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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Numbers 16 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/numbers/16.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/numbers/16-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Numbers 16</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../numbers/15.htm" title="Numbers 15">◄</a> Numbers 16 <a href="../numbers/17.htm" title="Numbers 17">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Korah, Dathan, and Abiram Lead a Rebellion</h3><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_1"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.1-Num.16.2" class="v4_16_1">1-2</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Num.16.1-Num.16.2!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> <a href="#fn" id="link_Num.16.1-Num.16.2!x.2" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Korah son of Izhar was a Levite from the Kohathite clan. One day he called together Dathan, Abiram, and On<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.16.1-Num.16.2!f.3" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> from the Reuben tribe, and the four of them decided to rebel against Moses. So they asked 250 respected Israelite leaders for their support, and together they went to Moses </span><span class="v4_16_3"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.3" class="v4_16_3">3</span>and Aaron and said, “Why do you think you're so much better than everyone else? We're part of the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s holy people, and he's with all of us. What makes you think you're the only ones in charge?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_4"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.4" class="v4_16_4">4</span>When Moses heard this, he knelt down to pray.<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.16.4!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v4_16_5"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.5" class="v4_16_5">5</span>Then he said to Korah and his followers:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v4_16_5">Tomorrow morning the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will show us the person he has chosen to be his priest, and that man will faithfully serve him.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v4_16_6"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.6-Num.16.7" class="v4_16_6">6-7</span>Korah, here is what you and your followers must do: Get some fire pans, fill them with coals and incense, and place them near the sacred tent. And the man the <span class="nd">Lord</span> chooses will be his priest.<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.16.6-Num.16.7!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Korah, this time you Levites have gone too far!</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v4_16_8"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.8-Num.16.9" class="v4_16_8">8-9</span>You know that the God of Israel has chosen you Levites from all Israel to serve him by being in charge of the sacred tent and by helping the community to worship in the proper way. What more do you want? </span><span class="v4_16_10"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.10" class="v4_16_10">10</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> has given you a special responsibility, and now, Korah, you think you should also be his priest. </span><span class="v4_16_11"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.11" class="v4_16_11">11</span>You and your followers have rebelled against the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, not against Aaron.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_12"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.12" class="v4_16_12">12</span>Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, but they sent back this message: “We won't come! </span><span class="v4_16_13"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.13" class="v4_16_13">13</span>It's bad enough that you took us from our rich farmland in Egypt to let us die here in the desert. Now you also want to boss us around! </span><span class="v4_16_14"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.14" class="v4_16_14">14</span>You keep promising us rich farmlands with fertile fields and vineyards—but where are they? Stop trying to trick these people. No, we won't come to see you.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_15"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.15" class="v4_16_15">15</span>Moses was very angry and said to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, “Don't listen to these men! I haven't done anything wrong to them. I haven't taken as much as a donkey.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_16"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.16" class="v4_16_16">16</span>Then he said to Korah, “Tomorrow you and your followers must go with Aaron to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s sacred tent. </span><span class="v4_16_17"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.17" class="v4_16_17">17</span>Each of you take along your fire pan with incense in it and offer the incense to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_18"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.18" class="v4_16_18">18</span>The next day the men placed incense and coals in their fire pans and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the sacred tent. </span><span class="v4_16_19"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.19" class="v4_16_19">19</span>Meanwhile, Korah had convinced the rest of the Israelites to rebel against their two leaders.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_19">When that happened, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> appeared in all his glory </span><span class="v4_16_20"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.20" class="v4_16_20">20</span>and said to Moses and Aaron, </span><span class="v4_16_21"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.21" class="v4_16_21">21</span>“Get away from the rest of the Israelites so I can kill them at once!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_22"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.22" class="v4_16_22">22</span>But the two men bowed down and prayed, “Our God, you gave these people life. Why would you punish everyone here when only one man has sinned?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_23"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.23" class="v4_16_23">23</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> answered Moses, </span><span class="v4_16_24"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.24" class="v4_16_24">24</span>“Tell the people to stay away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_25"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.25" class="v4_16_25">25</span>Moses walked over to Dathan and Abiram, and the other leaders of Israel followed. </span><span class="v4_16_26"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.26" class="v4_16_26">26</span>Then Moses warned the people, “Get away from the tents of these sinful men! Don't touch anything that belongs to them or you'll be wiped out.” </span><span class="v4_16_27"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.27" class="v4_16_27">27</span>So everyone moved away from those tents, except Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their families.