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Now Korach the son of Yitz'har, the son of K'hat, the son of Levi, along with Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av, and On, the son of Pelet, descendants of Re'uven, took men and rebelled against Moshe. Siding with them were 250 men of Isra'el, leaders of the community, key members of the council, men of reputation. They assembled themselves against Moshe and Aharon and said to them, "You take too much on yourselves! After all, the entire community is holy, every one of them, and Adonai is among them. So why do you lift yourselves up above Adonai 's assembly?" When Moshe heard this he fell on his face. Then he said to Korach and his whole group, "In the morning, Adonai will show who are his and who is the holy person he will allow to approach him. Yes, he will bring whomever he chooses near to himself. Do this: take censers, Korach and all your group; put fire in them; and put incense in them before Adonai tomorrow. The one whom Adonai chooses will be the one who is holy! It is you, you sons of Levi, who are taking too much on yourselves!" Then Moshe said to Korach, "Listen here, you sons of Levi! Is it for you a mere trifle that the God of Isra'el has separated you from the community of Isra'el to bring you close to himself, so that you can do the work in the tabernacle of Adonai and stand before the community serving them? He has brought you close and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you. Now you want the office of cohen too! That's why you and your group have gathered together against Adonai ! After all, what is Aharon that you complain against him?" Then Moshe sent to summon Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av. But they replied, "We won't come up! Is it such a mere trifle, bringing us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that now you arrogate to yourself the role of dictator over us? (ii) You haven't at all brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and you haven't put us in possession of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can gouge out these men's eyes and blind them? We won't come up!" Moshe was very angry and said to Adonai , "Don't accept their grain offering! I haven't taken one donkey from them, I've done nothing wrong to any of them." Moshe said to Korach, "You and your group, be there before Adonai tomorrow — you, they and Aharon. Each of you take his fire pan and put incense in it; every one of you, bring before Adonai his fire pan, 250 fire pans, you too, and Aharon — each one his fire pan." Each man took his fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it and stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting with Moshe and Aharon. Korach assembled all the group who were against them at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then the glory of Adonai appeared to the whole assembly. (iii) Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, "Separate yourselves from this assembly; I'm going to destroy them right now!" They fell on their faces and said, "Oh God, God of the spirits of all humankind, if one person sins, are you going to be angry with the entire assembly?" Adonai answered Moshe, "Tell the assembly to move away from the homes of Korach, Datan and Aviram." Moshe got up and went to Datan and Aviram, and the leaders of Isra'el followed him. There he said to the assembly, "Leave the tents of these wicked men! Don't touch anything that belongs to them, or you may be swept away in all their sins." So they moved away from all around the area where Korach, Datan and Aviram lived. Then Datan and Aviram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents with their wives, sons and little ones. Moshe said, "Here is how you will know that Adonai has sent me to do all these things and that I haven't done them out of my own ambition: if these men die a natural death like other people, only sharing the fate common to all humanity, then Adonai has not sent me. But if Adonai does something new — if the ground opens up and swallows them with everything they own, and they go down alive to Sh'ol — then you will understand that these men have had contempt for Adonai ." The moment he finished speaking, the ground under them split apart — the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all the people who had sided with Korach and everything they owned. So they and everything they owned went down alive into Sh'ol, the earth closed over them and their existence in the community ceased. All Isra'el around them fled at their shrieks, shouting, "The earth might swallow us too!" Then fire came out from Adonai and destroyed the 250 men who had offered the incense.

