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Numbers 16-20
New American Standard Bible

Korah’s Rebellion

16 Now (A)Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with (B)Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men, 2 and they stood before Moses, [a]together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation [b](C)chosen in the assembly, men of renown. 3 They assembled together (D)against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “[c](E)You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and (F)the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

4 When Moses heard this, (G)he fell on his face; 5 and he spoke to Korah and all his group, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will make known who is His, and (H)who is holy, and will bring that one near to Himself; indeed, (I)the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. 6 Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and [d]your whole group, 7 and put fire in them, and place incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. [e](J)You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”

8 Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9 (K)Is it too small an honor for you that the God of Israel has singled you out from the congregation of Israel, (L)to bring you near to Himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; 10 and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? But are you (M)seeking the priesthood as well? 11 Therefore you and your whole group are the ones gathered together (N)against the Lord; but as for Aaron, [f]who is he, that (O)you grumble against him?”

12 Then Moses sent [g]a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up. 13 Is it [h]not enough that you have brought us up out of a (P)land flowing with milk and honey (Q)to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also appoint yourself as master over us? 14 Indeed, you have not brought us (R)into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of (S)fields and vineyards. Would you (T)gouge out the eyes of [i]these men? We will not come up!”

15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “(U)Pay no attention to their offering! (V)I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.” 16 Moses said to Korah, “You and all your group be present before the Lord tomorrow, you and they along with Aaron. 17 And each of you take his censer and put incense on [j]it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, 250 censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer.” 18 So they took, each one his own censer, and put fire on [k]it, and placed incense on [l]it; and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. 19 So Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And (W)the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 21 “(X)Separate yourselves from among this congregation, (Y)so that I may consume them instantly.” 22 But they fell on their faces and said, “God, (Z)the God of the spirits of [m]humanity, (AA)when one person sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘(AB)Get away from the areas around the [n]tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

25 Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, 26 and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “(AC)Get away now from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that belongs to them, (AD)or you will be swept away in all their sin!” 27 So they moved away from the areas around the [o]tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, along with their wives, (AE)their sons, and their little ones. 28 Then Moses said, “By this you shall know that (AF)the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for it is not [p]my doing. 29 If these men die [q]the death of all mankind, or [r]if they suffer the (AG)fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But (AH)if the Lord [s]brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with everything that is theirs, and they (AI)descend alive into [t]Sheol, then you will know that these men have been disrespectful to the Lord.”

31 And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; 32 and (AJ)the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, and (AK)all the people who belonged to Korah with all their possessions. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to [u]Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 Then all Israel who were around them fled at their [v]outcry, for they said, “The earth might swallow us!” 35 (AL)Fire also came out from the Lord and consumed the (AM)250 men who were offering the incense.

36 [w]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall pick up the censers from the midst of the burned area, because they are holy; and you are to scatter the [x]burning coals further away. 38 As for the censers of these [y]men who have sinned at the cost of their own lives, have them made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and (AN)they shall [z]serve as a sign to the sons of Israel.” 39 So the priest Eleazar took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as plating for the altar, 40 as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that (AO)no [aa]layman, anyone who was not of the [ab]descendants of Aaron, would approach (AP)to burn incense before the Lord; then he would not become like Korah and his group—just as the Lord had spoken to him [ac]through Moses.

Murmuring and Plague

41 But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel (AQ)grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the Lord’s people!” 42 It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and (AR)the glory of the Lord appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “(AS)Get away from among this congregation so that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put fire in it from the altar, and place incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and (AT)make atonement for them, for (AU)wrath has gone out from the Lord, the plague has begun!” 47 Then Aaron took it just as Moses had spoken, and he ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had begun among the people. (AV)So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to a halt. 49 (AW)But those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who (AX)died on account of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been brought to a halt.

