Numbers 16

Wycliffe Bible

16 Forsooth 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, of the sons of Reuben,

² rose against Moses, and (with them) others of the sons of Israel, two hundred men and fifty, princes of the synagogue, and which were called by their names in the time of counsel. (rose up against Moses, and with them were other Israelites, two hundred and fifty men, leaders of the synagogue, who were called by their names at the times of gathering together.)

³ And when these stood against Moses and Aaron, they said, Suffice it to you, for all the multitude is of holy men, and the Lord is in them; why be ye raised up presumptuously on the people of the Lord? (And when they stood against Moses and Aaron, they said, Suffice it to you, for all the multitude be holy men, and the Lord is with them; why be ye so presumptuously raised up over the Lord’s people?)

⁴ And when Moses had heard this, he fell down low upon his face (he fell down on the ground).

⁵ And he spake to Korah, and to all the multitude; he said, Early the Lord shall make known which men pertain to him, and he shall apply, or draw, to him holy men; and they which he hath chosen, shall nigh to him. (And he spoke to Korah, and to all the multitude, and said, Early tomorrow the Lord shall make known which man pertaineth to him, for he shall draw to himself the man who is holy; and he whom he hath chosen, shall be near to him.)

⁶ Therefore do ye this thing; each man take his censer, thou Korah, and all thy counsel; (And so do ye this thing; each man take his censer, thou Korah, and all thy company, or all thy people;)

⁷ and tomorrow when fire is taken up, put ye incense above before the Lord (and tomorrow put fire in them, and put ye incense on it before the Lord), and whomever the Lord chooseth, he shall be holy. Ye sons of Levi be much raised (up).

⁸ And again Moses said to Korah, Ye sons of Levi, hear.

⁹ Whether it is little to you (Is it such a small thing for you), that (the) God of Israel [hath] separated you from all the people, and hath joined you to himself, (so) that ye should serve him in the service of the tabernacle, and that ye should stand before the multitude of the people, and serve him, (yea, serve Almighty God)?

¹⁰ Made he therefore thee, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi (with thee), to nigh to himself, that ye challenge to you also (the) priesthood, (Yea, he made thee, and all thy brothers, or thy kinsmen, the Levites, with thee, just for that, to be near him; but now ye seek the priesthood for yourselves as well,)

¹¹ and (for that,) all thy gathering together stand against the Lord? For why, what is Aaron, that ye grouch against him? (and for that, all thy company now stand against the Lord! For what is Aaron, that ye should grumble against him?)

¹² Therefore Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; which answered, We come not. (And so Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they answered, We shall not come to thee.)

¹³ Whether is it little to thee, that thou leddest us out of the land that flowed with milk and honey, to slay us in the desert, no but also thou be lord of us? (Is it such a small thing for thee, that thou leddest us out of the land of Egypt which flowed with milk and honey, to kill us here in the wilderness, but must thou also be our lord and master?)

¹⁴ Verily thou hast brought us into the land that floweth with streams of milk and honey, and [thou] hast given to us possession of fields, and of vineyards^[a]; whether also thou wilt put out our eyes? We come not to thee (We shall not come to thee).

¹⁵ And Moses was wroth greatly, and said to the Lord, Behold thou not the sacrifices of them; thou knowest that I took never of them a little ass, neither I tormented any of them. (And Moses was greatly angered, and said to the Lord, Do not thou receive any of their offerings, Lord; for thou knowest that I never took a solitary donkey from them, nor did I torment any of them.)

¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, Thou and all thy congregation stand asides half before the Lord, and Aaron tomorrow by himself. (And Moses said to Korah, Tomorrow, thou, and all thy company, or all thy people, come and stand here before the Lord, and also Aaron, by himself.)

¹⁷ Take ye all by yourselves your censers, and put ye incense in those (All of you shall take your censers, and put ye incense in them), and offer ye to the Lord, twain hundred and fifty censers; and Aaron hold he his censer (also).

¹⁸ And (so the next day) when they had done this, while Moses and Aaron stood there,

¹⁹ and they had gathered all the multitude to the door of the tabernacle against them, the glory of the Lord appeared to all. (and Korah had gathered all the multitude against them at the entrance to the Tabernacle, the glory of the Lord appeared to all of them.)

²⁰ And the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron, and said,

²¹ Be ye separated from the midst of this congregation, that I lose them suddenly. (Be ye set apart from the midst of this company, or of these people, so that I can quickly destroy them.)

²² The which fell down low upon their face(s), and said, Most strong God of the spirits of all flesh, whether thy wrath shall be fierce against all men, for one man sinneth?

²³ And the Lord said to Moses,

²⁴ Command thou to all the people, that it be separated from the tabernacles of Korah, and of Dathan, and of Abiram. (Command thou to all the people, that they move away from the tents of Korah, and Dathan, and Abiram.)

²⁵ And Moses rose (up), and went to Dathan and Abiram; and while the elder men of Israel followed him,

²⁶ he said to the company, Go ye away from the tabernacles of the wicked men (he said to the people, Go ye away from the tents of these wicked men), and do not ye touch those things that pertain to them, lest ye be wrapped (up) in the sins of them.

²⁷ And when they had gone away from their tents by compass, Dathan and Abiram went out, and stood in the entry of their tents, with their wives, and their free children, and with all the multitude. (And when they had gone away from their tents all around, Dathan and Abiram went out, and stood at the entrance to their tents, with their wives, and their children, and with all their multitude.)