Now Korach the son of Yitz'har, the son of K'hat, the son of Levi, along with Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av, and On, the son of Pelet, descendants of Re'uven, took men and rebelled against Moshe. Siding with them were 250 men of Isra'el, leaders of the community, key members of the council, men of reputation. They assembled themselves against Moshe and Aharon and said to them, "You take too much on yourselves! After all, the entire community is holy, every one of them, and Adonai is among them. So why do you lift yourselves up above Adonai 's assembly?" When Moshe heard this he fell on his face. Then he said to Korach and his whole group, "In the morning, Adonai will show who are his and who is the holy person he will allow to approach him. Yes, he will bring whomever he chooses near to himself. Do this: take censers, Korach and all your group; put fire in them; and put incense in them before Adonai tomorrow. The one whom Adonai chooses will be the one who is holy! It is you, you sons of Levi, who are taking too much on yourselves!" Then Moshe said to Korach, "Listen here, you sons of Levi! Is it for you a mere trifle that the God of Isra'el has separated you from the community of Isra'el to bring you close to himself, so that you can do the work in the tabernacle of Adonai and stand before the community serving them? He has brought you close and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you. Now you want the office of cohen too! That's why you and your group have gathered together against Adonai ! After all, what is Aharon that you complain against him?" Then Moshe sent to summon Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av. But they replied, "We won't come up! Is it such a mere trifle, bringing us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that now you arrogate to yourself the role of dictator over us? (ii) You haven't at all brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and you haven't put us in possession of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can gouge out these men's eyes and blind them? We won't come up!" Moshe was very angry and said to Adonai , "Don't accept their grain offering! I haven't taken one donkey from them, I've done nothing wrong to any of them." Moshe said to Korach, "You and your group, be there before Adonai tomorrow — you, they and Aharon. Each of you take his fire pan and put incense in it; every one of you, bring before Adonai his fire pan, 250 fire pans, you too, and Aharon — each one his fire pan." Each man took his fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it and stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting with Moshe and Aharon. Korach assembled all the group who were against them at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then the glory of Adonai appeared to the whole assembly. (iii) Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, "Separate yourselves from this assembly; I'm going to destroy them right now!" They fell on their faces and said, "Oh God, God of the spirits of all humankind, if one person sins, are you going to be angry with the entire assembly?" Adonai answered Moshe, "Tell the assembly to move away from the homes of Korach, Datan and Aviram." Moshe got up and went to Datan and Aviram, and the leaders of Isra'el followed him. There he said to the assembly, "Leave the tents of these wicked men! Don't touch anything that belongs to them, or you may be swept away in all their sins." So they moved away from all around the area where Korach, Datan and Aviram lived. Then Datan and Aviram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents with their wives, sons and little ones. Moshe said, "Here is how you will know that Adonai has sent me to do all these things and that I haven't done them out of my own ambition: if these men die a natural death like other people, only sharing the fate common to all humanity, then Adonai has not sent me. But if Adonai does something new — if the ground opens up and swallows them with everything they own, and they go down alive to Sh'ol — then you will understand that these men have had contempt for Adonai ." The moment he finished speaking, the ground under them split apart — the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all the people who had sided with Korach and everything they owned. So they and everything they owned went down alive into Sh'ol, the earth closed over them and their existence in the community ceased. All Isra'el around them fled at their shrieks, shouting, "The earth might swallow us too!" Then fire came out from Adonai and destroyed the 250 men who had offered the incense.

Now Korach the son of Yitz'har, the son of K'hat, the son of Levi, along with Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av, and On, the son of Pelet, descendants of Re'uven, took men and rebelled against Moshe. Siding with them were 250 men of Isra'el, leaders of the community, key members of the council, men of reputation. They assembled themselves against Moshe and Aharon and said to them, "You take too much on yourselves! After all, the entire community is holy, every one of them, and Adonai is among them. So why do you lift yourselves up above Adonai 's assembly?" When Moshe heard this he fell on his face. Then he said to Korach and his whole group, "In the morning, Adonai will show who are his and who is the holy person he will allow to approach him. Yes, he will bring whomever he chooses near to himself. Do this: take censers, Korach and all your group; put fire in them; and put incense in them before Adonai tomorrow. The one whom Adonai chooses will be the one who is holy! It is you, you sons of Levi, who are taking too much on yourselves!" Then Moshe said to Korach, "Listen here, you sons of Levi! Is it for you a mere trifle that the God of Isra'el has separated you from the community of Isra'el to bring you close to himself, so that you can do the work in the tabernacle of Adonai and stand before the community serving them? He has brought you close and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you. Now you want the office of cohen too! That's why you and your group have gathered together against Adonai ! After all, what is Aharon that you complain against him?" Then Moshe sent to summon Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av. But they replied, "We won't come up! Is it such a mere trifle, bringing us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that now you arrogate to yourself the role of dictator over us? (ii) You haven't at all brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and you haven't put us in possession of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can gouge out these men's eyes and blind them? We won't come up!" Moshe was very angry and said to Adonai , "Don't accept their grain offering! I haven't taken one donkey from them, I've done nothing wrong to any of them." Moshe said to Korach, "You and your group, be there before Adonai tomorrow — you, they and Aharon. Each of you take his fire pan and put incense in it; every one of you, bring before Adonai his fire pan, 250 fire pans, you too, and Aharon — each one his fire pan." Each man took his fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it and stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting with Moshe and Aharon. Korach assembled all the group who were against them at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then the glory of Adonai appeared to the whole assembly. (iii) Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, "Separate yourselves from this assembly; I'm going to destroy them right now!" They fell on their faces and said, "Oh God, God of the spirits of all humankind, if one person sins, are you going to be angry with the entire assembly?" Adonai answered Moshe, "Tell the assembly to move away from the homes of Korach, Datan and Aviram." Moshe got up and went to Datan and Aviram, and the leaders of Isra'el followed him. There he said to the assembly, "Leave the tents of these wicked men! Don't touch anything that belongs to them, or you may be swept away in all their sins." So they moved away from all around the area where Korach, Datan and Aviram lived. Then Datan and Aviram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents with their wives, sons and little ones. Moshe said, "Here is how you will know that Adonai has sent me to do all these things and that I haven't done them out of my own ambition: if these men die a natural death like other people, only sharing the fate common to all humanity, then Adonai has not sent me. But if Adonai does something new — if the ground opens up and swallows them with everything they own, and they go down alive to Sh'ol — then you will understand that these men have had contempt for Adonai ." The moment he finished speaking, the ground under them split apart — the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all the people who had sided with Korach and everything they owned. So they and everything they owned went down alive into Sh'ol, the earth closed over them and their existence in the community ceased. All Isra'el around them fled at their shrieks, shouting, "The earth might swallow us too!" Then fire came out from Adonai and destroyed the 250 men who had offered the incense.