Aaron’s Staff Buds

17 [ad]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and obtain from them a staff for each father’s household: twelve staffs, from all their leaders for their fathers’ households. You shall write each man’s name on his staff, 3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for there is to be one staff for the head of each of their fathers’ households. 4 You shall then leave them in the tent of meeting in front of (AY)the testimony, where I meet with you. 5 And it will come about that the staff of (AZ)the man whom I choose will sprout. So I will relieve Myself of the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.” 6 So Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, for their fathers’ households, twelve staffs in all, with the staff of Aaron among their staffs. 7 Then Moses left the staffs before the Lord in (BA)the tent of the testimony.

8 Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, (BB)Aaron’s staff for the house of Levi had sprouted and produced buds and bloomed with blossoms, and it yielded ripe almonds. 9 Moses then brought out all the staffs from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his staff. 10 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put the staff of Aaron (BC)back in front of the testimony [ae]to be kept as a sign against the [af](BD)rebels, so that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me and they do not die.” 11 Moses did so; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

12 Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “(BE)Behold, we are passing away, we are perishing, we are all perishing! 13 (BF)Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”

Duties of Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your father’s household with you shall (BG)bear the guilt [ag]in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt [ah]in connection with your priesthood. 2 But also bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may (BH)join you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3 And they shall perform duties for you and the duties of the whole tent, but (BI)they shall not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and (BJ)the altar, or both they and you will die. 4 They shall join you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but [ai]an unauthorized person shall not come near you. 5 So you shall perform the (BK)duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, (BL)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. 6 Behold, I Myself (BM)have taken your [aj]fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are (BN)a gift to you, [ak]dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. 7 But you and your sons with you shall (BO)attend to your priesthood for everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as (BP)a [al]service that is a gift, and (BQ)the [am]unauthorized person who comes near shall be put to death.”

The Priests’ Portion

8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have put you in charge of My [an](BR)offerings, all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given to you as a portion and to your sons as a permanent allotment. 9 This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, namely (BS)every grain offering, every (BT)sin offering, and every guilt offering, with which they shall make restitution to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. 10 As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you. 11 This also is yours, (BU)the offering of their gift, that is, all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have (BV)given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 12 (BW)All the [ao]best of the fresh oil and all the [ap]best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the Lord, I have given them to you. 13 (BX)The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 14 (BY)Everything banned from secular use in Israel shall be yours. 15 [aq](BZ)Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether human or animal, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours; however you must redeem the human firstborn, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16 As to [ar]their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your assessment, five [as]shekels in silver by the [at]shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17 But (CA)the firstborn of an ox, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. (CB)You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the Lord. 18 However, their [au]meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the (CC)breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh. 19 (CD)All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a permanent allotment. It is (CE)a permanent covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your [av]descendants with you.” 20 Then the Lord said to Aaron, “(CF)You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; (CG)I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

21 “To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the (CH)tithe in Israel as an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. 22 And (CI)the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bring sin on themselves and die. 23 Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall (CJ)bear their own guilt; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel (CK)they shall have no inheritance. 24 For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘(CL)They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel (CM)the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a (CN)tithe of the tithe. 27 Your offering shall be credited to you like the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat. 28 So you shall also present an offering to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest. 29 Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the Lord, from all the [aw]best of them, [ax]the sacred part from them.’ 30 And you shall say to them, ‘When you have [ay]offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be credited to the Levites like the product of the threshing floor, and like the product of the wine vat. 31 You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting. 32 And you will bring on yourselves no sin by reason of it when you have [az]offered the [ba]best of it. But you shall not (CO)profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, so that you do not die.’”

Ordinance of the Red Heifer

19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an (CP)unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and (CQ)on which a yoke has never [bb]been mounted. 3 And you shall give it to (CR)Eleazar the priest, and it shall (CS)be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence. 4 And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and (CT)sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. 5 Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; (CU)its hide, its flesh, and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned. 6 And the priest shall take (CV)cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet material, and throw it into the midst of the [bc]burning heifer. 7 The priest (CW)shall then wash his clothes and bathe his [bd]body in water, and afterward come into the camp; but the priest will be [be]unclean until evening. 8 The one who burns [bf]the heifer shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his [bg]body in water, and will be unclean until evening. 9 Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them outside the camp in a clean place, and [bh]the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep them for (CX)water to remove impurity; it is [bi]purification from sin. 10 And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer (CY)shall wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening; and it shall be a permanent statute for the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them.

