Day 67 of 730

¹Now 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:

²and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown;

³and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, "You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and the Lord is among them: why then lift yourselves up above the assembly of the Lord?"

⁴When Moses heard it, he fell on his face:

⁵and he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, "In the morning the Lord will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he shall choose he will cause to come near to him.

⁶Do this: take censers, Korah, and all his company;

⁷and put fire in them, and put incense on them before the Lord tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses, he shall be holy. You have gone too far, you sons of Levi!"

⁸Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi!

⁹Is it a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has 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 to them;

¹⁰and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? and do you seek the priesthood also?

¹¹Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord: and Aaron, what is he that you murmur against him?"

¹²Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, "We won't come up:

¹³is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also make yourself a prince over us?

¹⁴Moreover you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: will you put out the eyes of these men? We won't come up."

¹⁵Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, "Do not respect their offering: I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them."

¹⁶Moses said to Korah, "You and all your company go before the Lord, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow:

¹⁷and each man take his censer, and put incense on them, and each man bring before the Lord his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer."

¹⁸They each took 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.

¹⁹Korah assembled all the congregation against them to the door of the Tent of Meeting: and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

²¹"Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!"

²²They fell on their faces, and said, "God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?"

²³The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁴"Speak to the congregation, saying, 'Get away from around the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram!'"

²⁵Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

²⁶He spoke to the congregation, saying, "Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins!"

²⁷So they went away from the tent 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.

²⁸Moses said, "Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my 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 hasn't sent me.

³⁰But if the Lord make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain to them, and they go down alive into Sheol; then you shall understand that these men have despised the Lord."

³¹It happened, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground split apart that was under them;

³²and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who appertained to Korah, and all their goods.

³³So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into Sheol: and the earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly.

³⁴All Israel that were around them fled at their cry; for they said, "Lest the earth swallow us up!"

³⁵Fire came forth from the Lord, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.

³⁶The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

³⁷"Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire yonder; for they are holy,

³⁸even the censers of these sinners against their own lives; and let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the Lord; therefore they are holy; and they shall be a sign to the children of Israel."

³⁹Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burnt had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar,

⁴⁰to be a memorial to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger, who isn't of the seed of Aaron, comes near to burn incense before the Lord; that he not be as Korah, and as his company: as the Lord spoke to him by Moses.

⁴¹But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, "You have killed the Lord's people!"

⁴²It happened, 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 the Lord appeared.

⁴³Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting.

⁴⁴The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴⁵"Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!" They fell on their faces.

⁴⁶Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer, and put fire from off the altar in it, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the Lord! The plague has begun."

⁴⁷Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague has begun among the people: and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.

⁴⁸He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.

⁴⁹Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those who died about the matter of Korah.

⁵⁰Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the Tent of Meeting: and the plague was stayed.

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Speak to the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods: write every man's name on his rod.

³You shall write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi; for there shall be one rod for each head of their fathers' houses.

⁴You shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you.

⁵It shall happen, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you."

⁶Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

⁷Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.

⁸It happened on the next day, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.

⁹Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

¹⁰The Lord said to Moses, "Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their murmurings against me, that they not die."

¹¹Moses did so. As the Lord commanded him, so he did.

¹²The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, "Behold, we perish! We are undone! We are all undone!

¹³Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, dies! Will we all perish?"

¹May God be merciful to us, bless us, and cause his face to shine on us. Selah.

²That your way may be known on earth, and your salvation among all nations,

³let the peoples praise you, God. Let all the peoples praise you.

⁴Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you will judge the peoples with equity, and govern the nations on earth. Selah.

⁵Let the peoples praise you, God. Let all the peoples praise you.

⁶The earth has yielded its increase. God, even our own God, will bless us.

⁷God will bless us. All the ends of the earth shall fear him.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:

²that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.

³For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,

⁴But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.

⁶She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.

⁷Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove your way far from her. Do not come near the door of her house,

⁹lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house.

¹¹You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹²and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹³neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."

¹⁵Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹A loving doe and a graceful deer- let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

²⁰For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. He examines all his paths.

²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

²³He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.