 And he took his place between the dead and the living: and the disease was stopped.
48
This stopped the plague, and he was left standing between the living and the dead.
49 Now fourteen thousand, seven hundred deaths were caused by that disease, in addition to those who came to their end because of what Korah had done.
49
The number of people who died was 14,700, not counting those who died in Korah's rebellion.
50 Then Aaron went back to Moses to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the disease came to a stop.
50
When the plague had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.