11 ‘(CZ)The one who touches the dead body of any [bj]person will also be unclean for seven days. 12 That one shall (DA)purify himself with [bk]the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. 13 (DB)Anyone who touches a dead body, the [bl]body of a person who has died, and does not purify himself, (DC)defiles the [bm]tabernacle of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from Israel. Since the water for impurity was not (DD)sprinkled on him, he will be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

14 ‘This is the law when a person dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent will be unclean for seven days. 15 And every open container, which has no cover tied down on it, will be unclean. 16 (DE)Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been killed with a sword or one who has died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days. 17 Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the [bn]ashes of the [bo]burnt [bp](DF)purification from sin and [bq]running water shall be [br]added to them in a container. 18 And a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the furnishings, on the persons who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one who was killed or the one who died naturally, or the grave. 19 Then the clean person (DG)shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and will be clean by evening.

20 ‘But the person who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has (DH)defiled the sanctuary of the Lord; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, so he is unclean. 21 So it shall be a permanent statute for them. And the one (DI)who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity will be unclean until evening. 22 (DJ)Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches will be unclean; and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.’”

Death of Miriam

20 Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the (DK)wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.

2 (DL)There was no water for the congregation, (DM)and they assembled against Moses and Aaron. 3 (DN)Then the people argued with Moses and spoke, saying, “(DO)If only we had perished (DP)when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 (DQ)Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our livestock to die [bs]here? 5 Why did you make us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this wretched place? (DR)It is not a place of [bt]grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink!” 6 Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and (DS)fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them; 7 then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

The Waters of Meribah

8 “Take (DT)the staff; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it shall yield its water. So you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and have the congregation and their livestock drink.”

9 So Moses took the staff (DU)from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock. And he said to them, “(DV)Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and (DW)water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “(DX)Since you did not trust in Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, for that reason you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” 13 Those were called the waters of [bu](DY)Meribah, [bv]because the sons of Israel argued with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.

14 From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to (DZ)the king of Edom to say, “This is what your brother Israel has said: ‘You (EA)know all the hardship that has [bw]overtaken us; 15 that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. 16 But (EB)when we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent (EC)an angel, and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. 17 Please (ED)let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s road, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’”

18 (EE)Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through [bx]us, or I will come out with the sword against you.” 19 Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the road, and if I and (EF)my livestock do drink any of your water, (EG)then I will [by]pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, [bz]nothing more.” 20 But he said, “(EH)You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy [ca]force and a strong hand. 21 (EI)So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; (EJ)then Israel turned away from him.