Now Korach the son of Yitz'har, the son of K'hat, the son of Levi, along with Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av, and On, the son of Pelet, descendants of Re'uven, took men and rebelled against Moshe. Siding with them were 250 men of Isra'el, leaders of the community, key members of the council, men of reputation. They assembled themselves against Moshe and Aharon and said to them, "You take too much on yourselves! After all, the entire community is holy, every one of them, and Adonai is among them. So why do you lift yourselves up above Adonai 's assembly?" When Moshe heard this he fell on his face. Then he said to Korach and his whole group, "In the morning, Adonai will show who are his and who is the holy person he will allow to approach him. Yes, he will bring whomever he chooses near to himself. Do this: take censers, Korach and all your group; put fire in them; and put incense in them before Adonai tomorrow. The one whom Adonai chooses will be the one who is holy! It is you, you sons of Levi, who are taking too much on yourselves!" Then Moshe said to Korach, "Listen here, you sons of Levi! Is it for you a mere trifle that the God of Isra'el has separated you from the community of Isra'el to bring you close to himself, so that you can do the work in the tabernacle of Adonai and stand before the community serving them? He has brought you close and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you. Now you want the office of cohen too! That's why you and your group have gathered together against Adonai ! After all, what is Aharon that you complain against him?" Then Moshe sent to summon Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av. But they replied, "We won't come up! Is it such a mere trifle, bringing us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that now you arrogate to yourself the role of dictator over us? (ii) You haven't at all brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and you haven't put us in possession of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can gouge out these men's eyes and blind them? We won't come up!" Moshe was very angry and said to Adonai , "Don't accept their grain offering! I haven't taken one donkey from them, I've done nothing wrong to any of them." Moshe said to Korach, "You and your group, be there before Adonai tomorrow — you, they and Aharon. Each of you take his fire pan and put incense in it; every one of you, bring before Adonai his fire pan, 250 fire pans, you too, and Aharon — each one his fire pan." Each man took his fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it and stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting with Moshe and Aharon. Korach assembled all the group who were against them at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then the glory of Adonai appeared to the whole assembly. (iii) Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, "Separate yourselves from this assembly; I'm going to destroy them right now!" They fell on their faces and said, "Oh God, God of the spirits of all humankind, if one person sins, are you going to be angry with the entire assembly?" Adonai answered Moshe, "Tell the assembly to move away from the homes of Korach, Datan and Aviram." Moshe got up and went to Datan and Aviram, and the leaders of Isra'el followed him. There he said to the assembly, "Leave the tents of these wicked men! Don't touch anything that belongs to them, or you may be swept away in all their sins." So they moved away from all around the area where Korach, Datan and Aviram lived. Then Datan and Aviram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents with their wives, sons and little ones. Moshe said, "Here is how you will know that Adonai has sent me to do all these things and that I haven't done them out of my own ambition: if these men die a natural death like other people, only sharing the fate common to all humanity, then Adonai has not sent me. But if Adonai does something new — if the ground opens up and swallows them with everything they own, and they go down alive to Sh'ol — then you will understand that these men have had contempt for Adonai ." The moment he finished speaking, the ground under them split apart — the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all the people who had sided with Korach and everything they owned. So they and everything they owned went down alive into Sh'ol, the earth closed over them and their existence in the community ceased. All Isra'el around them fled at their shrieks, shouting, "The earth might swallow us too!" Then fire came out from Adonai and destroyed the 250 men who had offered the incense.

