Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown;
and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, {Hebrew: It is enough for you.}Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and Jehovah is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the assembly of Jehovah?
And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:
and he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, In the morning Jehovah will show who are his, and who is holy, and {Or, whom he will cause to come near}will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he shall choose will he cause to come near unto him.
This do: take you censers, Korah, and all his company;
and put fire in them, and put incense upon them before Jehovah to-morrow: and it shall be that the man whom Jehovah doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
And Moses said unto Korah, Hear now, ye sons of Levi:
seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of Jehovah, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them;
and that he hath brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee? and seek ye the priesthood also?
Therefore thou and all thy company are gathered together against Jehovah: and Aaron, what is he that ye murmur against him?
And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, We will not come up:
is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but thou must needs make thyself also a prince over us?
Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou {Hebrew: bore out.}put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
And Moses was very wroth, and said unto Jehovah, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.
And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before Jehovah, thou, and they, and Aaron, to-morrow:
and take ye every man his censer, and put incense upon them, and bring ye before Jehovah every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each his censer.
And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood at the door of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
And Korah assembled all the congregation against them unto the door of the tent of meeting: and the glory of Jehovah appeared unto all the congregation.
And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.
So they gat them up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.
And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that Jehovah hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then Jehovah hath not sent me.
But if Jehovah {Hebrew: create a creation.}make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down alive into Sheol; then ye shall understand that these men have despised Jehovah.
And it came to pass, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them;
and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into Sheol: and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the assembly.
And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up.
And fire came forth from Jehovah, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense.
{[Chapter 27:1 in Hebrew]}And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are holy,
even the censers of {Or, these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives}these sinners against their own {Or, souls}lives; and let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before Jehovah; therefore they are holy; and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, which they that were burnt had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar,
to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger, that is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to burn incense before Jehovah; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as Jehovah spake unto him by Moses.
But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of Jehovah.
And it came to pass, when the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Jehovah appeared.
And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting.
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take thy censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense thereon, and carry it quickly unto the congregation, and make atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from Jehovah; the plague is begun.
And Aaron took as Moses spake, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.
And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
Now they that died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died about the matter of Korah.
And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tent of meeting: and the plague was stayed.
Querverweise zu 4. Mose 16,15 4Mo 16,15
Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men that were upon the face of the earth.
This do: take you censers, Korah, and all his company;
Here I am: witness against me before Jehovah, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a {Or, bribe}ransom {Or, that I should hide mine eyes at him}to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
and put fire in them, and put incense upon them before Jehovah to-morrow: and it shall be that the man whom Jehovah doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand.
but I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother {Many ancient authorities insert without cause.} shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, {An expression of contempt.}Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, {Or, Moreh, a Hebrew expression of condemnation.}Thou fool, shall be in danger {Greek: unto or into.}of the {Greek: Gehenna of fire.}hell of fire.
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
I coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.
And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their heart, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and his hand was restored.
but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Ye yourselves know that these hands ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
{Psalm 4:4.}Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your {Greek: provocation.}wrath:
Hear the word of Jehovah, ye {Or, judges}rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the {Or, teaching}law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah: I have had enough of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
When ye come {Or, as otherwisw read, to see my face}to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts?
Bring no more {Hebrew: an oblation of vanity.}vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies, — {Or, I cannot away with, it is iniquity, even me solemn meeting}I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn meeting.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a {Or, cumbrance}trouble unto me; I am weary of bearing them.
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
But I have used none of these things: and I write not these things that it may be so done in my case; for it were good for me rather to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.
For our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
{Greek: Make room for us.}Open your hearts to us: we wronged no man, we corrupted no man, we took advantage of no man.
Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be a burden to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
And I will most gladly spend and be {Greek: spent out.}spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less?
But be it so, I did not myself burden you; but, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
Did I take advantage of you by any one of them whom I have sent unto you?
Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and righteously and unblamably we behaved ourselves toward you that believe: