World English Bible · Egypt and Sinai
Numbers 16
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Now , the son of , the son of , the son of , with and , the sons of , and On, the son of Peleth, sons of , took some men. They rose up before , with some of the , two hundred fifty princes of , called to , men of renown. They assembled themselves together against and against , and said to them, "You take too much on yourself, since all are , everyone of them, and is among them! Why do you lift yourselves up above ?" When heard it, he fell on . He said to and to all his company, "In the morning, will show who are his, and who is , and will cause him to come near to him. Even him whom he shall choose, he will cause to come near to him. Do this: have and all his company take censers, put in them, and put on them before tomorrow. It shall be that the man whom chooses, he shall be . You have gone too far, you !" 8 said to , "Hear now, you ! Is it a small thing to you that the of Israel has separated you from of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the of , and to stand before to minister to them; and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the with you? Do you seek the priesthood also? Therefore you and all your company have gathered together against ! What is that you complain against him?" sent to call and , the sons of ; and they said, "We won't come up! Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a and honey, to kill us in , but you must also make yourself a prince over us? Moreover you haven't brought us into a and honey, nor given us of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We won't come up." was very angry, and said to , "Don't respect their . I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them." said to , "You and all your company go before , you, and they, and , tomorrow. Each man take his censer and put on it, and each man bring before his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and , each with his censer." 18They each took his censer, and put in it, and laid on it, and stood at the door of the with and . assembled all opposite them to the door of the . appeared to all . 20 spoke to and to , saying, "Separate yourselves from among this , that I may consume them in a moment!" They fell on their faces, and said, ", the of the spirits of , shall one man , and will you be angry with all ?" 23 spoke to , saying, "Speak to , saying, 'Get away from around the tent of , , and !'" rose up and went to and ; and the followed him. He spoke to , saying, "Depart, please, from the tents of these men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their !" So they went away from the tent of , , and , on every side. and came out, and stood at the door of their tents with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. said, "Hereby you shall know that has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own . If these men the common of all men, or if they experience what all men experience, then hasn't sent me. But if makes a new thing, and the ground opens its , and swallows them up with all that belong to them, and they go down alive into , then you shall understand that these men have despised ." As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split apart. The earth opened its and swallowed them up with their households, all of men, and all their goods. So they, and all that belonged to them went down alive into . The earth closed on them, and they from among . All Israel that were around them fled at their cry; for they said, "Lest the earth swallow us up!" came out from , and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the . 36 spoke to , saying, "Speak to the son of the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter the away from the camp; for they are , even the censers of those who against their own lives. Let them be beaten into plates for a covering of the , for they offered them before . Therefore they are . They shall be a sign to the ." 39 the priest took the bronze censers which those who were burned had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the , to be a memorial to the , to the end that no who isn't of the of , would come near to before , that he not be as and as his company; as spoke to him by . But on the next day all of the complained against and against , saying, "You have killed people!" When was assembled against and against , they looked toward the . Behold, it, and appeared. 43 and came to the front of the . 44 spoke to , saying, "Get away from among this , that I may consume them in a moment!" They fell on their faces. said to , "Take your censer, put from the in it, lay on it, carry it quickly to , and make atonement for them; for has gone out from ! The plague has begun." did as said, and ran into the middle of . The plague had already begun among the people. He put on the , and made atonement for the people. He stood between and the living; and the plague was stayed. Now those who by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, in addition to those who about the matter of . returned to to the door of the , and the plague was stopped.
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The world at this moment · Egypt and Sinai, 1450 BC to 1200 BC ›
Israel in and then out of Egypt, at a period when Egypt was an imperial power that also controlled Canaan. The nation is formed as a people with a law before it has any land.
- Egypt
- The New Kingdom at its imperial peak, with a professional army, a chariot corps, and control reaching up through Canaan. Ramesses II reigns for sixty-six years and covers the country in monuments to himself. Egyptian power in this period is the reason Canaan is garrisoned rather than free.
- The Hittites
- The other superpower, in what is now Turkey, and Egypt's rival for the Levant. The two fight the largest chariot battle of the ancient world at Kadesh, then sign a treaty whose text survives from both sides. Hittite treaty form, with its historical prologue, stipulations, witnesses, blessings, and curses, is the shape the Sinai covenant takes, which is one of the stronger arguments for the antiquity of that material.
- The Aegean
- Mycenaean Greece: warrior kings in stone citadels at Mycenae and Pylos, keeping palace accounts in Linear B. The world of the Trojan War stories, whatever lies behind them.
- Further afield
- The Shang dynasty in China is casting extraordinary bronzes and writing questions to its ancestors on ox bones. In Mesoamerica the Olmec are beginning the first civilisation of the Americas.