He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. Those dying from the plague numbered 14,700 — besides those who died in the Korach incident. Aharon returned to Moshe at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped. (v) Adonai said to Moshe, "Speak to the people of Isra'el, and take from them staffs, one for each ancestral tribe from each leader of a tribe, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff; and write Aharon's name on the staff of Levi, for each tribe's leader is to have one staff. Put them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you. The staff of the man I am going to choose will sprout buds — in this way I will put a stop to the complaints the people of Isra'el keep making against you." Moshe spoke to the people of Isra'el, and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their ancestral tribes, twelve staffs. Aharon's staff was among their staffs. Moshe put the staffs before Adonai in the tent of the testimony. The next day Moshe went into the tent of the testimony, and there he saw that Aharon's staff for the house of Levi had budded — it had sprouted not only buds but flowers and ripe almonds as well. Moshe brought out all the staffs from before Adonai to all the people of Isra'el, and they looked, and each man took back his staff. (vi) Adonai said to Moshe, "Return Aharon's staff to its place in front of the testimony. It is to be kept there as a sign to the rebels, so that they will stop grumbling against me and thus not die." Moshe did this; he did as Adonai had ordered him. But the people of Isra'el said to Moshe, "Oh no! We're dead men! Lost! We're all lost! Whenever anyone approaches the tabernacle of Adonai , he dies! Will we all perish?"

They are to be at your disposal and perform all kinds of tasks related to the tent; only they are not to come near the holy furnishings or the altar, so that neither they nor you will die.

You will take charge of all the holy things and the altar, so that there will no longer be anger against the people of Isra'el.

I myself have taken your kinsmen the L'vi'im from among the people of Isra'el; they have been given as a gift to Adonai for you, so that you can perform the service in the tent of meeting.

From now on, the people of Isra'el are not to approach the tent of meeting, so that they will not bear the consequences of their sin and die.

Then the people of Isra'el traveled on and camped in the plains of Mo'av beyond the Yarden River, opposite Yericho. Haftarah Hukkat: Shof'tim (Judges) 11:1–33 B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Hukkat: Yochanan (John) 3:9–21; 4:3–30; 12:27–50 [In regular years read with Parashah 39, in leap years read separately] Now Balak the son of Tzippor saw all that Isra'el had done to the Emori. Mo'av was very afraid of the people, because there were so many of them; Mo'av was overcome with dread because of the people of Isra'el. So Mo'av said to the leaders of Midyan, "This horde will lick up everything around us, the way an ox licks up grass in the field." Balak the son of Tzippor was king of Mo'av at that time. He sent messengers to Bil‘am the son of B‘or, at P'tor by the [Euphrates] River in his native land, to tell him, "Listen, a people has come out of Egypt, spread over all the land and settled down next to me. Therefore, please come, and curse this people for me, because they are stronger than I am. Maybe I will be able to strike them down and drive them out of the land, for I know that whomever you bless is in fact blessed, and whomever you curse is in fact cursed." The leaders of Mo'av and Midyan left, taking with them the payment for divining, came to Bil‘am and spoke to him the words of Balak. He said to them, "Stay here tonight, and I will bring you back whatever answer Adonai tells me." So the princes of Mo'av stayed with Bil‘am. God came to Bil‘am and said, "Who are these men with you?" Bil‘am said to God, "Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo'av, has sent me this message: ‘The people who came out of Egypt have spread over the land; now, come and curse them for me; maybe I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.'" God answered Bil‘am, "You are not to go with them; you are not to curse the people, because they are blessed." (RY: v; LY: ii) Bil‘am got up in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, "Return to your own land, because Adonai refuses to give me permission to go with you." The princes of Mo'av got up, returned to Balak and said, "Bil‘am refuses to come with us." Balak again sent princes, more of them and of higher status than the first group. They went to Bil‘am and said to him, "Here is what Balak the son of Tzippor says: ‘Please don't let anything keep you from coming to me. I will reward you very well, and whatever you say to me I will do. So please come, and curse this people for me.'" Bil‘am answered the servants of Balak, "Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Adonai my God to do anything, great or small. Now, please, you too, stay here tonight; so that I may find out what else Adonai will say to me." God came to Bil‘am during the night and said to him, "If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you." (LY: iii) So Bil‘am got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Mo'av. But God's anger flared up because he went, and the angel of Adonai stationed himself on the path to bar his way. He was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. The donkey saw the angel of Adonai standing on the road, drawn sword in hand; so the donkey turned off the road into the field; and Bil‘am had to beat the donkey to get it back on the road. Then the angel of Adonai stood on the road where it became narrow as it passed among the vineyards and had stone walls on both sides. The donkey saw the angel of Adonai and pushed up against the wall, crushing Bil‘am's foot against the wall. So he beat it again. The angel of Adonai moved ahead and stood in a place so tight that there was no room to turn either right or left. Again the donkey saw the angel of Adonai and lay down under Bil‘am, which made him so angry that he hit the donkey with his stick. But Adonai enabled the donkey to speak, and it said to Bil‘am, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?" Bil‘am said to the donkey, "It's because you've been making a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand; I would kill you on the spot!" The donkey said to Bil‘am, "I'm your donkey, right? You've ridden me all your life, right? Have I ever treated you like this before?" "No," he admitted. Then Adonai opened Bil‘am's eyes, so that he could see the angel of Adonai standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed his head and fell on his face. The angel of Adonai said to him, "Why did you hit your donkey three times like that? I have come out here to bar your way, because you are rushing to oppose me. The donkey saw me and turned aside these three times; and indeed, if she hadn't turned away from me, I would have killed you by now and saved it alive!" Bil‘am said to the angel of Adonai , "I have sinned. I didn't know that you were standing on the road to block me. Now, therefore, if what I am doing displeases you, I will go back." But the angel of Adonai said to Bil‘am, "No, go on with the men; but you are to say only what I tell you to say." So Bil‘am went along with the princes of Balak. When Balak heard that Bil‘am had come, he went out to meet him in the city of Mo'av at the Arnon border, in the farthest reaches of the territory. Balak said to Bil‘am, "I sent more than once to summon you! Why didn't you come to me? Did you think I couldn't pay you enough?" Bil‘am replied to Balak, "Here, I've come to you! But I have no power of my own to say anything. The word that God puts in my mouth is what I will say." (RY: vi, LY: iv) Bil‘am went with Balak. When they arrived at Kiryat-Hutzot, Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, then sent to Bil‘am and the princes with him. In the morning Balak took Bil‘am and brought him up to the high places of Ba‘al; from there he could see a portion of the people.

