3They came together to criticize Aaron and Moses/me. They said to them/us, “You two are using more authority than you should! Yahweh has set apart all of us Israeli people, and he is with/helping all of us. So why do you act as though you are more important than the rest of us people who belong to Yahweh RHQ?”
4When Moses/I heard what they were saying, he/I prostrated himself/myself on the ground.
5Then he/I said to Korah and those Israeli leaders who were with Korah, “Tomorrow morning Yahweh will show us whom he has chosen to be his priest, and who is holy and allowed to come near to him. Yahweh will permit only those whom he chooses to come into his presence.
6So Korah, tomorrow you and those who are with you must prepare your pans to burn incense.
7Then you must light a fire in them and burn the incense in the presence of Yahweh. Then we will see which one of us Yahweh has chosen to be his holy servant. It is you men who are descendants of Levi who are trying to use more authority than you should!”
8Then Moses/I spoke again to Korah. He/I said, “You men who are descendants of Levi, listen to me!
9The God of us Israelis has chosen all of you to be close to him in order that you can work for him at his Sacred Tent and serve the people. ◄Is that unimportant/Does that mean nothing► to you RHQ?
10Yahweh has brought you, Korah, and your fellow descendants of Levi, near to himself. Now are you demanding to become priests also?
11It is really Yahweh against whom you and your fellow descendants of Levi are rebelling. Aaron is not the one about whom you are really complaining RHQ.”
12Then Moses/I summoned Dathan and Abiram, but they refused to come. They sent a message saying, “We will not come to you!
13You brought us out of Egypt, which was a very fertile IDM land, in order to cause us to die here in this desert. That was bad. But now you are also trying to boss us RHQ, and that is worse.
14You have not given us a new land to live in, a land that has good fields and vineyards. You are only trying to RHQ trick these people. So we will not come to you.”
15Then Moses/I became very angry. He/I said to Yahweh, “Do not accept the grain offerings that they have brought. I have not taken anything from them, not even one donkey, and I have never done anything wrong to them, so they have no reason to complain about me.”
16Then Moses/I said to Korah, “You and all those who are with you must come here tomorrow and stand in front of Yahweh. Aaron will also be here.
17You and all the 250 men who are with you must each take a pan in which to burn incense, and put incense in it, to burn it to be an offering to Yahweh. Aaron will do the same thing.”
18So the next day each of those men got a pan to burn incense. They put in it incense and hot coals to light it, and then they all stood at the entrance of the Sacred Tent with Aaron and Moses/me.
19Then Korah summoned all the people who supported him and who were against Moses/me, and they also gathered at the entrance of the tent. Then the glory of Yahweh appeared to all of them/us,
20and Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,
21“Get away from all these people, in order that I can get rid of them immediately!”
22But Aaron and Moses/I prostrated themselves/ourselves on the ground. We pleaded with Yahweh, saying, “God, you are the one who caused all these people to live MTY. Only one of these men has sinned; so, ◄is it right for you to be angry with all the people?/it is not right for you to be angry with all the people!► RHQ”
23Yahweh said to Moses/me,
24“ Okay, but tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25So Moses/I stood up and went to the tents of Dathan and Abiram. The Israeli leaders followed him/me.
26He/I told the people, “Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that belongs to them! If you touch anything, you will die because of their sins!”
27So all the people moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram came out of their tents with their wives and children and babies, and stood at the entrances of their tents.
28Then Moses/I said, “I was not the one who decided to do all these things that I have done. It was Yahweh who chose me and sent me to do them. And now he will prove that to you.
29If these men die in a normal way, then it will be clear that Yahweh did not choose me.
30But if Yahweh does something that has never happened before, if he causes the ground that is under their feet to open up and swallow these men and their families and all their possessions, and they fall into the opening and are buried while they are still alive, then you will know that these men have insulted Yahweh.”
31As soon as Moses/I said this, the ground split open beneath those men.
32It swallowed them and their families and all those who were standing there with Korah and all of their possessions.
33They fell into the opening in the ground while they were still alive, and all their possessions fell into the opening also. They disappeared, and the ground closed back up again.
34They screamed as they fell, and all the people who were standing nearby heard them scream. The people were terrified and cried out as they ran away, saying, “ We do not want the ground to swallow us also!”
35And then a fire from Yahweh came down from the sky and burned up the 250 men who were burning the incense!
36Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
Numbers 16
Numbers 16:3-36