1Now 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, sons of Reuben, took men: 2And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: 3And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?16.3 Ye take…: Heb. It is much for you 4And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: 5And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. 6This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; 7And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. 8And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: 9Seemeth 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 the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? 10And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also? 11For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?
12¶ And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: 13Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? 14Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.16.14 put…: Heb. bore out 15And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them. 16And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow: 17And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer. 18And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron. 19And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation. 20And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 21Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. 22And 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?
23¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 24Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. 25And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. 26And 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. 27So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. 28And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. 29If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.16.29 the common…: Heb. as every man dieth 30But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.16.30 make…: Heb. create a creature
31¶ And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: 32And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. 33They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. 34And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
35And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
36¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 37Speak 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 hallowed. 38The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. 39And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: 40To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
41¶ 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 the LORD. 42And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
44¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 45Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
46¶ And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. 47And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. 48And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. 49Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. 50And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
Tre mænd gør oprør
1Blandt israelitterne var der en mand, der hed Kora, søn af Jitzhar, der igen var søn af Kehat, som var en af Levis sønner. Kora gjorde oprør imod Moses, og han blev bakket op af Datan og Abiram, der var sønner af den Eliab, som var søn af Pallu.16,1 Teksten er usikker, jævnfør 1931 oversættelsen, 1.Mos. 46,9 og 4.Mos. 26,5-11. Den hebraiske tekst siger: „og On, søn af Pelet, sønner af Ruben”, men Pelet er muligvis en fejlskrivning for Pallu, der på hebraisk ligner Pelet til forveksling. Der nævnes ingen andre steder, at en mand ved navn On var med i komplottet, ligesom Pelet heller ikke kendes som en sønnesøn af Ruben. Den Eliab, der nævnes her, er ikke lederen af Zebulon stammen, jf. 4.Mos. 2,7. De var fra Rubens stamme. 2250 andre mænd gik med i oprøret mod Moses, og de var alle sammen ansete og folkevalgte ledere.
3Alle disse mænd gik nu til Moses og Aron og sagde: „Nu må det være nok med det præstestyre. Vi kan vel alle træde frem for Herren og ofre til ham. Hvorfor ophøjer I jer selv over Herrens folk?”
4Da Moses hørte det, kastede han sig fortvivlet ned med ansigtet mod jorden, 5og han sagde til Kora og hans tilhængere: „Vent til i morgen, så vil Herren vise, hvem der hører ham til, og hvem der er indviet til at træde frem for ham. 6-7Kora, du og dine tilhængere skal komme tilbage i morgen med hver jeres røgelseskar, tænd op i dem og brænd røgelse for Herren. Så får vi at se, hvem Herren har udvalgt som præster. I levitter er gået for vidt!”
8-9Moses sagde videre til Kora: „Er I levitter nu ikke længere tilfredse med den særstilling, Israels Gud har givet jer? Har han ikke udvalgt jer til på folkets vegne at hjælpe med arbejdet ved Herrens bolig? 10Han har givet jer denne særlige tjeneste for ham. Vil I nu også være præster? 11Det er Herren selv, ikke Aron og hans sønner, du og dine tilhængere gør oprør imod.”
12Derefter sendte Moses bud efter Datan og Abiram, men de sendte følgende besked tilbage: „Vi kommer ikke. 13Det er jo dig, der har lokket os bort fra det frugtbare Egypten, for at vi skulle dø her i ørkenen. Vil du stadig påstå, at du er Guds udvalgte leder? 14Hvad med det vidunderlige land med frugtbare marker og vingårde, du lovede os? Hvor er det blevet af? Tror du ikke, folk har øjne i hovedet? Vi vil ikke have noget med dig at gøre mere.”
15Da blev Moses meget vred, og han sagde til Herren: „Lad være med at anerkende deres røgelsesofre. Jeg har aldrig forurettet nogen af dem eller stjålet så meget som et æsel fra dem.”
16Derpå sagde han til Kora: „Husk nu at komme tilbage i morgen sammen med dine tilhængere, så I kan træde frem for Herren sammen med Aron. 17Sørg for, at alle de 250 mænd kommer med hver deres røgelseskar. Du selv og Aron skal også komme med hver jeres røgelsesoffer.”
18Næste dags morgen kom de med deres røgelseskar med ild i. Efter at de havde lagt røgelse på, stillede de sig op sammen med Moses og Aron ved åbenbaringsteltets indgang. 19I mellemtiden havde Kora fået en stor del af folket over på sin side, og nu stod de og ventede på, hvad der ville ske. Da viste Herrens herlighed sig for folket, 20og Herren sagde til Moses og Aron: 21„Træk jer væk fra dette folk, så jeg kan komme til at udrydde dem.”
22Men Moses og Aron kastede sig ned for Herren med ansigtet mod jorden. „Åh Gud, du som er livets ophav,” bad de, „er det nødvendigt at slå hele folket ihjel på grund af en enkelt mands synd?”
23Da svarede Herren: 24„Så sig til folket, at de, der befinder sig i nærheden af Koras, Datans og Abirams telte, skal fjerne sig langt væk.”
25Så skyndte Moses sig hen til Datans og Abirams telte, og folkets ledere fulgte i hælene på ham. 26„Skynd jer at komme væk fra disse onde mænds telte,” advarede han de omkringstående. „I må ikke røre nogen af deres ejendele, for så mister I livet på grund af deres synd.”
27Folket trak sig skyndsomt væk fra Koras, Datans og Abirams telte. Datan og Abiram kom ud og stillede sig foran døren til deres telte sammen med deres koner og børn.
28Da sagde Moses til folket: „Nu skal I få at se, at jeg ikke er en selvbestaltet leder iblandt jer, men at det er Herren, som har sendt mig, for at jeg skal udføre den opgave, han har givet mig. 29Hvis disse mennesker dør en naturlig død som alle andre, så har Herren ikke udvalgt mig, 30men hvis Herren griber ind og lader jorden åbne sig, så den opsluger dem sammen med deres ejendele, og de ryger direkte ned i dødsriget, så er det bevis på, at disse mænd har forhånet Herren.”
31Næppe var Moses færdig med at tale, før jorden revnede under dem 32og åbnede sig som et vældigt gab, og gabet opslugte de oprørske mænd, deres familier og deres ejendele, 33så de røg lige lukt ned i dødsriget. Jordens gab lukkede sig over dem, og dermed var de udryddet af folket. 34Men israelitterne flygtede skrækslagne ved lyden af deres skrig. De var bange for at lide samme skæbne.
35I det samme fór der ild ud fra Herren og opbrændte de 250 mænd, der stod med deres røgelsesofre.
