Numbers 16 - Prayer Tents

Korah, Dathan and Abiram

16Korah 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 insolentH7141H1121H3324H1121H6955H1121H3878H1885H48H1121H446H203H1121H6431H1121H7205H39472and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.H6965H6440H4872H582H1121H3478H3967H2572H5387H5712H7148H4150H582H80343They 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?"H6950H4872H175H559H7227H5712H6918H3068H8432H5375H6951H30684When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.H4872H8085H5307H64405Then 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.H1696H7141H5712H559H1242H3068H3045H6918H7126H977H71266You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censersH6213H3947H4289H7141H57127and tomorrow put fire 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!"H5414H784H2004H7760H7004H6440H3068H4279H376H3068H977H6918H7227H1121H38788Moses also said to Korah, "Now listen, you Levites!H4872H559H7141H8085H1121H38789Isn'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?H4592H430H3478H914H5712H3478H7126H5647H5656H4908H3068H5975H6440H5712H833410He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too.H7126H251H1121H3878H1245H355011It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?"H3651H5712H3259H3068H175H3885H388512Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, "We will not come!H4872H7971H7121H1885H48H1121H446H559H592713Isn't it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us?H4592H3588H5927H776H2100H2461H1706H4191H4057H8323H8323H832314Moreover, you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!"H637H935H776H2100H2461H1706H5414H5159H7704H3754H5365H5869H582H592715Then 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."H4872H3966H2734H559H3068H6437H4503H5375H259H2543H7489H25916Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron.H4872H559H7141H5712H6440H3068H175H427917Each 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."H3947H376H4289H5414H7004H7126H6440H3068H376H4289H3967H2572H4289H175H376H428918So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.H3947H376H4289H5414H784H7760H7004H5975H6607H168H4150H4872H17519When 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.H7141H6950H5712H6607H168H4150H3519H3068H7200H571220The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,H3068H1696H4872H175H55921"Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once."H914H8432H5712H3615H728122But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, "O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?"H5307H6440H559H410H430H7307H1320H259H376H2398H7107H571223Then the LORD said to Moses,H3068H1696H4872H55924"Say to the assembly, 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.'"H1696H5712H559H5927H5439H4908H7141H1885H4825Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.H4872H6965H3212H1885H48H2205H3478H3212H31026He 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."H1696H5712H559H5493H168H7563H582H5060H5595H240327So 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.H5927H4908H7141H1885H48H5439H1885H48H3318H5324H6607H168H802H1121H294528Then 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:H4872H559H3045H3068H7971H6213H4639H382029If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me.H4191H4194H120H6485H6486H120H3068H797130But 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 grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt."H3068H1254H1278H127H6475H6310H1104H3381H2416H7585H3045H582H5006H306831As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apartH3615H1696H1697H127H123432and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions.H776H6605H6310H1104H1004H120H7141H739933They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.H3381H2416H7585H776H3680H6H8432H695134At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!"H3478H5439H5127H6963H559H776H110435And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.H3318H784H3068H398H3967H2572H376H7126H700436The LORD said to Moses,H3068H1696H4872H55937"Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take the censers out of the smoldering remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy—H559H499H1121H175H3548H7311H4289H996H8316H2219H784H1973H694238the 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."H4289H2400H5315H6213H7555H6341H6826H4196H7126H6440H3068H6942H226H1121H347839So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar,H499H3548H3947H5178H4289H8313H7126H7554H6826H419640as 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.H2146H1121H3478H834H4616H376H2114H2233H175H7126H6999H7004H6440H3068H7141H5712H3068H1696H3027H487241The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. "You have killed the LORD'S people," they said.H4283H5712H1121H3478H3885H4872H175H559H4191H5971H306842But 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.H5712H6950H4872H175H6437H168H4150H6051H3680H3519H3068H720043Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting,H4872H175H935H6440H168H415044and the LORD said to Moses,H3068H1696H4872H55945"Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." And they fell facedown.H7426H8432H5712H3615H7281H5307H644046Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has started."H4872H559H175H3947H4289H5414H784H6440H4196H7760H7004H3212H4120H5712H3722H7110H3318H3068H5063H249047So 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.H175H3947H4872H1696H7323H8432H6951H5063H2490H5971H5414H7004H3722H597148He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.H5975H4191H2416H4046H611349But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah.H4191H4046H702H6240H505H7651H3967H4191H1697H714150Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, for the plague had stopped.H175H7725H4872H6607H168H4150H4046H6113