22 Now when they set out from (EK)Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

Death of Aaron

23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at (EL)Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, 24 “Aaron will be (EM)gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because (EN)you rebelled against My [cb]command at the waters of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and his son (EO)Eleazar, and bring them up to Mount Hor. 26 Then strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be (EP)gathered to his people and will die there.” 27 So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28 And after Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and (EQ)put them on his son Eleazar, (ER)Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, the whole house of Israel wept for Aaron for thirty (ES)days.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 16:2 Lit and men from
  2. Numbers 16:2 Lit called ones of
  3. Numbers 16:3 Lit Much for you
  4. Numbers 16:6 Lit his
  5. Numbers 16:7 Lit Much for you
  6. Numbers 16:11 Lit what
  7. Numbers 16:12 Lit to call to
  8. Numbers 16:13 Lit a little thing
  9. Numbers 16:14 Lit those
  10. Numbers 16:17 Lit them
  11. Numbers 16:18 Lit them
  12. Numbers 16:18 Lit them
  13. Numbers 16:22 Lit all flesh
  14. Numbers 16:24 Lit residence
  15. Numbers 16:27 Lit dwelling place
  16. Numbers 16:28 Lit from my heart
  17. Numbers 16:29 Lit like the death
  18. Numbers 16:29 Lit the visitation of all men is visited upon them
  19. Numbers 16:30 Lit creates
  20. Numbers 16:30 I.e., the netherworld
  21. Numbers 16:33 I.e., the netherworld
  22. Numbers 16:34 Or voice
  23. Numbers 16:36 Ch 17:1 in Heb
  24. Numbers 16:37 Lit the fire
  25. Numbers 16:38 Lit sinners against their lives
  26. Numbers 16:38 Lit be for a
  27. Numbers 16:40 Lit stranger
  28. Numbers 16:40 Lit seed
  29. Numbers 16:40 Lit by the hand of
  30. Numbers 17:1 Ch 17:16 in Heb
  31. Numbers 17:10 Lit for preserving
  32. Numbers 17:10 Lit sons of rebellion
  33. Numbers 18:1 Lit of the sanctuary
  34. Numbers 18:1 Lit of your priesthood
  35. Numbers 18:4 Lit a stranger
  36. Numbers 18:6 Lit brothers the
  37. Numbers 18:6 Lit given
  38. Numbers 18:7 Lit service of a gift
  39. Numbers 18:7 Lit stranger
  40. Numbers 18:8 Or uplifted offerings, and so throughout the ch
  41. Numbers 18:12 Lit fat
  42. Numbers 18:12 Lit fat
  43. Numbers 18:15 Lit Everything that opens
  44. Numbers 18:16 Lit his being redeemed
  45. Numbers 18:16 A shekel is about 0.5 oz. or 14 gm
  46. Numbers 18:16 A shekel is about 0.5 oz. or 14 gm
  47. Numbers 18:18 Lit flesh
  48. Numbers 18:19 Lit seed
  49. Numbers 18:29 Lit fat
  50. Numbers 18:29 Lit its
  51. Numbers 18:30 Lit lifted
  52. Numbers 18:32 Lit lifted
  53. Numbers 18:32 Lit fat
  54. Numbers 19:2 Lit gone up
  55. Numbers 19:6 Lit burning of the heifer
  56. Numbers 19:7 Lit flesh
  57. Numbers 19:7 I.e., ritually unclean, and so throughout the ch
  58. Numbers 19:8 Lit it
  59. Numbers 19:8 Lit flesh
  60. Numbers 19:9 Lit it shall be to the congregation...Israel, for a guarding as water of impurity
  61. Numbers 19:9 Or a sin offering
  62. Numbers 19:11 Lit soul of mankind
  63. Numbers 19:12 Lit it
  64. Numbers 19:13 Lit soul
  65. Numbers 19:13 Lit dwelling place
  66. Numbers 19:17 Lit dust
  67. Numbers 19:17 Lit burning of the
  68. Numbers 19:17 Or sin offering
  69. Numbers 19:17 Lit living
  70. Numbers 19:17 Lit given
  71. Numbers 20:4 Lit there
  72. Numbers 20:5 Lit seed
  73. Numbers 20:13 I.e., contention
  74. Numbers 20:13 Or where
  75. Numbers 20:14 Lit found
  76. Numbers 20:18 Lit me
  77. Numbers 20:19 Lit give
  78. Numbers 20:19 Or no great thing
  79. Numbers 20:20 Lit people
  80. Numbers 20:24 Lit mouth
Close TLB

Numbers 16-20
Living Bible

16 One day Korah (son of Izhar, grandson of Kohath, and a descendant of Levi) conspired with Dathan and Abiram (the sons of Eliab) and On (the son of Peleth), all three from the tribe of Reuben, 2 to incite a rebellion against Moses. Two hundred and fifty popular leaders, all members of the Assembly, were involved.

3 They went to Moses and Aaron and said, “We have had enough of your presumption; you are no better than anyone else; everyone in Israel has been chosen of the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to put yourselves forward, claiming that we must obey you, and acting as though you were greater than anyone else among all these people of the Lord?”

