Numbers 16

¹And Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, took both Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—the sons of Reuben,

²and they rose up before the face of Moses with men of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown.

³And they gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “It is too much upon yourselves! For all the congregation, everyone of them, is holy, and YHWH is in their midst. And why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of YHWH?”

⁴And Moses heard it, and he fell on his face.

⁵And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, “In the morning YHWH will show who is unto Him and who is holy, and He will bring him near to Himself. And that one whom He chooses He will bring near to Himself.

⁶Do this: Take to you firepans, Korah and all your company,

⁷and put fire in them and put incense in them before the face of YHWH tomorrow. And it shall be that the man whom YHWH chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”

⁸And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, sons of Levi,

⁹is 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 work of the tabernacle of YHWH and to stand before the face of the congregation to serve them?

¹⁰And He has brought near to Himself you and all your brothers, the sons of Levi with you—and you are seeking also the priesthood!

¹¹Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against YHWH! And Aaron, what is he that you complain against him?”

¹²And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. And they said, “We will not come up!

¹³Is 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 should keep acting also a prince over us?

¹⁴Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given to us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of those men? We will not come up!”

¹⁵And Moses was very hot, and he said to YHWH, “Turn not to their offerings. Not one donkey from them have I taken, nor have I hurt one of them.”

¹⁶And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company, be present before the face of YHWH, you and they and Aaron tomorrow,

¹⁷and let each take his firepan and put incense in it, and each of you bring his firepan before the face of YHWH, two hundred and fifty firepans—and you and Aaron, each with his firepan.”

¹⁸And every man took his firepan, and put in it fire, and laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron.

¹⁹And Korah gathered against them all the assembly at the door of the Tent of Meeting. And the glory of YHWH appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰And YHWH spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

²¹“Separate yourselves from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”

²²And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, the one man sins, and are You angry with all the congregation?”

²³And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁴“Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

²⁵And Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.

²⁶And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that is unto them, lest you be consumed in all their sins.”

²⁷And they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, from all around. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents—and their wives, and their sons, and their infants.

²⁸And Moses said, “By this you shall know that YHWH has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own heart.

²⁹If like the death of every man these ones die, or if the common fate of all men is visited upon them, then YHWH has not sent me.

³⁰But if YHWH creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will know that these men have spurned YHWH.”

³¹And it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground that was under them split apart,

³²and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that were with Korah, and all the goods.

³³And they went down—they and all those with them—alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.

³⁴And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us.”

³⁵And a fire came out from YHWH and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.

³⁶And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

³⁷“Speak to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, and he shall lift up the firepans out of the blaze and the fire to scatter some distance away, for they are holy.

³⁸As for the censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, because they presented them before the face of YHWH, and they are holy; and they shall be a sign to the sons of Israel.”

³⁹And Eleazar the priest took the bronze firepans that the burned ones had presented, and they were hammered out as a covering on the altar,

⁴⁰a memorial to the sons of Israel, so that a son of a foreigner who is not a descendant of Aaron should not come near to offer incense before the face of YHWH, that he might not become like Korah and his companions, as YHWH had said to him by the hand of Moses.

⁴¹And all the congregation of the sons of Israel murmured on the next day against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of YHWH.”

⁴²And it came to pass, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the Tent of Meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of YHWH appeared.

⁴³And Moses and Aaron came to the face of the Tent of Meeting.

⁴⁴And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴⁵“Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.

⁴⁶And Moses said to Aaron, “Take the firepan, and put on it fire from the altar, and set on it incense, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement upon them. For the wrath has gone out from before the face of YHWH—the plague has begun.”

⁴⁷And Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and he ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had begun among the people. And he put in the incense and made atonement upon the people.

⁴⁸And he stood between the dead and between the living; and the plague was stopped.

⁴⁹And those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those who died on account of Korah.

⁵⁰And Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the Tent of Meeting, for the plague had stopped.