Números 16

¹ Nowe Korah the sonne of Izhar, the sonne of Kohath, the sonne of Leui went apart with Dathan, and Abiram the sonnes of Eliab, & On the sonne of Peleth, the sonnes of Reuben:

² And they rose vp against Moses, with certaine of the children of Israel, two hundreth and fiftie captaines of the assemblie, famous in the Congregation, and men of renoume,

³ And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them,Or let it suffice you: meaning, to have abused them this long.[Ye take] too much upon you, seeing all the congregation [are] holy,All are equally holy: therefore no one should be preferred above other: thus the wicked reason against God's ordinance.every one of them, and the LORD [is] among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

⁴ But when Moses heard it, hee fell vpon his face,

⁵ And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who [are] his, and [who is] holy; and will cause [him] to come near unto him: even [him] whom he hathTo be the priest and to offer.chosen will he cause to come near unto him.

⁶ This doe therefore, Take you censers, both Korah, and all his companie,

⁷ And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be [that] the man whom the LORD doth choose, he [shall be] holy:He lays the same to their charge justly, with which they wrongfully charged him.[ye take] too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.

⁸ Againe Moses saide vnto Korah, Heare, I pray you, ye sonnes of Leui.

⁹ Seemeth it a smal thing vnto you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the multitude of Israel, to take you neere to himselfe, to doe the seruice of the Tabernacle of the Lord, & to stand before the Congregation and to minister vnto them?

¹⁰ And he hath brought thee near [toTo serve in the congregation, as in the verse before.him], and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?

¹¹ For which cause, thou, and all thy companie are gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron, that ye murmure against him?

¹² And Moses sent to call Dathan, & Abiram the sonnes of Eliab: who answered, We will not come vp.

¹³ [Is it] a small thing that thou hast brought us upThus they spoke contemptuously, preferring Egypt to Canaan.out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?

¹⁴ Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thouWill you make those who searched the land believe that they did not see that which they saw?put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.

¹⁵ Then Moses waxed verie angry, and saide vnto the Lord, Looke not vnto their offring: I haue not taken so much as an asse from them, neither haue I hurt any of them.

¹⁶ And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy companyAt the door of the tabernacle.before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:

¹⁷ And take euery man his censor, and put incense in them, and bring ye euery man his censor before the Lord, two hundreth and fiftie censors: thou also and Aaron, euery one his censor.

¹⁸ So they tooke euery man his censor, and put fire in them, and laide incense thereon, and stoode in the doore of the Tabernacle of the Congregation with Moses and Aaron.

¹⁹ And Korah gathered all theAll that were of their faction.congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.

²⁰ And the Lorde spake vnto Moses and to Aaron, saying,

²¹ Separate your selues from among this Cogregation, that I may consume them at once.

²² And they fell vpon their faces and saide, O God the God of the spirits, of all fleshe, hath not one man onely sinned, and wilt thou bee wroth with all the Congregation?

²³ And the Lorde spake vnto Moses, saying,

²⁴ Speake vnto the Congregation & say, Get you away from about the Tabernacle of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.

²⁵ Then Moses rose vp, and went vnto Dathan and Abiram, and the Elders of Israel followed him.

²⁶ And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumedWith them that have committed so many sins.in all their sins.

²⁷ So they gate them away from the Tabernacle of Korah, Dathan and Abiram on euerie side: and Dathan, and Abiram came out & stood in the doore of their tentes with their wiues, and their sonnes, and their little children.

²⁸ And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for [I have] not [done them] of mine ownI have not invented them from my own brain.mind.

²⁹ If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men, the Lord hath not sent me.

³⁰ But if the LORD makeOr, show a strange sight.a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that [appertain] unto them, and they go down quick intoOr, deep and dark places of the earth.the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.

³¹ And assoone as he had made an ende of speaking all these wordes, euen the ground claue asunder that was vnder them,

³² And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them vp, with their families, and all the men that were with Korah, and all their goods.

³³ So they and all that they had, went down aliue into the pit, and the earth couered them: so they perished from among the Congregation.

³⁴ And all Israel that were about them, fled at the crie of them: for they said, Let vs flee, least the earth swalow vs vp.

³⁵ But there came out a fire from the Lorde, and consumed the two hundreth and fiftie men that offred the incense.

³⁶ And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

³⁷ Speake vnto Eleazar, the sonne of Aaron the Priest, that he take vp the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire beyond the altar: for they are halowed,

³⁸ The censers of these sinnersWho caused their own death.against their own souls, let them make them broad plates [for] a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be aOf God's judgments against rebels.sign unto the children of Israel.

³⁹ Then Eleazar the Priest tooke the brasen censers, which they, that were burnt, had offred, and made broade plates of them for a couering of the Altar.

⁴⁰ [To be] a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which [is] not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not asWho presumed above his calling.Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.

⁴¹ But on the morowe all the multitude of the children of Israel murmured against Moses & against Aaron, saying, Ye haue killed the people of the Lord.

⁴² And when the Congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, then they turned their faces toward the Tabernacle of the Congregation: and beholde, the cloude couered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron were come before the Tabernacle of the Congregation.

⁴⁴ And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

⁴⁵ Get you vp from among this Congregation: for I wil consume them quickly: then they fell vpon their faces.

⁴⁶ And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off theFor it was not lawful to take any other fire, but of the altar of burnt offering, (Lev_10:1).altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.

⁴⁷ And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, theGod had begun to punish the people.plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.

⁴⁸ And he stood between the dead and the living; and theGod drew back his hand and stopped punishing them.plague was stayed.

⁴⁹ So they died of this plague fourtene thousande and seuen hundreth, beside them that dyed in the conspiracie of Korah.

⁵⁰ And Aaro went againe vnto Moses before the doore of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the plague was stayed.