4 When Moses heard what they were saying he fell face downward to the ground. 5 Then he said to Korah and to those who were with him, “In the morning the Lord will show you who are his, and who is holy, and whom he has chosen as his priest. 6-7 Do this: You, Korah, and all those with you, take censers tomorrow and light them, and put incense upon them before the Lord, and we will find out whom the Lord has chosen.[a] You are the presumptuous ones, you sons of Levi.”

8-9 Then Moses spoke again to Korah: “Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the people of Israel to be near to himself as you work in the Tabernacle of Jehovah, and to stand before the people to minister to them? 10 Is it nothing to you that he has given this task to only you Levites? And now are you demanding the priesthood also? 11-12 That is what you are really after! That is why you are revolting against Jehovah. And what has Aaron done, that you are dissatisfied with him?” Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram (the sons of Eliab), but they refused to come.

13 “Is it a small thing,” they mimicked,[b] “that you brought us out of lovely Egypt to kill us here in this terrible wilderness, and that now you want to make yourself our king? 14 What’s more, you haven’t brought us into the wonderful country you promised, nor given us fields and vineyards. Whom are you trying to fool? We refuse to come.”

15 Then Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept their sacrifices! I have never stolen so much as a donkey from them and have not hurt one of them.”

16 And Moses said to Korah, “Come here tomorrow before the Lord with all your friends; Aaron will be here too. 17 Be sure to bring your censers with incense on them; a censer for each man, 250 in all; and Aaron will also be here with his.”

18 So they did. They came with their censers and lit them and placed the incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron. 19 Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up the entire nation against Moses and Aaron, and they all assembled to watch. Then the glory of Jehovah appeared to all the people, 20 and Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, 21 “Get away from these people so that I may instantly destroy them.”

22 But Moses and Aaron fell face downward to the ground before the Lord. “O God, the God of all mankind,” they pleaded, “must you be angry with all the people when one man sins?”

23-24 And the Lord said to Moses, “Then tell the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

25 So Moses rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed closely by the 250 Israeli leaders. 26 “Quick!” he told the people, “get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don’t touch anything that belongs to them, lest you be included in their sins and be destroyed with them.[c]”

27 So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents with their wives and sons and little ones.

28 And Moses said, “By this you shall know that Jehovah 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 from some ordinary accident or disease, then Jehovah has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord does a miracle and the ground opens up and swallows them and everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord.”

31 He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them, 32 and a great fissure swallowed them up, along with their tents and families and the friends who were standing with them, and everything they owned. 33 So they went down alive into Sheol and the earth closed upon them, and they perished. 34 All of the people of Israel fled at their screams, fearing that the earth would swallow them too. 35 Then fire came from Jehovah and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.

36-37 And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to pull those censers from the fire; for they are holy, dedicated to the Lord. He must also scatter the burning incense 38 from the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives. He shall then beat the metal into a sheet as a covering for the altar, for these censers are holy because they were used before the Lord; and the altar sheet shall be a reminder to the people of Israel.”

39 So Eleazar the priest took the 250 bronze censers and beat them out into a sheet of metal to cover the altar, 40 to be a reminder to the people of Israel that no unauthorized person—no one who is not a descendant of Aaron—may come before the Lord to burn incense, lest the same thing happen to him as happened to Korah and his associates. Thus the Lord’s directions to Moses were carried out.

41 But the very next morning all the people began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people.”

42 Soon a great, sullen mob formed; suddenly, as they looked toward the Tabernacle, the Cloud appeared and the awesome glory of the Lord was seen. 43-44 Moses and Aaron came and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Get away from these people so that I can instantly destroy them.” But Moses and Aaron fell face downward to the earth before the Lord.

46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Quick, take a censer and place fire in it from the altar; lay incense on it, and carry it quickly among the people and make atonement for them; for God’s anger has gone out among them—the plague has already begun.”

47 Aaron did as Moses had told him to, and ran among the people, for the plague had indeed already begun; and he put on the incense and made atonement for them. 48 And he stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was stopped, 49 but not before 14,700 people had died (in addition to those who had died the previous day with Korah). 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle; and so the plague was stopped.

