Numbers 16 : 1 (NCV)
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On turned against Moses. (Korah was the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi; Dathan and Abiram were brothers, the sons of Eliab; and On was the son of Peleth; Dathan, Abiram, and On were from the tribe of Reuben.)
Numbers 16 : 2 (NCV)
These men gathered two hundred fifty other Israelite men, well-known leaders chosen by the community, and challenged Moses.
Numbers 16 : 3 (NCV)
They came as a group to speak to Moses and Aaron and said, "You have gone too far. All the people are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. So why do you put yourselves above all the people of the Lord?"
Numbers 16 : 4 (NCV)
When Moses heard this, he bowed facedown.
Numbers 16 : 5 (NCV)
Then he said to Korah and all his followers: "Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will bring the one who is holy near to him; he will bring to himself the person he chooses.
Numbers 16 : 6 (NCV)
So Korah, you and all your followers do this: Get some pans for burning incense.
Numbers 16 : 7 (NCV)
Tomorrow put fire and incense in them and take them before the Lord. He will choose the man who is holy. You Levites have gone too far."
Numbers 16 : 8 (NCV)
Moses also said to Korah, "Listen, you Levites.
Numbers 16 : 9 (NCV)
The God of Israel has sep-arated you from the rest of the Israelites. He brought you near to himself to do the work in the Lord's Holy Tent and to stand before all the Israelites and serve them. Isn't that enough?
Numbers 16 : 10 (NCV)
He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near to himself, yet now you want to be priests.
Numbers 16 : 11 (NCV)
You and your followers have joined together against the Lord. Your complaint is not against Aaron."
Numbers 16 : 12 (NCV)
Then Moses called Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come!
Numbers 16 : 13 (NCV)
You have brought us out of a fertile land to this desert to kill us, and now you want to order us around.
Numbers 16 : 14 (NCV)
You haven't brought us into a fertile land; you haven't given us any land with fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? No! We will not come!"
Numbers 16 : 15 (NCV)
Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, "Don't accept their gifts. I have not taken anything from them, not even a donkey, and I have not done wrong to any of them."
Numbers 16 : 16 (NCV)
Then Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers must stand before the Lord tomorrow. And Aaron will stand there with you and them.
Numbers 16 : 17 (NCV)
Each of you must take your pan and put incense in it; present these two hundred fifty pans before the Lord. You and Aaron must also present your pans."
Numbers 16 : 18 (NCV)
So each man got his pan and put burning incense in it and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Meeting Tent.
Numbers 16 : 19 (NCV)
Korah gathered all his followers who were against Moses and Aaron, and they stood at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to everyone.
Numbers 16 : 20 (NCV)
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
Numbers 16 : 21 (NCV)
"Move away from these men so I can destroy them quickly."
Numbers 16 : 22 (NCV)
But Moses and Aaron bowed facedown and cried out, "God, you are the God over the spirits of all people. Please don't be angry with this whole group. Only one man has really sinned."
Numbers 16 : 23 (NCV)
Then the Lord said to Moses,
Numbers 16 : 24 (NCV)
"Tell everyone to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."
Numbers 16 : 25 (NCV)
Moses stood and went to Dathan and Abiram; the older leaders of Israel followed him.
Numbers 16 : 26 (NCV)
Moses warned the people, "Move away from the tents of these evil men! Don't touch anything of theirs, or you will be destroyed because of their sins."
Numbers 16 : 27 (NCV)
So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were standing outside their tents with their wives, children, and little babies.
Numbers 16 : 28 (NCV)
Then Moses said, "Now you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things; it was not my idea.
Numbers 16 : 29 (NCV)
If these men die a normal death -- the way men usually die -- then the Lord did not really send me.
Numbers 16 : 30 (NCV)
But if the Lord does something new, you will know they have insulted the Lord. The ground will open and swallow them. They will be buried alive and will go to the place of the dead, and everything that belongs to them will go with them."
Numbers 16 : 31 (NCV)
When Moses finished saying these things, the ground under the men split open.
Numbers 16 : 32 (NCV)
The earth opened and swallowed them and all their families. All Korah's men and everything they owned went down.
Numbers 16 : 33 (NCV)
They were buried alive, going to the place of the dead, and everything they owned went with them. Then the earth covered them. They died and were gone from the community.
Numbers 16 : 34 (NCV)
The people of Israel around them heard their screams and ran away, saying, "The earth will swallow us, too!"
Numbers 16 : 35 (NCV)
Then a fire came down from the Lord and destroyed the two hundred fifty men who had presented the incense.
Numbers 16 : 36 (NCV)
The Lord said to Moses,
Numbers 16 : 37 (NCV)
"Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take all the incense pans out of the fire. Have him scatter the coals a long distance away. But the incense pans are still holy.
Numbers 16 : 38 (NCV)
Take the pans of these men who sinned and lost their lives, and hammer them into flat sheets that will be used to cover the altar. They are holy, because they were presented to the Lord, and they will be a sign to the Israelites."
Numbers 16 : 39 (NCV)
So Eleazar the priest gathered all the bronze pans that had been brought by the men who were burned up. He had the pans hammered into flat sheets to put on the altar,
Numbers 16 : 40 (NCV)
as the Lord had commanded him through Moses. These sheets were to remind the Israelites that only descendants of Aaron should burn incense before the Lord. Anyone else would die like Korah and his followers.
Numbers 16 : 41 (NCV)
The next day all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron and said, "You have killed the Lord's people."
Numbers 16 : 42 (NCV)
When the people gathered to complain against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Meeting Tent, and the cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord appeared.
Numbers 16 : 43 (NCV)
Then Moses and Aaron went in front of the Meeting Tent.
Numbers 16 : 44 (NCV)
The Lord said to Moses,
Numbers 16 : 45 (NCV)
"Move away from these people so I can destroy them quickly." So Moses and Aaron bowed facedown.
Numbers 16 : 46 (NCV)
Then Moses said to Aaron, "Get your pan, and put fire from the altar and incense in it. Hurry to the people and remove their sin. The Lord is angry with them; the sickness has already started."
Numbers 16 : 47 (NCV)
So Aaron did as Moses said. He ran to the middle of the people, where the sickness had already started among them. So Aaron offered the incense to remove their sin.
Numbers 16 : 48 (NCV)
He stood between the dead and the living, and the sickness stopped there.
Numbers 16 : 49 (NCV)
But 14,700 people died from that sickness, in addition to those who died because of Korah.
Numbers 16 : 50 (NCV)
Then Aaron went back to Moses at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. The terrible sickness had been stopped.
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