rsv Numbers:16:1-50 SEEK
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Now Korah the son of Izhar ,
son of Kohath ,
son of Levi ,
and Dathan and Abi '
ram the sons of Eli '
ab ,
and On the son of Peleth ,
sons of Reuben ,
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took men ;
and they rose up before Moses ,
with a number of the people of Israel ,
two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation ,
chosen from the assembly ,
well-known men ;
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and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron ,
and said to them , "
You have gone too far !
For all the congregation are holy ,
every one of them ,
and the LORD is among them ;
why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD ?"
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When Moses heard it ,
he fell on his face ;
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and he said to Korah and all his company , "
In the morning the LORD will show who is his ,
and who is holy ,
and will cause him to come near to him ;
him whom he will choose he will cause to come near to him .
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Do this :
take censers ,
Korah and all his company ;
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put fire in them and put incense upon them before the LORD tomorrow ,
and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one .
You have gone too far ,
sons of Levi !"
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And Moses said to Korah , "
Hear now ,
you sons of Levi :
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is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel ,
to bring you near to himself ,
to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD ,
and to stand before the congregation to minister to them ;
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and that he has brought you near him ,
and all your brethren the sons of Levi with you ?
And would you seek the priesthood also ?
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Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together ;
what is Aaron that you murmur against him ?"
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And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abi '
ram the sons of Eli '
ab ;
and they said , "
We will not come up .
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Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey ,
to kill us in the wilderness ,
that you must also make yourself a prince over us ?
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Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey ,
nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards .
Will you put out the eyes of these men ?
We will not come up ."
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And Moses was very angry ,
and said to the LORD , "
Do not respect their offering .
I have not taken one ass from them ,
and I have not harmed one of them ."
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And Moses said to Korah , "
Be present ,
you and all your company ,
before the LORD ,
you and they ,
and Aaron ,
tomorrow ;
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and let every one of you take his censer ,
and put incense upon it ,
and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer ,
two hundred and fifty censers ;
you also ,
and Aaron ,
each his censer ."
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So every man took his censer ,
and they put fire in them and laid incense upon them ,
and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron .
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Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting .
And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation .
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And the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron ,
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Separate yourselves from among this congregation ,
that I may consume them in a moment ."
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And they fell on their faces ,
and said , "
O God ,
the God of the spirits of all flesh ,
shall one man sin ,
and wilt thou be angry with all the congregation ?"
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And the LORD said to Moses ,
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Say to the congregation ,
Get away from about the dwelling of Korah ,
Dathan ,
and Abi '
ram ."
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Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abi '
ram ;
and the elders of Israel followed him .
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And he said to the congregation , "
Depart ,
I pray you ,
from the tents of these wicked men ,
and touch nothing of theirs ,
lest you be swept away with all their sins ."
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So they got away from about the dwelling of Korah ,
Dathan ,
and Abi '
ram ;
and Dathan and Abi '
ram came out and stood at the door of their tents ,
together with their wives ,
their sons ,
and their little ones .
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And Moses said , "
Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works ,
and that it has not been of my own accord .
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If these men die the common death of all men ,
or if they are visited by the fate of all men ,
then the LORD has not sent me .
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But if the LORD creates something new ,
and the ground opens its mouth ,
and swallows them up ,
with all that belongs to them ,
and they go down alive into Sheol ,
then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD ."
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And as he finished speaking all these words ,
the ground under them split asunder ;
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and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up ,
with their households and all the men that belonged to Korah and all their goods .
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So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol ;
and the earth closed over them ,
and they perished from the midst of the assembly .
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And all Israel that were round about them fled at their cry ;
for they said , "
Lest the earth swallow us up !"
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And fire came forth from the LORD ,
and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense .
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Then the LORD said to Moses ,
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Tell Elea '
zar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze ;
then scatter the fire far and wide .
For they are holy ,
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the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives ;
so let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar ,
for they offered them before the LORD ;
therefore they are holy .
Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel ."
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So Elea '
zar the priest took the bronze censers ,
which those who were burned had offered ;
and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar ,
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to be a reminder to the people of Israel ,
so that no one who is not a priest ,
who is not of the descendants of Aaron ,
should draw near to burn incense before the LORD ,
lest he become as Korah and as his company--as the LORD said to Elea '
zar through Moses .
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But on the morrow all the congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron ,
saying , "
You have killed the people of the LORD ."
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And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron ,
they turned toward the tent of meeting ;
and behold ,
the cloud covered it ,
and the glory of the LORD appeared .
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And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting ,
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and the LORD said to Moses ,
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Get away from the midst of this congregation ,
that I may consume them in a moment ."
And they fell on their faces .
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And Moses said to Aaron , "
Take your censer ,
and put fire therein from off the altar ,
and lay incense on it ,
and carry it quickly to the congregation ,
and make atonement for them ;
for wrath has gone forth from the LORD ,
the plague has begun ."
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So Aaron took it as Moses said ,
and ran into the midst of the assembly ;
and behold ,
the plague had already begun among the people ;
and he put on the incense ,
and made atonement for the people .
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And he stood between the dead and the living ;
and the plague was stopped .
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Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred ,
besides those who died in the affair of Korah .
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And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting ,
when the plague was stopped .