17 1-3 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel that each of their tribal chiefs is to bring you a wooden rod with his name inscribed upon it. Aaron’s name is to be on the rod of the tribe of Levi. 4 Put these rods in the inner room of the Tabernacle where I meet with you, in front of the Ark. 5 I will use these rods to identify the man I have chosen: for buds will grow on his rod! Then at last this murmuring and complaining against you will stop!”

6 So Moses gave the instructions to the people, and each of the twelve chiefs (including Aaron) brought him a rod. 7 He put them before the Lord in the inner room of the Tabernacle, 8 and when he went in the next day, he found that Aaron’s rod, representing the tribe of Levi, had budded and was blossoming, and had ripe almonds hanging from it!

9 When Moses brought them out to show the others, they stared in disbelief! Then each man except Aaron claimed his rod. 10 The Lord told Moses to place Aaron’s rod permanently beside the Ark as a reminder of this rebellion. He was to bring it out and show it to the people again[d] if there were any further complaints about Aaron’s authority; this would ward off further catastrophe to the people. 11 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

12-13 But the people of Israel only grumbled the more. “We are as good as dead,” they whined. “Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle dies. Must we all perish?”

18 The Lord now spoke to Aaron: “You and your sons and your family are responsible for any desecration of the sanctuary,” he said, “and will be held liable for any impropriety in your priestly work.

2-3 “Your kinsmen, the tribe of Levi, are your assistants; but only you and your sons may perform the sacred duties in the Tabernacle itself. The Levites must be careful not to touch any of the sacred articles or the altar, lest I destroy both them and you. 4 No one who is not a member of the tribe of Levi shall assist you in any way. 5 Remember, only the priests are to perform the sacred duties within the sanctuary and at the altar. If you follow these instructions, the wrath of God will never again fall upon any of the people of Israel for violating this law. 6 I say it again—your kinsmen the Levites are your assistants for the work of the Tabernacle. They are a gift to you from the Lord. 7 But you and your sons, the priests, shall personally handle all the sacred service, including the altar and all that is within the veil, for the priesthood is your special gift of service. Anyone else who attempts to perform these duties shall die.”

8 The Lord gave these further instructions to Aaron: “I have given the priests all the gifts which are brought to the Lord by the people; all these offerings presented to the Lord by the gesture of waving them before the altar belong to you and your sons, by permanent law. 9 The grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings are yours, except for the sample presented to the Lord by burning upon the altar. All these are most holy offerings. 10 They are to be eaten only in a most holy place, and only by males. 11 All other gifts presented to me by the gesture of waving them before the altar are for you and your families, sons and daughters alike. For all the members of your families may eat these unless anyone is ceremonially impure at the time.

12 “Yours also are the first-of-the-harvest gifts the people bring as offerings to the Lord—the best of the olive oil, wine, grain, 13 and every other crop. Your families may eat these unless they are ceremonially defiled at the time. 14-15 So everything that is dedicated to the Lord shall be yours, including the firstborn sons of the people of Israel, and the firstborn of their animals. 16 However, you may never accept the firstborn sons, nor the firstborn of any animals that I do not permit for food. Instead, there must be a payment of two and a half dollars made for each firstborn child. It is to be brought when he is one month old.

17 “However, the firstborn of cows, sheep, or goats may not be bought back; they must be sacrificed to the Lord.[e] Their blood is to be sprinkled upon the altar, and their fat shall be burned as a fire offering; it is very pleasant to the Lord. 18 The meat of these animals shall be yours, including the breast and right thigh that are presented to the Lord by the gesture of waving before the altar. 19 Yes, I have given to you all of these ‘wave offerings’ brought by the people of Israel to the Lord; they are for you and your families as food; this is a permanent contract[f] between the Lord and you and your descendants.

20 “You priests may own no property nor have any other income, for I am all that you need.

21 “As for the tribe of Levi, your relatives, they shall be paid for their service with the tithes from the entire land of Israel.

