Parallel Bible results for "numbers 16"

Numbers 16

New Living Translation NLT

1 One 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.

2 They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly.

3 They 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?”

4 When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell face down on the ground.

5 Then 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.

6 Korah, you and all your followers must prepare your incense burners.

7 Light 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!”

8 Then Moses spoke again to Korah: “Now listen, you Levites!

9 Does 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?

10 Korah, he has already given this special ministry to you and your fellow Levites. Are you now demanding the priesthood as well?

11 The LORD is the one you and your followers are really revolting against! For who is Aaron that you are complaining about him?”

12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We refuse to come before you!

13 Isn’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?

14 What’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.”

15 Then 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.”

16 And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers must come here tomorrow and present yourselves before the LORD . Aaron will also be here.

17 You 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.”

18 So 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.

19 Meanwhile, 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,

20 and the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

21 “Get away from all these people so that I may instantly destroy them!”

22 But 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?”

23 And the LORD said to Moses,

24 “Then tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

25 So Moses got up and rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed by the elders of Israel.

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.”

27 So 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.

28 And 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.

29 If these men die a natural death, or if nothing unusual happens, then the LORD has not sent me.

30 But 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 .”

31 He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them.

32 The 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.

33 So 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.

34 All the people around them fled when they heard their screams. “The earth will swallow us, too!” they cried.

35 Then fire blazed forth from the LORD and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.

36 And the LORD said to Moses,

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.

38 Take 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.”

39 So 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.

40 This 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.

41 But the very next morning the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD ’s people!”

42 As 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.

43 Moses and Aaron came and stood in front of the Tabernacle,

44 and the LORD said to Moses,

45 “Get away from all these people so that I can instantly destroy them!” But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground.

46 And 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.”

47 Aaron 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.

48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped.

49 But 14,700 people died in that plague, in addition to those who had died in the affair involving Korah.

50 Then because the plague had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Getting on his high horse one day, Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, along with a few Reubenites - Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth -

2 rebelled against Moses. He had with him 250 leaders of the congregation of Israel, prominent men with positions in the Council.

3 They came as a group and confronted Moses and Aaron, saying, "You've overstepped yourself. This entire community is holy and God is in their midst. So why do you act like you're running the whole show?"

4 On hearing this, Moses threw himself facedown on the ground.

5 Then he addressed Korah and his gang: "In the morning God will make clear who is on his side, who is holy. God will take his stand with the one he chooses.

6 "Now, Korah, here's what I want you, you and your gang, to do: Tomorrow, take censers.

7 In the presence of God, put fire in them and then incense. Then we'll see who is holy, see whom God chooses. Sons of Levi, you've overstepped yourselves!"

8 Moses continued with Korah, "Listen well now, sons of Levi.

9 Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has selected you out of the congregation of Israel to bring you near him to serve in the ministries of The Dwelling of God, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them?

10 He has brought you and all your brother Levites into his inner circle, and now you're grasping for the priesthood too.

11 It's God you've ganged up against, not us. What do you have against Aaron that you're bad-mouthing him?"

12 Moses then ordered Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, to appear, but they said, "We're not coming.

13 Isn't it enough that you yanked us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you keep trying to boss us around!

14 Face it, you haven't produced: You haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, you haven't given us the promised inheritance of fields and vineyards. You'd have to poke our eyes out to keep us from seeing what's going on. Forget it, we're not coming."

15 Moses' temper blazed white-hot. He said to God, "Don't accept their Grain-Offering. I haven't taken so much as a single donkey from them; I haven't hurt a single hair of their heads."

16 Moses said to Korah, "Bring your people before God tomorrow. Appear there with them and Aaron.

17 Have each man bring his censer filled with incense and present it to God - all 250 censers. And you and Aaron do the same, bring your censers."

18 So they all did it. They brought their censers filled with fire and incense and stood at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron did the same.

19 It was Korah and his gang against Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. The entire community could see the Glory of God.

20 God said to Moses and Aaron,

21 "Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I can finish them off and be done with them."

22 They threw themselves on their faces and said, "O God, God of everything living, when one man sins are you going to take it out on the whole community?"

23 God spoke to Moses:

24 "Speak to the community. Tell them, Back off from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."

25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram. The leaders of Israel followed him.

26 He then spoke to the community: "Back off from the tents of these bad men; don't touch a thing that belongs to them lest you be carried off on the flood of their sins."

27 So they all backed away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram by now had come out and were standing at the entrance to their tents with their wives, children, and babies.

28 Moses continued to address the community: "This is how you'll know that it was God who sent me to do all these things and that it wasn't anything I cooked up on my own.

29 If these men die a natural death like all the rest of us, you'll know that it wasn't God who sent me.

30 But if God does something unprecedented - if the ground opens up and swallows the lot of them and they are pitched alive into Sheol - then you'll know that these men have been insolent with God."

31 The words were hardly out of his mouth when the Earth split open.

32 Earth opened its mouth and in one gulp swallowed them down, the men and their families, all the human beings connected with Korah, along with everything they owned.

33 And that was the end of them, pitched alive into Sheol. The Earth closed up over them and that was the last the community heard of them.

34 At the sound of their cries everyone around ran for dear life, shouting, "We're about to be swallowed up alive!"

35 Then God sent lightning. The fire cremated the 250 men who were offering the incense.

36 God spoke to Moses:

37 "Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, Gather up the censers from the smoldering cinders and scatter the coals a distance away for these censers have become holy.

38 Take the censers of the men who have sinned and are now dead and hammer them into thin sheets for covering the Altar. They have been offered to God and are holy to God. Let them serve as a sign to Israel, evidence of what happened this day."

39 So Eleazar gathered all the bronze censers that belonged to those who had been burned up and had them hammered flat and used to overlay the Altar,

40 just as God had instructed him by Moses. This was to serve as a sign to Israel that only descendants of Aaron were allowed to burn incense before God; anyone else trying it would end up like Korah and his gang.

41 Grumbling broke out the next day in the community of Israel, grumbling against Moses and Aaron: "You have killed God's people!"

42 But it so happened that when the community got together against Moses and Aaron, they looked over at the Tent of Meeting and there was the Cloud - the Glory of God for all to see.

43 Moses and Aaron stood at the front of the Tent of Meeting.

44 God spoke to Moses:

45 "Back away from this congregation so that I can do away with them this very minute." They threw themselves facedown on the ground.

46 Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and fill it with incense, along with fire from the Altar. Get to the congregation as fast as you can: make atonement for them. Anger is pouring out from God - the plague has started!"

47 Aaron grabbed the censer, as directed by Moses, and ran into the midst of the congregation. The plague had already begun. He put burning incense into the censer and atoned for the people.

48 He stood there between the living and the dead and stopped the plague.

49 Fourteen thousand seven hundred people died from the plague, not counting those who died in the affair of Korah.

50 Aaron then went back to join Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The plague was stopped.