²⁸ And Moses said, In this ye shall know that the Lord sent me, that I should do all things which ye see, and that I brought them not forth of mine own heart. (And Moses said, By this ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me, to do all these things which ye see, and that I did not bring them forth from my own heart.)

²⁹ If they perish by customable death of men, and wound, either pestilence, visit them, by which also other men be wont to be visited, the Lord sent not me; (If these men die by the customary deaths of people, or if a wound, or a pestilence, visit them, by which other people be wont to be visited, then the Lord did not send me;)

³⁰ but if the Lord doeth a new thing, that the earth open his mouth, and swallow them, and all things that pertain to them, and they go down quick into hell, ye shall know that they blasphemed the Lord. (but if the Lord doeth a new thing, yea, and the earth open its mouth, and swallow them, and all things that pertain to them, and they go down alive into hell, or to Sheol, then ye shall know that they blasphemed against the Lord.)

³¹ Therefore anon as he ceased to speak, the earth was broken under their feet, (And so as soon as he ceased to speak, the ground broke up under their feet,)

³² and the earth opened his mouth, and devoured them, with their tabernacles, and all their chattel; (and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them, and their tents, and all their possessions;)

³³ and they went down quick, into hell, and were covered with earth, and they perished from the midst of the multitude. (and they went down alive into hell, or to Sheol, and then they were covered with earth, and so they perished from the midst of the multitude.)

³⁴ And soothly all Israel that stood about, fled from the cry of men perishing, and said, Lest peradventure the earth swallow also us. (And all the Israelites who stood about, fled from the cry of the people as they perished, saying, Lest the earth swallow us as well.)

³⁵ But also fire went out from the Lord, and killed (the) twain hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

³⁶ And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

³⁷ Command thou to Eleazar, the son of Aaron, [the] priest, that he take, or gather up, the censers that lie in the burning, and that he scatter the fire hither and thither; for those censers be hallowed (for those censers be holy),

³⁸ in the deaths of (these) sinners; and that he bring forth those censers into plates, and nail them to the altar, for incense is offered in those to the Lord, and those be hallowed, that the sons of Israel see them for a sign and a memorial. (even without the deaths of these sinners; and that he make those censers into plates, and then nail them to the altar, for incense was offered in them to the Lord, and so they be holy; and then the Israelites shall see them as a sign and as a reminder.)

³⁹ Therefore Eleazar, the priest, took the brazen censers, in which they, which the burning had devoured had offered, and he beat out those censers into plates, and nailed them to the altar; (And so Eleazar, the priest, took the bronze censers, with which they, whom the burning had devoured, had made an offering to the Lord, and he beat those censers into plates, and then nailed them to the altar;)

⁴⁰ that the sons of Israel should have those censers with them afterward, by which they should remember this great vengeance of God, lest any alien, and which is not of the seed of Aaron, nigh to offer incense to the Lord; lest he suffer, as Korah suffered, and all his multitude, while the Lord spake to Moses. (so that the Israelites would have those censers with them afterward, by which they would remember this great vengeance of God, lest any stranger, who is not of Aaron’s descendants, come near to offer incense to the Lord; for then he would suffer, like Korah and all his fellows had suffered; all of this was done as the Lord commanded to Eleazar, through Moses.)

⁴¹ Forsooth all the multitude of the sons of Israel grouched in the day following against Moses and Aaron, and said, Ye have slain the people of the Lord. (But on the following day all the multitude of the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and said, Ye have killed the people of the Lord.)

⁴² And when dissension (a)rose, and the noise increased, Moses and Aaron fled to the tabernacle of the bond of peace (Moses and Aaron fled to the Tabernacle of the Covenant); and after that they entered into it, a cloud covered the tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

⁴³ (See verse 42 above.)

⁴⁴ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

⁴⁵ Go ye away from the midst of this multitude, also now I shall do away them. And when they lay in the earth, (Go ye away from the midst of this multitude, for I shall now destroy them. And when they lay on the ground,)

⁴⁶ Moses said to Aaron, Take thy censer, and when the fire is taken up from (off) the altar, cast thou incense above, and go thou forth soon to the people, that thou pray for them; for now wrath is gone out from the Lord, and the vengeance is fierce. (Moses said to Aaron, Take thy censer, and when thou hast taken fire from off the altar, cast thou incense on it, and quickly go forth to the people, and make amends for them; for anger hath now gone out from the Lord, and the plague hath begun.)

⁴⁷ And when Aaron had done this, and had run to the midst of the multitude, which the burning wasted then, he offered incense; (And Aaron did this, and ran to the midst of the multitude, who were already dying from the plague, and he offered the incense;)

⁴⁸ and he stood betwixt the dead men and the living, and he prayed for the people, and the vengeance ceased. (and he stood there among the living and the dead, and made amends for the people, and then the plague ceased.)

⁴⁹ Soothly they that were slain were fourteen thousand of men and seven hundred, without them that perished in the dissension of Korah. (But fourteen thousand and seven hundred people died from the plague, besides those who had perished in the rebellion of Korah.)

⁵⁰ And Aaron turned again to Moses, to the door of the tabernacle of the bond of peace, after that the perishing of men ceased. (And then Aaron returned to Moses, at the entrance to the Tabernacle of the Covenant, after that the plague had ceased.)