民數記16:1-50

16:1 利未的曾孫、哥轄的孫子、以斯哈的兒子可拉，和流便子孫中以利押的兒子大坍、亞比蘭，與比勒的兒子安，
16:2 並以色列會中的二百五十個首領，就是有名望選入會中的人，在摩西面前一同起來，
16:3 聚集攻擊摩西、亞倫，說：「你們擅自專權！全會眾個個既是聖潔，耶和華也在他們中間，你們為甚麼自高，超過耶和華的會眾呢？」
16:4 摩西聽見這話就俯伏在地，
16:5 對可拉和他一黨的人說：「到了早晨，耶和華必指示誰是屬他的，誰是聖潔的，就叫誰親近他；他所揀選的是誰，必叫誰親近他。
16:6 可拉啊，你們要這樣行，你和你的一黨要拿香爐來。
16:7 明日，在耶和華面前，把火盛在爐中，把香放在其上。耶和華揀選誰，誰就為聖潔。你們這利未的子孫擅自專權了！」
16:8 摩西又對可拉說：「利未的子孫哪，你們聽我說！
16:9 以色列的上帝從以色列會中將你們分別出來，使你們親近他，辦耶和華帳幕的事，並站在會眾面前替他們當差。
16:10 耶和華又使你和你一切弟兄─利未的子孫─一同親近他，這豈為小事？你們還要求祭司的職任嗎？
16:11 你和你一黨的人聚集是要攻擊耶和華。亞倫算甚麼，你們竟向他發怨言呢？」
16:12 摩西打發人去召以利押的兒子大坍、亞比蘭。他們說：「我們不上去！
16:13 你將我們從流奶與蜜之地領上來，要在曠野殺我們，這豈為小事？你還要自立為王轄管我們嗎？
16:14 並且你沒有將我們領到流奶與蜜之地，也沒有把田地和葡萄園給我們為業。難道你要剜這些人的眼睛嗎？我們不上去！」
16:15 摩西就甚發怒，對耶和華說：「求你不要享受他們的供物。我並沒有奪過他們一匹驢，也沒有害過他們一個人。」
16:16 摩西對可拉說：「明天，你和你一黨的人，並亞倫，都要站在耶和華面前；
16:17 各人要拿一個香爐，共二百五十個，把香放在上面，到耶和華面前。你和亞倫也各拿自己的香爐。」
16:18 於是他們各人拿一個香爐，盛上火，加上香，同摩西、亞倫站在會幕門前。
16:19 可拉招聚全會眾到會幕門前，要攻擊摩西、亞倫；耶和華的榮光就向全會眾顯現。
16:20 耶和華曉諭摩西、亞倫說：
16:21 「你們離開這會眾，我好在轉眼之間把他們滅絕。」
16:22 摩西、亞倫就俯伏在地，說：「上帝，萬人之靈的上帝啊，一人犯罪，你就要向全會眾發怒嗎？」
16:23 耶和華曉諭摩西說：
16:24 「你吩咐會眾說：『你們離開可拉、大坍、亞比蘭帳棚的四圍。』」
16:25 摩西起來，往大坍、亞比蘭那裡去；以色列的長老也隨著他去。
16:26 他吩咐會眾說：「你們離開這惡人的帳棚吧，他們的物件，甚麼都不可摸，恐怕你們陷在他們的罪中，與他們一同消滅。」
16:27 於是眾人離開可拉、大坍、亞比蘭帳棚的四圍。大坍、亞比蘭帶著妻子、兒女、小孩子，都出來，站在自己的帳棚門口。
16:28 摩西說：「我行的這一切事本不是憑我自己心意行的，乃是耶和華打發我行的，必有證據使你們知道。
16:29 這些人死若與世人無異，或是他們所遭的與世人相同，就不是耶和華打發我來的。
16:30 倘若耶和華創作一件新事，使地開口，把他們和一切屬他們的都吞下去，叫他們活活地墜落陰間，你們就明白這些人是藐視耶和華了。」
16:31 摩西剛說完了這一切話，他們腳下的地就開了口，
16:32 把他們和他們的家眷，並一切屬可拉的人丁、財物，都吞下去。
16:33 這樣，他們和一切屬他們的，都活活地墜落陰間；地口在他們上頭照舊合閉，他們就從會中滅亡。
16:34 在他們四圍的以色列眾人聽他們呼號，就都逃跑，說：「恐怕地也把我們吞下去。」
16:35 又有火從耶和華那裡出來，燒滅了那獻香的二百五十個人。
16:36 耶和華曉諭摩西說：
16:37 「你吩咐祭司亞倫的兒子以利亞撒從火中撿起那些香爐來，把火撒在別處，因為那些香爐是聖的。
16:38 把那些犯罪、自害己命之人的香爐，叫人錘成片子，用以包壇。那些香爐本是他們在耶和華面前獻過的，所以是聖的，並且可以給以色列人作記號。」
16:39 於是祭司以利亞撒將被燒之人所獻的銅香爐拿來，人就錘出來，用以包壇，
16:40 給以色列人作紀念，使亞倫後裔之外的人不得近前來在耶和華面前燒香，免得他遭可拉和他一黨所遭的。這乃是照耶和華藉著摩西所吩咐的。
16:41 第二天，以色列全會眾都向摩西、亞倫發怨言說：「你們殺了耶和華的百姓了。」
16:42 會眾聚集攻擊摩西、亞倫的時候，向會幕觀看，不料，有雲彩遮蓋了，耶和華的榮光顯現。
16:43 摩西、亞倫就來到會幕前。
16:44 耶和華吩咐摩西說：
16:45 「你們離開這會眾，我好在轉眼之間把他們滅絕。」他們二人就俯伏於地。
16:46 摩西對亞倫說：「拿你的香爐，把壇上的火盛在其中，又加上香，快快帶到會眾那裡，為他們贖罪；因為有忿怒從耶和華那裡出來，瘟疫已經發作了。」
16:47 亞倫照著摩西所說的拿來，跑到會中，不料，瘟疫在百姓中已經發作了。他就加上香，為百姓贖罪。
16:48 他站在活人死人中間，瘟疫就止住了。
16:49 除了因可拉事情死的以外，遭瘟疫死的，共有一萬四千七百人。
16:50 亞倫回到會幕門口，到摩西那裡，瘟疫已經止住了。

 Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolent^{[a] 2} and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. ³ They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”

⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. ⁵ Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. ⁶ You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers ⁷ and tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”

⁸ Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! ⁹ Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? ¹⁰ He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. ¹¹ It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?”

¹² Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come! ¹³ Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you also want to lord it over us! ¹⁴ Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you want to treat these men like slaves^[b]? No, we will not come!”

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.”

¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the Lord tomorrow—you and they and Aaron. ¹⁷ Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it—250 censers in all—and present it before the Lord. You and Aaron are to present your censers also.” ¹⁸ So each of them took his censer, put burning coals and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹⁹ When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord appeared to the entire assembly. ²⁰ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.”

²² But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?”

²³ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”

²⁵ Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ He warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” ²⁷ So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.

²⁸ Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: ²⁹ If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.”

³¹ As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. ³³ They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. ³⁴ At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”

³⁵ And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

³⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the censers from the charred remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy— ³⁸ the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the Lord and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites.”

³⁹ So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, ⁴⁰ as the Lord directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the Lord, or he would become like Korah and his followers.

⁴¹ The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the Lord’s people,” they said.

⁴² But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the tent of meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ and the Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁵ “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” And they fell facedown.

⁴⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.” ⁴⁷ So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. ⁴⁸ He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. ⁴⁹ But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. ⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped.

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    利未的曾孫、哥轄的孫子、以斯哈的兒子可拉，和流便子孫中以利押的兒子大坍、亞比蘭，與比勒的兒子安，並以色列會中的二百五十個首領，就是有名望選入會中的人，在摩西面前一同起來，聚集攻擊摩西、亞倫。

    這是多麼可怕的「政治事件」，但是摩西和亞倫並不驚慌，他們俯伏在地，不是屈服而是敬拜上帝，是仰望上帝，所以摩西可以勇敢說出：「到了早晨，耶和華必指示誰是屬他的，誰是聖潔的，就叫誰親近他；他所揀選的是誰，必叫誰親近他。可拉啊，你們要這樣行，你和你的一黨要拿香爐來。明日，在耶和華面前，把火盛在爐中，把香放在其上。耶和華揀選誰，誰就為聖潔。你們這利未的子孫擅自專權了！」

    摩西知道他們爭的是要做祭司的職位，但是這樣的職位不是摩西和亞倫定的，是上帝做的決定，若是不滿是反抗上帝，不是反抗亞倫，這是多麼嚴重的事情！正如在教會反對傳道人，就是反對上帝！因為傳道人是上帝呼召的，是代表上帝執行教會的事奉。這也是許多自以為是、好為大的人沒有想到的！這樣的事，不僅讓他們自己受害還會傷害到跟隨的人，正如這裡所說的！

    因此，教會要講次序與規矩，正如保羅所說：「凡事都要規規矩矩地按著次序行」(哥林多前書14:40)。「因為上帝不是叫人混亂，乃是叫人安靜。」(哥林多前書14:33)

       要小心！混亂是來自魔鬼，不是聖靈！