Korah’s Rebellion
And Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, took men — with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben —
and they rose up before Moses, with two hundred and fifty men of the sons of Israel, leaders of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of name.
And they assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much on yourselves! For all the congregation, all of them, are holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you lift yourselves up over the assembly of the LORD?”
And Moses heard, and fell on his face.
And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, “In the morning the LORD will make known who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to himself; the one whom he chooses, he will bring near to himself.
Do this: take fire pans for yourselves, Korah and all his company,
and put fire in them, and lay incense on them before the LORD tomorrow; and it shall be that the man whom the LORD chooses, he is the holy one. You take too much on yourselves, sons of Levi!”
And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, 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 the service of the Dwelling of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them —
and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And will you seek the priesthood also?
Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD. And Aaron — what is he, 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 too small a 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 ruler over us, a ruler indeed?
What is more, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us an inheritance of field and vineyard. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.”
And Moses burned with anger, and said to the LORD, “Do not turn to their grain offering. Not one donkey have I taken from them, and I have not done evil to one of them.”
And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company, be before the LORD — you and they and Aaron — tomorrow.
And take each man his fire pan, and put incense on them, and bring near before the LORD each man his fire pan — two hundred and fifty fire pans; and you and Aaron, each man his fire pan.”
And they took each man his fire pan, and put fire on them, and laid incense on them; and they stood at the door of the Tent of Meeting, with Moses and Aaron.
And Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the door 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 the midst of this congregation, and I will 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 you be wrathful with all the congregation?”
Moses Separates the People
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the congregation, saying: Get up from around the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
And Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him.
And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Turn aside, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, so that you are not swept away in all their sins.”
And they got up from around the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives and their sons and their little ones.
The Earth Swallows Korah
And Moses said, “By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these deeds — that it is not from my own heart:
If these men die as all mankind dies, and the visitation of all mankind is visited on them, then the LORD has not sent me.
But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens her mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD.”
And it was, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground that was under them split apart,
and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them and their houses, and every person who belonged to Korah, and all the goods.
And they went down, they and all that belonged to them, alive into Sheol; and the earth covered 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!”
And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who brought near the incense.
The Censers Reserved for Holy Use
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“Say to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest that he lift the fire pans out of the burning, and scatter the fire far away — for they have become holy.
As for the fire pans of these who sinned against their own souls: they shall be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar — for they were brought near before the LORD, and became holy — and they shall be a sign to the sons of Israel.”
And Eleazar the priest took the bronze fire pans that those who were burned had brought near, and they hammered them out as a covering for the altar,
a remembrance to the sons of Israel, so that no stranger, who is not of the seed of Aaron, should come near to burn incense before the LORD — that he not become like Korah and like his company — as the LORD had spoken to him by the hand of Moses.
Murmuring and Plague
But all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled the next day against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.”
And it was, when the congregation assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they turned toward the Tent of Meeting — and look, 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 up from the midst of this congregation, and I will consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.
And Moses said to Aaron, “Take the fire pan, and put fire on it from the altar, and lay on incense; and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them — for the wrath has gone out from before the LORD; the plague has begun.”
And Aaron took it, as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly — and look, the plague had 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 held back.
And those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died because of Korah.
And Aaron returned to Moses, to the door of the Tent of Meeting; and the plague was held back.