16 Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, a-betook himself,-a along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, b-and On son of Peleth—descendants of Reuben-b—2to rise up against Moses, together with two hundred and fifty Israelites, chieftains of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute. 3They combined against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above the LORD’s congregation?”
4When Moses heard this, he fell on his face.c 5Then he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Come morning, the LORD will make known who is His and who is holy, and will grant him access to Himself; He will grant access to the one He has chosen. 6Do this: You, Korah and all yourd band, take fire pans, 7and tomorrow put fire in them and lay incense on them before the LORD. Then the man whom the LORD chooses, he shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!”
8Moses said further to Korah, “Hear me, sons of Levi. 9Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has set you apart from the community of Israel and given you access to Him, to perform the duties of the LORD’s Tabernacle and to minister to the community and serve them? 10Now that He has advanced you and all your fellow Levites with you, do you seek the priesthood too? 11Truly, it is against the LORD that you and all your company have banded together. For who is Aaron that you should rail against him?”
12Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come! 13Is it not enough that you brought us from a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, that you would also lord it over us? 14 e-Even if you had-e brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, and given us possession of fields and vineyards, should you gouge out those men’s eyes?f We will not come!” 15Moses was much aggrieved and he said to the LORD, “Pay no regard to their oblation. I have not taken the ass of any one of them, nor have I wronged any one of them.”
16And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company appear before the LORD, you and they and Aaron. 17Each of you take his fire pan and lay incense on it, and each of you bring his fire pan before the LORD, two hundred and fifty fire pans; you and Aaron also [bring] your fire pans.” 18Each of them took his fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and took his place at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, as did Moses and Aaron. 19Korah gathered the whole community against them at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
Then the Presence of the LORD appeared to the whole community, 20and the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 21“Stand back from this community that I may annihilate them in an instant!” 22But they fell on their faces and said, “O God, Sourceg of the breath of all flesh! When one man sins, will You be wrathful with the whole community?”
23The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24“Speak to the community and say: Withdraw from about the abodes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, the elders of Israel following him. 26He addressed the community, saying, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing that belongs to them, lest you be wiped out for all their sins.” 27So they withdrew from about the abodes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
Now Dathan and Abiram had come out and they stood at the entrance of their tents, with their wives, their children, and their little ones. 28And Moses said, “By this you shall know that it was the LORD who sent me to do all these things; that they are not of my own devising: 29if these men die as all men do, if their lot be the common fate of all mankind, it was not the LORD who sent me.
30But if the LORD brings about something unheard-of, so that the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, you shall know that these men have spurned the LORD.” 31Scarcely had he finished speaking all these words when the ground under them burst asunder, 32and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all Korah’s people and all their possessions. 33They went down alive into Sheol, with all that belonged to them; the earth closed over them and they vanished from the midst of the congregation. 34All Israel around them fled at their shrieks, for they said, “The earth might swallow us!”
35And a fire went forth from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense.
17 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2Order Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the fire pans—for they have become sacred—from among the charred remains; and scatter the coals abroad. 3 a[Remove] the fire pans of those who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and let them be made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar—for once they have been used for offering to the LORD, they have become sacred— and let them serve as a warning to the people of Israel. 4Eleazar the priest took the copper fire pans which had been used for offering by those who died in the fire; and they were hammered into plating for the altar, 5as the LORD had ordered him through Moses. It was to be a reminder to the Israelites, so that no outsider—one not of Aaron’s offspring—should presume to offer incense before the LORD and suffer the fate of Korah and his band.
6Next day the whole Israelite community railed against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You two have brought death upon the LORD’s people!” 7But as the community gathered against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the Tent of Meeting; the cloud had covered it and the Presence of the LORD appeared.
8When Moses and Aaron reached the Tent of Meeting, 9the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Remove yourselves from this community, that I may annihilate them in an instant.” They fell on their faces. 11Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the fire pan, and put on it fire from the altar. Add incense and take it quickly to the community and make expiation for them. For wrath has gone forth from the LORD: the plague has begun!” 12Aaron took it, as Moses had ordered, and ran to the midst of the congregation, where the plague had begun among the people. He put on the incense and made expiation for the people; 13he stood between the dead and the living until the plague was checked. 14Those who died of the plague came to fourteen thousand and seven hundred, aside from those who died on account of Korah. 15Aaron then returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, since the plague was checked.
16The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 17Speak to the Israelite people and take from them—from the chieftains of their ancestral housesb—one staff for each chieftain of an ancestral house: twelve staffs in all. Inscribe each man’s name on his staff, 18there being one staff for each head of an ancestral house; also inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. 19Deposit them in the Tent of Meeting before the Pact, where I meet with you. 20The staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout, and I will ridc Myself of the incessant mutterings of the Israelites against you.
21Moses spoke thus to the Israelites. Their chieftains gave him a staff for each chieftain of an ancestral house, twelve staffs in all; among these staffs was that of Aaron. 22Moses deposited the staffs before the LORD, in the Tent of the Pact. 23The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Pact, and there the staff of Aaron of the house of Levi had sprouted: it had brought forth sprouts, produced blossoms, and borne almonds. 24Moses then brought out all the staffs from before the LORD to all the Israelites; each identified and recovered his staff.
25The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back before the Pact, to be kept as a lesson to rebels, so that their mutterings against Me may cease, lest they die.” 26This Moses did; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did.
27But the Israelites said to Moses, “Lo, we perish! We are lost, all of us lost! 28Everyone who so much as ventures near the LORD’s Tabernacle must die. Alas, we are doomed to perish!”
18 The LORD said to Aaron: You and your sons and the ancestral house under your charge shall bear any guilt connected with the sanctuary; you and your sons alone shall bear
