¹ Then took Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi,—and Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth sons of Reuben;

² and rose up before Moses, with certain men of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty,—princes of assembly, called to the stated meeting, men of renown;

³ and gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said unto them Too much for you, when, all the assembly, are, all of them, holy, and in the midst of them, is Yahweh,—Wherefore, then, should ye set yourselves up, above the convocation of Yahweh?

⁴ And, when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face.

⁵ Then spake he unto Korah, and unto all his assembly, saying, In the morning, will Yahweh make known who are his, and who is the holy one and will cause him to come near unto himself,—yea him whom he shall choose, will he cause to come near unto himself.

⁶ This do,—Take to you censers, Korah and all his assembly;

⁷ and place therein fire, and put thereon incense before Yahweh, to-morrow, So shall it be—that, the man whom Yahweh shall choose, he shall be the holy one. Too much for you ye sons of Levi!

⁸ And Moses said unto Korah,—Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi!

⁹ Is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the assembly of Israel, to bring you near unto himself,—to do the laborious work of the habitation of Yahweh, and to stand before the assembly, to wait upon them?

¹⁰ But having brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee, must ye seek priesthood also?

¹¹ Wherefore thou and all thine assembly, are conspiring against Yahweh,—But Aaron, what is he, that ye should murmur against him?

¹² Then sent Moses, to call for Dathan and for Abiram sons of Eliab,—and they said We will not come up:

¹³ Was it, a small thing, that thou didst bring us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to put us to death in the desert but thou must, continue even to lord it, over us?

¹⁴ Certainly not into a land flowing with milk and honey, hast thou brought us, nor given unto us an inheritance of field and vineyard,—The eyes of those men, wilt thou dig out? We will not come up.

¹⁵ Then was Moses very angry, and he said unto Yahweh, Do not thou have respect unto their meal-offering. Not one ass, from them, have I taken, neither have I wronged one of them.

¹⁶ And Moses said unto Korah, Thou, and all thine assembly, come ye before Yahweh,—thou, and they, and Aaron to-morrow.

¹⁷ And take ye each man his censer and put thereon incense, then shall ye bring near before Yahweh, each man his censer, two hundred and fifty Censers,—and, thou and Aaron, each man his censer.

¹⁸ So they took each man his censer and put thereon fire, and placed thereon incense,—and took their stand at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.

¹⁹ And Korah gathered together against them all the assembly, unto the entrance of the tent of meeting,—then appeared the glory of Yahweh, unto all the assembly.

²⁰ Then spake Yahweh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:

²¹ Separate yourselves out of the midst of this assembly,—that I may consume them in a moment.

²² And they fell upon their faces and said, O GOD, the God of the spirits of all flesh,—shall, one man, sin, and against all the assembly, wilt thou be wroth.

²³ And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying,

²⁴ Speak unto the assembly, saying,—Get ye up from round about the habitation of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.

²⁵ So Moses rose up, and went, unto Dathan and Abiram,—then went, after him the elders of Israel.

²⁶ And he spake unto the assembly, saying—Remove I pray you from beside the tents of these lawless men, and do not touch aught that pertaineth unto them,—lest ye be carried off, in all their sins.

²⁷ So they went up from beside the habitation of Korah, Dathan and Abiram on every side,—and, Dathan and Abiram, came out and stationed themselves at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and their sons and their little ones.

²⁸ Then said Moses, Hereby, shall ye know, that, Yahweh hath sent me, to do all these works,—verily, not out of my own heart:

²⁹ If, as all human beings die, these do die, and the visitation of all human beings, be visited upon them, Yahweh, hath not sent me.

³⁰ But, if, a creation, Yahweh create, and the ground open wide her mouth and swallow them up, with all that pertain unto them, and so they go down alive unto hades, then shall ye know, that these men have despised Yahweh.

³¹ And it came to pass as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground which was under them, clave asunder;

³² and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up them, and their households,—and all the human beings who pertained unto Korah, with all their goods:

³³ so, they, and all that pertained unto them, went down, alive unto hades,—and the earth, closed upon them, and they perished out of the midst of the convocation.

³⁴ And, all Israel who were round about them, fled at their cry,—for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up.

³⁵ Fire also came forth, from Yahweh,—and consumed the two hundred and fifty men, who offered the incense.

³⁶ Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

³⁷ Say unto Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the midst of the burning, and the fire, scatter thou yonder,—for they have been hallowed.

³⁸ As for the censers of these sinners against their own persons, they shall be made into beaten-out plates as an overlay for the altar, for they had brought them near before Yahweh and hallowed them,—so shall they become a sign unto the sons of Israel.

³⁹ And Eleazar the priest took the censers of bronze, which the consumed men had brought near,—and beat them out into plates for overlaying the altar:

⁴⁰ a memorial unto the sons of Israel, That no stranger, who is not of the seed of Aaron, shall draw near to offer incense before Yahweh,—lest he become like Korah and like his assembly, As spake Yahweh by the hand of Moses with regard thereto.

⁴¹ And all the assembly of the sons of Israel murmured, on the morrow, against Moses and against, Aaron, saying,—Ye, have caused the death of the people of Yahweh.

⁴² And it came to pass, when the assembly gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, that they turned towards the tent of meeting, and lo! the cloud had covered it: and the glory of Yahweh, appeared.

⁴³ And Moses and Aaron came in, before the tent of meeting.

⁴⁴ Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

⁴⁵ Lift yourselves up out of the midst of this assembly, that I may consume them, as in a moment,—And they fell upon their faces.

⁴⁶ Then said Moses unto Aaron—Take the censer and place thereon fire, from off the altar, and put incense [thereon], and, going quickly into the assembly, put a propitiatory-covering over them,—for wrath hath gone forth from before Yahweh the plague, hath begun.

⁴⁷ Then took Aaron, as Moses spake, and ran into the midst of the convocation, and lo! the plague had begun among the people,—so he placed the incense, and put a propitiatory-covering over the people:

⁴⁸ thus did he take his stand between the dead and the living,—and the plague was restrained.

⁴⁹ And so it was that they who died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred,—besides them who died over the matter of Korah.

⁵⁰ And Aaron returned unto Moses, unto the entrance of the tent of meeting,—when, the plague, had been restrained.