Now, please, you too, stay here tonight; so that I may find out what else Adonai will say to me."

Then Adonai opened Bil‘am's eyes, so that he could see the angel of Adonai standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed his head and fell on his face.

Adonai said to Moshe, "Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them facing the sun before Adonai , so that the raging fury of Adonai will turn away from Isra'el."

nevertheless, 24,000 died in the plague. Haftarah Balak: Mikhah (Micah) 5:6(7)– 6:8 B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Balak: 2 Kefa (2 Peter) 2:1–22; Y'hudah (Jude) 11; Revelation 2:14–15 Adonai said to Moshe, "Pinchas the son of El‘azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, has deflected my anger from the people of Isra'el by being as zealous as I am, so that I didn't destroy them in my own zeal. Therefore say, ‘I am giving him my covenant of shalom, making a covenant with him and his descendants after him that the office of cohen will be theirs forever.' This is because he was zealous on behalf of his God and made atonement for the people of Isra'el." The name of the man from Isra'el who was killed, put to death with the woman from Midyan, was Zimri the son of Salu, leader of one of the clans from the tribe of Shim‘on. The name of the woman from Midyan who was killed was Kozbi the daughter of Tzur, and he was head of the people in one of the clans of Midyan. Adonai said to Moshe, "Treat the Midyanim as enemies and attack them; because they are treating you as enemies by the trickery they used to deceive you in the P‘or incident and in the affair of their sister Kozbi, the daughter of the leader from Midyan, the woman who was killed on the day of the plague in the P‘or incident." After the plague,

"Pinchas the son of El‘azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, has deflected my anger from the people of Isra'el by being as zealous as I am, so that I didn't destroy them in my own zeal.

to go out and come in ahead of them, to lead them out and bring them in, so that Adonai 's community will not be like sheep without a shepherd."

Delegate to him some of your authority, so that the entire community of Isra'el will obey him.

Why, these are the ones who — because of Bil‘am's advice — caused the people of Isra'el to rebel, breaking faith with Adonai in the P‘or incident, so that the plague broke out among Adonai 's community!

can all withstand fire, so that you are indeed to purify everything made of these materials by having them pass through fire; nevertheless they must also be purified with the water for purification. Everything that can't withstand fire you are to have go through the water.

For when they went up to the Eshkol Valley and saw the land, they disheartened the people of Isra'el, so that they wouldn't enter the land Adonai had given them.