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_28"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.28" class="v4_16_28">28</span>Moses said to the crowd, “The <span class="nd">Lord</span> has chosen me and told me to do these things—it wasn't my idea. And here's how you will know: </span><span class="v4_16_29"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.29" class="v4_16_29">29</span>If these men die a natural death, it means the <span class="nd">Lord</span> hasn't chosen me. </span><span class="v4_16_30"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.30" class="v4_16_30">30</span>But suppose the <span class="nd">Lord</span> does something that has never been done before. For example, what if a huge crack appears in the ground, and these men and their families fall into it and are buried alive, together with everything they own? Then you will know they have turned their backs on the <span class="nd">Lord</span>!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_31"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.31" class="v4_16_31">31</span>As soon as Moses said this, the ground under the men opened up </span><span class="v4_16_32"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.32-Num.16.33" class="v4_16_32">32-33</span>and swallowed them alive, together with their families and everything they owned. Then the ground closed back up, and they were gone.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_34"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.34" class="v4_16_34">34</span>The rest of the Israelites heard their screams, so they ran off, shouting, “We don't want that to happen to us!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_35"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.35" class="v4_16_35">35</span>Suddenly the <span class="nd">Lord</span> sent a fire that burned up the 250 men who had offered incense to him.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_36"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.36" class="v4_16_36">36</span>Then the <span class="nd">Lord</span> said to Moses, </span><span class="v4_16_37"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.37" class="v4_16_37">37</span>“Tell Aaron's son Eleazar to take the fire pans from the smoldering fire and scatter the coals. The pans are now sacred, </span><span class="v4_16_38"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.38" class="v4_16_38">38</span>because they were used for offering incense to me. Have them hammered into a thin layer of bronze as a covering for the altar. Those men died because of their sin, and now their fire pans will become a warning for the rest of the community.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_39"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.39" class="v4_16_39">39</span>Eleazar collected the pans and had them hammered into a thin layer of bronze as a covering for the altar, </span><span class="v4_16_40"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.40" class="v4_16_40">40</span>just as the <span class="nd">Lord</span> had told Moses. The pans were a warning to the Israelites that only Aaron's descendants would be allowed to offer incense to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>. Anyone else who tried to would be punished like Korah and his followers.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The Israelites Rebel and Are Punished</h3><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_41"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.41" class="v4_16_41">41</span>The next day the people of Israel again complained against Moses and Aaron, “The two of you killed some of the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s people!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_42"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.42" class="v4_16_42">42</span>As the people crowded around them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the sacred tent, and the <span class="nd">Lord</span> appeared in his glory in the cloud covering the tent. </span><span class="v4_16_43"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.43" class="v4_16_43">43</span>So Moses and Aaron walked to the front of the tent, </span><span class="v4_16_44"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.44" class="v4_16_44">44</span><a href="#Num.16.44!x.1" id="link_Num.16.44!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> where the <span class="nd">Lord</span> said to them, </span><span class="v4_16_45"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.45" class="v4_16_45">45</span>“Stand back! I am going to wipe out these Israelites once and for all.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_45">They immediately bowed down and prayed. </span><span class="v4_16_46"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.46" class="v4_16_46">46</span>Then Moses told Aaron, “Grab your fire pan and fill it with hot coals from the altar. Put incense in it, then quickly take it to where the people are and offer it to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, so they can be forgiven. The <span class="nd">Lord</span> is very angry, and people have already started dying!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_47"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.47-Num.16.48" class="v4_16_47">47-48</span>Aaron did exactly what he had been told. He ran over to the crowd of people and stood between the dead bodies and the people who were still alive. He placed the incense on the pan, then offered it to the <span class="nd">Lord</span> and asked him to forgive the people's sin. The disease immediately stopped spreading, and no one else died from it. </span><span class="v4_16_49"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.49" class="v4_16_49">49</span>But 14,700 Israelites were dead, not counting those who had died with Korah and his followers.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_16_50"><span class="reftext" id="Num.16.50" class="v4_16_50">50</span>Aaron walked back and stood with Moses at the sacred tent.</span></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">16.1,2 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Dathan, Abiram, and On: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew “Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">16.4 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">he knelt down to pray: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “he fell to his knees in sorrow.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">16.6,7 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Get some fire pans … his priest: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Only priests could offer incense at the sacred altar; anyone else who tried would be killed. In this case, the man who lived would be the one the <char style="nd">Lord</char> had chosen.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. 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