Numbers

Tells about the Israelites' 40 years in the desert, including their travels and the census of their tribes.

Chapter 16

1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:

*Now, Korah, a descendant of Izhar, Kohath, and Levi, along with Dathan, Abiram, and On, who were all sons of Eliab and Peleth, and belonged to the tribe of Reuben, gathered some men.

2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:

*Then, many leaders appeared in front of Moses, along with some Israelites. These were 250 important people from the group, well-known in the community, and widely respected.

3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

*They all came together against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You two are taking on too much. Everyone in the group is holy, and God is with us; so why do you think you're better than the rest of us?"

4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:

*And when Moses heard it, he collapsed on the ground.

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 hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.

*And he told Korah and everyone with him, "Tomorrow, the Lord will show who belongs to Him and who is holy. He will bring the person He chose closer to Himself."

6 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;

*Do this; Take your censers, Korah, and everyone with him;

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: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.

*Put fire in the offering and add incense for the Lord tomorrow. The person the Lord chooses will be holy. You, sons of Levi, are taking on too much responsibility.

8 And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:

*And Moses told Korah, Please listen, all you Levi family members:

9 Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?

*Does it seem insignificant to you that the God of Israel has set you apart from the rest of Israel's community to be close to Himself, serving in the tabernacle of the Lord, and standing before the community to help them?

10 And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?

*He has brought you close to Himself, along with your fellow Levites. Are you now seeking the priesthood as well?

11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?

*Why are you and your group gathering against the LORD, and what makes Aaron worth complaining about?

12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:

*Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, Eliab's sons, but they replied, "We won't go."

13 Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up 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?

*Are you saying it's not enough that you led us from a land full of food and sweetness to this desert, but now you also want to be our ultimate ruler?

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 thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.

*Additionally, you didn't bring us to a land filled with milk and honey or give us fields and vineyards as an inheritance; are you going to blind these men? We won't go up.

15 And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.

*Moses was very angry and told God, "Don't accept their gift. I haven't taken any donkeys from them or hurt anyone."

16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:

*Moses told Korah, "You and your group should all be with God tomorrow, along with you, them, and Aaron."

17 And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.

*"And have each person grab their censer, put incense inside, then all of you, including you and Aaron, bring your censers to the LORD - there will be 250 censers in total."

18 And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.

*They each grabbed their container, added fire, put incense inside, and stood at the entrance of the meeting place with Moses and Aaron.

19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.

*Korah brought everyone together against those people at the entrance of the meeting tent. Then, the great presence of God showed itself to the entire group.

20 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

*And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.

*Step away from this group, so I can quickly destroy them.

22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

*They fell on their faces and said, "Oh God, the God of all living beings, will one person's wrongdoing make you angry with the entire group?"

23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

*And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

*Tell the group to move away from the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

*Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the older leaders 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 consumed in all their sins.

*He told the group, "Leave the bad people's tents and don't touch anything of theirs, or you might be caught in all their wrongdoings."

27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.

*So they left the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram all around. Dathan and Abiram stepped outside, along with their wives, children, and little kids.

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 own mind.

*Moses said, "You will understand that God sent me to do these tasks because they are not my own idea."

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

*If these people have a normal death like everyone else, or if something happens to them like it does to everyone else; then God hasn't sent me.

30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.

*But if God does something new and the earth suddenly swallows them whole along with everything related to them, and they quickly go down into a deep hole; then you will know that these people made God angry.

31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:

*Then, after he finished saying all these things, the ground beneath them split apart.

32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

*The ground gulped down everything belonging to Korah, including his homes, possessions, and all the people with him.

33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

*They and everything with them fell into the hole while still living, and the ground covered them up. They were no longer part of the group.

34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.

*And everyone in Israel nearby ran away when they heard them scream. They said, "We might get swallowed by the ground too."

35 And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

*Then, fire from God appeared and burned the 250 men who offered the fragrant sticks.

36 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

*And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

37 Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.

*Tell Eleazar, who is Aaron's son and a priest, to remove the incense burners from the fire and spread the flames over there because they are holy.

38 The censers of these sinners 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 a sign unto the children of Israel.

*The people made wide plates from the censers of sinners to cover the altar. They offered these censers to the Lord, so they are holy. These plates will serve as a symbol for the people of Israel.

39 And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:

*Eleazar the priest used the bronze censors that had been used by those who were burned. He turned them into wide plates to cover 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 as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.

*To remember the children of Israel, no non-Aaron descendant should approach to offer incense to God. This way, it won't be like Korah and his group, as God spoke through Moses.

41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.

*The next day, the whole group of Israel's children complained to Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have caused the death of the Lord's people."

42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.

*When the people gathered against Moses and Aaron, they saw a cloud covering the meeting tent, and the glory of God shone brightly within.

43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.

*Moses and Aaron went to the tent where the people gathered.

44 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

*And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.

*Leave this group so I can quickly destroy them. They all fell face down.

46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the 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.

*Moses told Aaron, "Get a censer, light it with fire from the altar, add incense, and hurry to the people. Ask their forgiveness because God's anger has started, and a plague has begun."

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

*Aaron followed Moses' instructions and went into the crowd. He saw that a sickness was starting among the people. He burned some fragrant material to help forgive the people's mistakes and stop the sickness.

48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.

*He stood between those who were dead and those who were alive, and the disease stopped spreading.

49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.

*Now, 14,070 people died from the plague, plus more who died because of the issue with Korah.

50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.

*Aaron went back to Moses at the entrance of the meeting place. The sickness stopped.

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