Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and
Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons
of Reuben, took men. And they rose up before Moses, with a number
of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen
from the assembly, well-known men. They assembled themselves
together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You
have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one
of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt
yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” When Moses heard it, he
fell on his face, and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the
morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will
bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near
to him. Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company; put fire
in them and put incense on them before the LORD tomorrow, and the
man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too
far, sons of Levi!” And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of
Levi: is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has
separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to
himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand
before the congregation to minister to them, and that he has
brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with
you? And would you seek the priesthood also? Therefore it is
against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered
together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”
And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and
they said, “We will not come up. 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, that you must also make yourself a prince over
us? Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk
and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will
you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.” And Moses
was very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their
offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not
harmed one of them.”
And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company,
before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. And let every
one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of
you bring before the LORD his censer, 250 censers; you also, and
Aaron, each his censer.” So every man took his censer and put fire
in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the
tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. Then Korah assembled all the
congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.
And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “Separate
yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in
a moment.” And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God
of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be
angry with all the congregation?” And the LORD spoke to Moses,
saying, “Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of
Israel followed him. And he spoke to the congregation, saying,
“Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch
nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.” So
they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And
Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents,
together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. And
Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do
all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. If
these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of
all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me. But if the LORD creates
something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up
with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol,
then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD.”
And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the
ground under them split apart. And the earth opened its mouth and
swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who
belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they and all that
belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed
over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. And
all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said,
“Lest the earth swallow us up!” And fire came out from the LORD and
consumed the 250 men offering the incense.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Tell Eleazar the son of
Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then
scatter the fire far and wide, for they have become holy. As for
the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their
lives, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the
altar, for they offered them before the LORD, and they became holy.
Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel.” So Eleazar the
priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had
offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar, to
be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider, who is
not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense
before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the
LORD said to him through Moses.
But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel
grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed
the people of the LORD.” And when the congregation had assembled
against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of
meeting. And behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the
LORD appeared. And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of
meeting, and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from the
midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”
And they fell on their faces. And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your
censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it
and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for
them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun.”
So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the
assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the
people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the
people. And he stood between the dead and the living, and the
plague was stopped. Now those who died in the plague were 14,700,
besides those who died in the affair of Korah. And Aaron returned
to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague
was stopped.
