Korah’s Rebellion

16 Now (A)Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with (B)Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men, and they stood before Moses, [a]together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation [b](C)chosen in the assembly, men of renown. They assembled together (D)against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “[c](E)You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and (F)the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

When Moses heard this, (G)he fell on his face; and he spoke to Korah and all his group, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will make known who is His, and (H)who is holy, and will bring that one near to Himself; indeed, (I)the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and [d]your whole group, and put fire in them, and place incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. [e](J)You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”

Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: (K)Is it too small an honor for you that the God of Israel has singled you out from the congregation of Israel, (L)to bring you near to Himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; 10 and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? But are you (M)seeking the priesthood as well? 11 Therefore you and your whole group are the ones gathered together (N)against the Lord; but as for Aaron, [f]who is he, that (O)you grumble against him?”

12 Then Moses sent [g]a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up. 13 Is it [h]not enough that you have brought us up out of a (P)land flowing with milk and honey (Q)to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also appoint yourself as master over us? 14 Indeed, you have not brought us (R)into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of (S)fields and vineyards. Would you (T)gouge out the eyes of [i]these men? We will not come up!”

15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “(U)Pay no attention to their offering! (V)I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.” 16 Moses said to Korah, “You and all your group be present before the Lord tomorrow, you and they along with Aaron. 17 And each of you take his censer and put incense on [j]it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, 250 censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer.” 18 So they took, each one his own censer, and put fire on [k]it, and placed incense on [l]it; and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. 19 So Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And (W)the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 21 (X)Separate yourselves from among this congregation, (Y)so that I may consume them instantly.” 22 But they fell on their faces and said, “God, (Z)the God of the spirits of [m]humanity, (AA)when one person sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘(AB)Get away from the areas around the [n]tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

25 Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, 26 and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “(AC)Get away now from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that belongs to them, (AD)or you will be swept away in all their sin!” 27 So they moved away from the areas around the [o]tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, along with their wives, (AE)their sons, and their little ones. 28 Then Moses said, “By this you shall know that (AF)the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for it is not [p]my doing. 29 If these men die [q]the death of all mankind, or [r]if they suffer the (AG)fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But (AH)if the Lord [s]brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with everything that is theirs, and they (AI)descend alive into [t]Sheol, then you will know that these men have been disrespectful to the Lord.”

31 And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; 32 and (AJ)the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, and (AK)all the people who belonged to Korah with all their possessions. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to [u]Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 Then all Israel who were around them fled at their [v]outcry, for they said, “The earth might swallow us!” 35 (AL)Fire also came out from the Lord and consumed the (AM)250 men who were offering the incense.

36 [w]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall pick up the censers from the midst of the burned area, because they are holy; and you are to scatter the [x]burning coals further away. 38 As for the censers of these [y]men who have sinned at the cost of their own lives, have them made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and (AN)they shall [z]serve as a sign to the sons of Israel.” 39 So the priest Eleazar took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as plating for the altar, 40 as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that (AO)no [aa]layman, anyone who was not of the [ab]descendants of Aaron, would approach (AP)to burn incense before the Lord; then he would not become like Korah and his group—just as the Lord had spoken to him [ac]through Moses.

Murmuring and Plague

41 But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel (AQ)grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the Lords people!” 42 It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and (AR)the glory of the Lord appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 (AS)Get away from among this congregation so that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put fire in it from the altar, and place incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and (AT)make atonement for them, for (AU)wrath has gone out from the Lord, the plague has begun!” 47 Then Aaron took it just as Moses had spoken, and he ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had begun among the people. (AV)So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to a halt. 49 (AW)But those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who (AX)died on account of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been brought to a halt.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 16:2 Lit and men from
  2. Numbers 16:2 Lit called ones of
  3. Numbers 16:3 Lit Much for you
  4. Numbers 16:6 Lit his
  5. Numbers 16:7 Lit Much for you
  6. Numbers 16:11 Lit what
  7. Numbers 16:12 Lit to call to
  8. Numbers 16:13 Lit a little thing
  9. Numbers 16:14 Lit those
  10. Numbers 16:17 Lit them
  11. Numbers 16:18 Lit them
  12. Numbers 16:18 Lit them
  13. Numbers 16:22 Lit all flesh
  14. Numbers 16:24 Lit residence
  15. Numbers 16:27 Lit dwelling place
  16. Numbers 16:28 Lit from my heart
  17. Numbers 16:29 Lit like the death
  18. Numbers 16:29 Lit the visitation of all men is visited upon them
  19. Numbers 16:30 Lit creates
  20. Numbers 16:30 I.e., the netherworld
  21. Numbers 16:33 I.e., the netherworld
  22. Numbers 16:34 Or voice
  23. Numbers 16:36 Ch 17:1 in Heb
  24. Numbers 16:37 Lit the fire
  25. Numbers 16:38 Lit sinners against their lives
  26. Numbers 16:38 Lit be for a
  27. Numbers 16:40 Lit stranger
  28. Numbers 16:40 Lit seed
  29. Numbers 16:40 Lit by the hand of

16 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the 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 certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:

And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?

