Korah’s Rebellion
1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took some men. 2 They rose up before Moses, with certain Israelite men, 250 leaders from the community, representatives of the congregation, men of distinction. 3 They gathered together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far, for the whole congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them! Why do exalt yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?”
4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face. 5 He said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning, the Lord will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him. The one whom he chooses, he will cause to come near to him. 6 Do this: Have Korah and all his followers take censers, 7 put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow. It shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses, he is the one that is holy. You have gone too far, you sons of Levi!”
8 Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi! 9 Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the Lord’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, 10 and that he has brought you near to him, and all your brothers, the sons of Levi with you? Do you seek the priesthood also? 11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord, and Aaron, what is he that you murmur against him?”
12 Moses sent to call Dathan and 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 you must also make yourself a ruler over us? 14 Moreover you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
15 Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”
16 Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers go before the Lord tomorrow; you, they, and Aaron. 17 Each man take his censer and put incense in it, and each man bring his censer before the Lord, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each with his censer.”
18 And each man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on it and stood at the door of the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19 Korah assembled the entire congregation opposite them to the door of the Tent of Meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole congregation.
20 The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!”
22 They fell on their faces and said, “O Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with the entire congregation?”
Moses Separates the People
23 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from around the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram!’ ”
25 Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 He spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins!”
27 So they went away from the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents with their wives, their sons, and their little children.
28 Moses said, “You shall hereby know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them from my own mind.
29 If these men die a death common to all men, or if they experience what all men experience, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord does a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belong to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you shall know that these men have provoked the Lord.”
The Earth Swallows Up Korah
31 As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split asunder. 32 The earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all of Korah’s men, and all their goods. 33 So they, and all that belonged to them went down alive into the pit. The earth closed upon them, and they perished from the community. 34 All Israel that were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also!” 35 Fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who offered incense.
The Censers Reserved for Holy Use
36 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the fire, and scatter the burning coals away from the camp, for the censers are holy. 38 The censers of those who sinned against their own lives, let them be hammered into plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered them before the Lord. Therefore they are holy. They shall be a sign to the Israelites.”
39 Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which those who were burned had offered, and from them, they made a covering for the altar, 40 to be a memorial to the Israelites so that no stranger who is not an offspring of Aaron would come near to burn incense before the Lord, that it would not come to pass as Korah and as his band of followers, as the Lord spoke to him through Moses.
Murmuring and Plague
41 But the next day, the whole community of Israelites complained against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord!”
42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they looked toward the Tent of Meeting, and the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting. 44 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” They fell on their faces.
46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord! The plague has begun.”
47 Aaron did as Moses said and ran into the middle of the assembly. The plague had already begun among the people. He put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was confined. 49 Now those who died by the plague were 14,700, in addition to those who died about the matter of Korah. 50 Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and the plague was confined.