22 “From now on, Israelites other than the priests and Levites shall not enter the sanctuary lest they be judged guilty and die. 23 Only the Levites shall do the work there, and they shall be guilty if they fail. This is a permanent law among you, that the Levites shall own no property in Israel, 24 for the people’s tithes, offered to the Lord by the gesture of waving before the altar, shall belong to the Levites; these are their inheritance, and so they have no need for property.”

25-26 The Lord also said to Moses, “Tell the Levites to give to the Lord a tenth of the tithes they receive—a tithe of the tithe, to be presented to the Lord by the gesture of waving before the altar. 27 The Lord will consider this as your first-of-the-harvest offering to him of grain and wine, as though it were from your own property. 28-29 This tithe of the tithe shall be selected from the choicest part of the tithes you receive as the Lord’s portion, and shall be given to Aaron the priest. 30 It shall be credited to you just as though it were from your own threshing floor and winepress. 31 Aaron and his sons and their families may eat it in their homes or anywhere they wish, for it is their compensation for their service in the Tabernacle. 32 You Levites will not be held guilty for accepting the Lord’s tithes if you then give the best tenth to the priests. But beware that you do not treat the holy gifts of the people of Israel as though they were common, lest you die.”

19 1-3 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Here is another of my laws: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, one that has never been yoked. Give her to Eleazar the priest and he shall take her outside the camp and someone shall kill her as he watches. 4 Eleazar shall take some of her blood upon his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tabernacle. 5 Then someone shall burn the heifer as he watches—her hide, meat, blood, and dung. 6 Eleazar shall take cedar wood and hyssop branches and scarlet thread, and throw them into the burning pile.

7 “Then he must wash his clothes, and bathe, and afterwards return to the camp and be ceremonially defiled until the evening. 8 And the one who burns the animal must wash his clothes and bathe, and he too shall be defiled until evening. 9 Then someone who is not ceremonially defiled shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and place them in some purified place outside the camp, where they shall be kept for the people of Israel as a source of water for the purification ceremonies, for removal of sin. 10 And the one who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be defiled until evening; this is a permanent law for the benefit of the people of Israel and any foreigners living among them.

11 “Anyone who touches a dead human body shall be defiled for seven days, 12 and must purify himself the third and seventh days with water run through the ashes of the red heifer[g]; then he will be purified; but if he does not do this on the third day, he will continue to be defiled even after the seventh day. 13 Anyone who touches a dead person and does not purify himself in the manner specified has defiled the Tabernacle of the Lord, and shall be excommunicated from Israel. The cleansing water was not sprinkled upon him, so the defilement continues.

14 “When a man dies in a tent, these are the various regulations: Everyone who enters the tent, and those who are in it at the time, shall be defiled seven days. 15 Any container in the tent without a lid over it is defiled.

16 “If someone out in a field touches the corpse of someone who has been killed in battle or who has died in any other way, or if he even touches a bone or a grave, he shall be defiled seven days. 17 To become purified again, ashes from the red heifer sin offering[h] are to be added to spring water in a kettle. 18 Then a person who is not defiled shall take hyssop branches and dip them into the water and sprinkle the water upon the tent and upon all the pots and pans in the tent, and upon anyone who has been defiled by being in the tent, or by touching a bone, or touching someone who has been killed or is otherwise dead, or has touched a grave. 19 This shall take place on the third and seventh days; then the defiled person must wash his clothes and bathe himself, and that evening he will be out from under the defilement.

20 “But anyone who is defiled and doesn’t purify himself shall be excommunicated, for he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord, and the water to cleanse him has not been sprinkled upon him; so he remains defiled. 21 This is a permanent law. The man who sprinkles the water must afterwards wash his clothes; and anyone touching the water shall be defiled until evening. 22 And anything a defiled person touches shall be defiled until evening.”

20 The people of Israel arrived in the wilderness of Zin in April[i] and camped at Kadesh, where Miriam died and was buried. 2 There was not enough water to drink at that place, so the people again rebelled against Moses and Aaron. A great mob formed, 3 and they held a protest meeting.

