Chapter 11
1Think of the Lord’s servant Moses, who was not angered when he kept this people in his humility and prayer, so that not even one person was destroyed. He prayed to the Lord in his innocence for his sister and brother who spoke against him and whom the Lord wished to destroy, saying: "As they have wronged You, O Lord, pardon and do not neglect Your people." He atoned for their sin, for He remembered Moses, who was not annoyed.
2"For I have wronged You; forgive me Your servant who am a sinner, for You are Merciful and a Pardoner; forgive them their sin."
3And Moses likewise atoned for the sin of his sister and brother who spoke against him.
4Because of this, he was called innocent.
5The Lord loved him more than all the priests who were his brothers; for He appointed the priests, but the Lord made Moses like Himself among them.
6But He also sank into the Earth the children of Korah who challenged him; He lowered them into Sheol with their livestock and tents when they said, "We are here in flesh and soul." As the Lord loved Moses and as he did not depart from His Command, every word he spoke was done as if it were the Word of the Lord.
7Unless you also destroy the Command of the Lord, the Lord will fulfill your desires, love your affairs, and keep your Kingdom for you.
8Asaph and the children of Korah who departed from Moses' command grumbled against him because he told them, "Straighten your thoughts to be ruled by the Lord."
9They grumbled, saying, "Are we not also children of Levi who perform the work of the priesthood in the special Tent?"
10They went and offered incense, taking their censers to burn it; but the Lord did not accept their plea. They were burnt by the fire in their censers and melted like wax in a fire; not one of them remained. As it was said: their censers were honored by their bodies being burnt, but apart from the censers that entered the Lord’s Dwelling by His command, neither their clothes nor their bones remained.
11Because of this, the Lord told Aaron and Moses: "Gather those censers toward the Tent; let them be an instrument for My Dwelling, for which I have prepared everything from the outside to the inside."
12And he prepared the honored instruments of the Tent; he prepared the rings, the joiners, and the sea with the image of the Cherubim.
13He made the cups, the curtains, the grounds of the Tent for mobilization, the altar, and the jugs used for sacrifice in the special Tent.
14They offered the sacrifices according to their agreement—the welfare offerings, the sin offerings, the vow offerings, and the morning and evening sacrifices.
15All that He commanded Moses, he commanded them to perform in the special Tent.
16They did not scorn being ruled by their Creator, the Lord, so that His Name might be praised by them in the Tent of the Law of the Lord, who promised to give them the inheritance of their fathers—a land flowing with honey and milk—which He swore to Abraham.
17They did not scorn being ruled by their Creator, who swore to Isaac and established His worship for Jacob...
18...and who established for Aaron and Moses the Tent where His worship is kept...
19...and who established His worship for both Elijah and Samuel in the Temple and Tent that Solomon built, until it became the Dwelling of the Lord in Jerusalem—the place that honored Israel.
20For the Temple is a place of supplication and atonement for sin for those who live in innocence and for the priests.
21It is a place for those who do His Will, where He will hear their pleas...
22...and the construction of the Law of the Lord that honored Israel.
23It is where sacrifices are offered and incense is burned, so that the Lord who honored Israel might be in a good fragrance.
24He would speak from the mercy seat (joiner) where He forgives in the special Tent; the Light of the Lord would be revealed to the children of Jacob whom He chose and to friends who live firmly in His Law and Command.
25But those who ignored the Law of the Lord will be like the children of Korah whom the Earth swallowed; likewise, sinners shall enter Gehenna, which has no exit for all eternity.