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Shabbat Shalom!
Welcome to Korach / Korah - this week’s Torah reading

Prophecy 12, 60, 153;
Numbers 16:1–18:32;
Isaiah 66:1-24;
Mark 9:40-50;



Numbers 16:1–18:32;

1 And Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, took also Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, the sons of Reuben;
2 and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty rulers of the congregation, elect men of the assembly, men of name.
3 And they were assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take too much! For all the congregation, all of them are holy, and YAHUVEH is among them. Why then do you lift up yourselves above the assembly of YAHUVEH?
4 And Moses heard and fell on his face.
5 And he spoke to Korah, and to all his company, saying, In the morning YAHUVEH will know who are His, and him who is holy, and shall cause him to come near Him; even him whom He may choose, He will cause to come near to Him.
6 Do this: take fire-pans for your-selves, Korah, and all his company,
7 and put fire in them, and put incense on them before YAHUVEH tomorrow; and it shall be, the man whom YAHUVEH chooses, he shall be the holy one. You take too much, sons of Levi!
8 And Moses said to Korah, Hear now, you sons of Levi,
9 is it too little a thing to you that the ELOHIM of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of YAHUVEH, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them?
10 Yea, He has brought you near, and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. And will you seek the priesthood also?
11 Therefore, you and all your company that have gathered against YAHUVEH, What is Aaron that you murmur against him?
12 And Moses sent to call for Dathan and for Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, We will not come up.
13 Is 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 must you also seize dominion over us?
14 Yea, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance in fields and vineyards; will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!
15 And Moses was very angry, and said to YAHUVEH, Do not respect their offering; I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I done evil to one of them.
16 And Moses said to Korah, You and all your company, you be there before YAHUVEH, you and they, and Aaron tomorrow.
17 And each one take his fire-pan, and you shall put incense on them, and shall offer before YAHUVEH, each his fire-pan, two hundred and fifty fire-pans; even you and Aaron, each his fire-pan.
18 And they each took his fire-pan, and put fire on them, and lay incense on them, and they stood at the door of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron.
19 And Korah assembled all the congregation against them, to the door of the tent of meeting, and the glory of YAHUVEH was seen by all the congregation.
20 And YAHUVEH spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
21 Separate yourselves from the midst of this company, and I will consume them in a moment.
22 And they fell on their faces, and said, O ELOHIM, ELOHIM of the spirits of all flesh; shall one man sin, and will You be angry with all the congregation?
23 And YAHUVEH spoke to Moses, saying,
24 Speak to the congregation, saying, You get away from around the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
25 And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel went after him.
26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, Please turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that they have, lest you be consumed in all their sins.
27 And they got away from around the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out, standing at the door of their tents, and their wives, their sons, and their infants.
28 And Moses said, By this you shall know that YAHUVEH has sent me to do all these works, and that not from my own heart.
29 If these die according to the death of all men, and are visited according to the visitation of all men, then YAHUVEH has not sent me.
30 And if YAHUVEH makes a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them, and all that they have, and they go down alive to Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised YAHUVEH.
31 And it happened, as he made an end of speaking all these words, the ground which was under them split apart,
32 and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them, and their houses, and all the men who were for Korah, and all their possessions.
33 And they went down, they and all that they had, alive to Sheol, and the earth covered over them; and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
34 And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up.
35 And fire came forth from YAHUVEH and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense.
36 And YAHUVEH spoke to Moses, saying,
37 Speak to Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, and he shall lift up the fire-pans from the midst of the burning, and shall scatter the fire yonder, for they have become holy,
38 the fire-pans of these sinners against their own souls. And they shall make of them spread out plates, a covering for the altar, for they have brought them near before YAHUVEH, and they are holy. And they shall become a sign to the sons of Israel.
39 And Eleazar the priest took the bronze fire-pans, which they who were burned had brought near, and they spread them out, a covering for the altar,
40 a memorial to the sons of Israel, so that an alien who is not of the seed of Aaron shall not draw near to offer incense before YAHUVEH, and shall not be as Korah, and as his company; as YAHUVEH had spoken by the hand of Moses to him.
41 And all the congregation of the sons of Israel murmured on the next day against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of YAHUVEH.
42 And it happened, as the company was called together against Moses and against Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting. And, behold, the cloud had covered it, and the glory of YAHUVEH appeared!
43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tabernacle of the congregation.
44 And YAHUVEH spoke to Moses, saying,
45 Get away from the midst of this company, and I shall consume them in a moment; and they fell on their faces.
46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take the fire-pan, and put fire on it from the altar, and lay on incense, and go, hurry to the congregation, and atone for them, for the wrath has gone out from the presence of YAHUVEH; the plague has begun.
47 And Aaron did as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly. And, behold, the plague had begun among the people! And he laid on the incense and atoned for the people,
48 and stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed.
49 And those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those who died for the matter of Korah.
50 And Aaron turned back to Moses, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and the plague was stayed.

*~ Numbers Chapter 17 ~*

1 And YAHUVEH spoke to Moses, saying,
2 Speak to the sons of Israel, and take from each of them a rod, for a father's house, from all their rulers, for the house of their fathers, twelve rods. You shall write the name of each on his rod.
3 And you shall write Aaron's name on the staff of the tribe of Levi; for one rod shall be for the head of their fathers' house.
4 And you shall place them in the tent of meeting, before the testimony, where I shall meet with you.
5 And it shall be that the man's rod which I choose shall blossom. And I shall cause the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against you, to stop from Me.
6 And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their rulers gave to him one rod for each ruler, one rod for a ruler, for their fathers' house, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among the rods.
7 And Moses placed the rods before YAHUVEH, in the tent of the testimony.
8 And it happened on the next day, Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and, behold! The rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had budded, and put forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.
9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before YAHUVEH to all the sons of Israel. And they looked, and each one took his rod.
10 And YAHUVEH said to Moses, Put back the rod of Aaron, before the testimony, to be kept as a token to the sons of rebellion. And you shall end their murmurings from Me; and they shall not die.
11 And Moses did as YAHUVEH had commanded him; so he did.
12 And the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.
13 Anyone who draws near to the tabernacle of YAHUVEH shall die; shall we be consumed to die?

*~ Numbers Chapter 18 ~*

1 And YAHUVEH said to Aaron, You, and your sons, and your father's house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary. And you, and your sons with you, shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood;
2 and also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, you shall bring near with you, that they may be joined to you and may minister to you, you and your sons in your being before the tent of the testimony.
3 And they shall keep your charge and the charge of all the tabernacle; only, they shall not go near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar. And they shall not die, either they or you.
4 And they shall be joined to you, and shall keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tabernacle, and a foreigner shall not go near to you.
5 And you shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar, and there shall be no more wrath against the sons of Israel.
6 And I, behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel; as a gift they are given to you by YAHUVEH, to do the service of the tent of meeting.
7 And you, and your sons with you, shall keep your priesthood, in everything that pertains to the altar, and to that inside the veil. And you shall serve; I have given you the priesthood as a service of gift; and the stranger who comes near shall be caused to die.
8 And YAHUVEH spoke to Aaron, saying, And I, behold, I have given to you the charge of My heave offerings, of all the devoted things of the sons of Israel. I have given them to you for the anointing, and to your sons, by a perpetual statute.
9 This shall be yours of the most holy things, from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every food offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every guilt offering of theirs, which they may render to Me; it shall be most holy to you, and to your sons.
10 You shall eat it in the Holy of Holies; every male shall eat it; it shall be holy to you.
11 And this is yours, the heave offering of their gift with all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons, and to your daughters with you, by a never ending statute; every clean one in your house shall eat it.
12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine, and wheat, the first fruits of them which they give to YAHUVEH, I have given to you.
13 The first-fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring in to YAHUVEH shall be yours; every clean one in your house shall eat it;
14 every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours;
15 every one opening a womb of all flesh which they offer to YAHUVEH, among man and among animal, shall be yours. Only, you shall certainly redeem the first-born of man, and you shall redeem the firstling of the unclean beasts.
16 And their redeemed ones, from a month old, you shall redeem with your valuation of silver, five shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary; it is twenty gerahs.
17 But the firstling of an ox, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and you shall burn their fat as incense, a fire offering of soothing fragrance to YAHUVEH.
18 And their flesh shall be yours, as the breast of the wave offering, and as the right leg; it shall be yours.
19 All the heave offerings of the holy things which the sons of Israel shall lift up to YAHUVEH, I have given to you and to your sons, and to your daughters with you, by a never ending statute, a covenant of salt, it shall be forever before YAHUVEH to you and to your seed with you.
20 And YAHUVEH said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.
21 And, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel to the sons of Levi for an inheritance, in return for their service which they are serving, the service of the tent of meeting.
22 And the sons of Israel shall not come near to the tent of meeting any more, lest they bear sin, and die.
23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a never ending statute throughout your generations, that in the midst of the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance;
24 but the tithes of the sons of Israel which they shall lift up to YAHUVEH, a heave offering, I have given to the Levites for inheritance; therefore I have said to them, They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.
25 And YAHUVEH spoke to Moses, saying,
26 And you shall say to the Levites; and you shall speak to them, When you take the tithe from the sons of Israel, which I have given to you from them, for your inheritance, then you shall lift from it a heave offering of YAHUVEH, a tithe of the tithe.
27 And your heave offering shall be counted to you as grain from the threshing floor, and as fullness from the winepress.
28 So you also shall lift up the heave offering of YAHUVEH from all your tithes which you receive from the sons of Israel. And you shall give from it the heave offering of YAHUVEH to Aaron the priest.
29 You shall lift up the whole heave offering of YAHUVEH out of all your gifts, out of all its fat, its holy part, out of it.
30 And you shall say to them, When you lift up its fat out of it, then it shall be counted to the Levites as increase of a threshing floor, and as increase of a winepress.
31 And you shall eat it in every place, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.
32 And you shall bear no sin because of it, since you have lifted up from it the best of it. And you shall not profane the holy things of the sons of Israel so that you may not die.