“Would that we too had died with our dear brothers the Lord killed!” they shouted at Moses. 4 “You have deliberately brought us into this wilderness to get rid of us, along with our flocks and herds. 5 Why did you ever make us leave Egypt and bring us here to this evil place? Where is the fertile land of wonderful crops—the figs, vines, and pomegranates you told us about? Why, there isn’t even water enough to drink!”

6 Moses and Aaron turned away and went to the entrance of the Tabernacle, where they fell face downward before the Lord; and the glory of Jehovah appeared to them.

7 And he said to Moses, 8 “Get Aaron’s rod;[j] then you and Aaron must summon the people. As they watch, speak to that rock over there and tell it to pour out its water! You will give them water from a rock, enough for all the people and all their cattle!”

9 So Moses did as instructed. He took the rod from the place where it was kept before the Lord; 10 then Moses and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock; and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels! Must we bring you water from this rock?”

11 Then Moses lifted the rod and struck the rock twice, and water gushed out; and the people and their cattle drank.

12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe me[k] and did not sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel, you shall not bring them into the land I have promised them!”

13 This place was named Meribah (meaning “Rebel Waters”), because it was where the people of Israel fought against Jehovah, and where he showed himself to be holy before them.

14 While Moses was at Kadesh he sent messengers to the king of Edom: “We are the descendants of your brother, Israel,”[l] he declared. “You know our sad history, 15 how our ancestors went down to visit Egypt and stayed there so long, and became slaves of the Egyptians. 16 But when we cried to the Lord he heard us and sent an Angel who brought us out of Egypt, and now we are here at Kadesh, encamped on the borders of your land. 17 Please let us pass through your country. We will be careful not to go through your planted fields, nor through your vineyards; we won’t even drink water from your wells, but will stay on the main road and not leave it until we have crossed your border on the other side.”

18 But the king of Edom said, “Stay out! If you attempt to enter my land, I will meet you with an army!”

19 “But, sir,” protested the Israeli ambassadors, “we will stay on the main road and will not even drink your water unless we pay whatever you demand for it. We only want to pass through and nothing else.”

20 But the king of Edom was adamant. “Stay out!” he warned, and, mobilizing his army, he marched to the frontier with a great force. 21-22 Because Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their country, Israel turned back and journeyed from Kadesh to Mount Hor.

23 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron at the border of the land of Edom, 24 “The time has come for Aaron to die—for he shall not enter the land I have given the people of Israel, for the two of you rebelled against my instructions concerning the water at Meribah. 25 Now take Aaron and his son Eleazar and lead them up onto Mount Hor. 26 There you shall remove Aaron’s priestly garments from him and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron shall die there.”

27 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. The three[m] of them went up together into Mount Hor as all the people watched. 28 When they reached the summit, Moses removed the priestly garments from Aaron and put them on his son Eleazar; and Aaron died on the top of the mountain. Moses and Eleazar returned, 29 and when the people were informed of Aaron’s death, they mourned for him for thirty days.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 16:6 whom the Lord has chosen, literally, “whom Jehovah chooses to be the holy one.”
  2. Numbers 16:13 mimicked, literally, “said.”
  3. Numbers 16:26 and be destroyed with them, implied.
  4. Numbers 17:10 bring it out and show it to the people again, implied.
  5. Numbers 18:17 they must be sacrificed to the Lord, literally, “they are holy.”
  6. Numbers 18:19 a permanent contract, literally, “a covenant of salt.”
  7. Numbers 19:12 run through the ashes of the red heifer, implied; see v. 17.
  8. Numbers 19:17 ashes from the red heifer sin offering, literally, “ashes of the burnt sin offering.”
  9. Numbers 20:1 in April, literally, “the first month.”
  10. Numbers 20:8 Get Aaron’s rod, literally, “get the rod.”
  11. Numbers 20:12 did not believe me, literally, “did not sanctify me.” The Lord had said to speak to the rock. Moses struck it, not once, but twice.
  12. Numbers 20:14 your brother, Israel. The people of Edom were descended from Esau, while the people of Israel were descended from his brother Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel.
  13. Numbers 20:27 the three, implied.
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