And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:

And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the Lord will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.

This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;

And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the Lord to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the Lord doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.

And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:

Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?

10 And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?

11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?

12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:

13 Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?

14 Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.

15 And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the Lord, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.

16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the Lord, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:

17 And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the Lord every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.

18 And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.

19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the congregation.

20 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.

22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

23 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of their's, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.

27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.

28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.

29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord hath not sent me.

30 But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.

31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:

32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.

35 And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

36 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

37 Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.

38 The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.

39 And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:

40 To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the Lord; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the Lord said to him by the hand of Moses.

41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord.

42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.

44 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.

46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun.

47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.

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

49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.

50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.

16 One day Korah (son of Izhar, grandson of Kohath, and a descendant of Levi) conspired with Dathan and Abiram (the sons of Eliab) and On (the son of Peleth), all three from the tribe of Reuben, to incite a rebellion against Moses. Two hundred and fifty popular leaders, all members of the Assembly, were involved.

They went to Moses and Aaron and said, “We have had enough of your presumption; you are no better than anyone else; everyone in Israel has been chosen of the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to put yourselves forward, claiming that we must obey you, and acting as though you were greater than anyone else among all these people of the Lord?”

When Moses heard what they were saying he fell face downward to the ground. Then he said to Korah and to those who were with him, “In the morning the Lord will show you who are his, and who is holy, and whom he has chosen as his priest. 6-7 Do this: You, Korah, and all those with you, take censers tomorrow and light them, and put incense upon them before the Lord, and we will find out whom the Lord has chosen.[a] You are the presumptuous ones, you sons of Levi.”

8-9 Then Moses spoke again to Korah: “Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the people of Israel to be near to himself as you work in the Tabernacle of Jehovah, and to stand before the people to minister to them? 10 Is it nothing to you that he has given this task to only you Levites? And now are you demanding the priesthood also? 11-12 That is what you are really after! That is why you are revolting against Jehovah. And what has Aaron done, that you are dissatisfied with him?” Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram (the sons of Eliab), but they refused to come.

13 “Is it a small thing,” they mimicked,[b] “that you brought us out of lovely Egypt to kill us here in this terrible wilderness, and that now you want to make yourself our king? 14 What’s more, you haven’t brought us into the wonderful country you promised, nor given us fields and vineyards. Whom are you trying to fool? We refuse to come.”

15 Then Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept their sacrifices! I have never stolen so much as a donkey from them and have not hurt one of them.”

16 And Moses said to Korah, “Come here tomorrow before the Lord with all your friends; Aaron will be here too. 17 Be sure to bring your censers with incense on them; a censer for each man, 250 in all; and Aaron will also be here with his.”

18 So they did. They came with their censers and lit them and placed the incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron. 19 Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up the entire nation against Moses and Aaron, and they all assembled to watch. Then the glory of Jehovah appeared to all the people, 20 and Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, 21 “Get away from these people so that I may instantly destroy them.”

22 But Moses and Aaron fell face downward to the ground before the Lord. “O God, the God of all mankind,” they pleaded, “must you be angry with all the people when one man sins?”

23-24 And the Lord said to Moses, “Then tell the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

25 So Moses rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed closely by the 250 Israeli leaders. 26 “Quick!” he told the people, “get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don’t touch anything that belongs to them, lest you be included in their sins and be destroyed with them.[c]

27 So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents with their wives and sons and little ones.

28 And Moses said, “By this you shall know that Jehovah has sent me to do all these things that I have done—for I have not done them on my own. 29 If these men die a natural death or from some ordinary accident or disease, then Jehovah has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord does a miracle and the ground opens up and swallows them and everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord.”

31 He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them, 32 and a great fissure swallowed them up, along with their tents and families and the friends who were standing with them, and everything they owned. 33 So they went down alive into Sheol and the earth closed upon them, and they perished. 34 All of the people of Israel fled at their screams, fearing that the earth would swallow them too. 35 Then fire came from Jehovah and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.

36-37 And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to pull those censers from the fire; for they are holy, dedicated to the Lord. He must also scatter the burning incense 38 from the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives. He shall then beat the metal into a sheet as a covering for the altar, for these censers are holy because they were used before the Lord; and the altar sheet shall be a reminder to the people of Israel.”

39 So Eleazar the priest took the 250 bronze censers and beat them out into a sheet of metal to cover the altar, 40 to be a reminder to the people of Israel that no unauthorized person—no one who is not a descendant of Aaron—may come before the Lord to burn incense, lest the same thing happen to him as happened to Korah and his associates. Thus the Lord’s directions to Moses were carried out.

41 But the very next morning all the people began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people.”

42 Soon a great, sullen mob formed; suddenly, as they looked toward the Tabernacle, the Cloud appeared and the awesome glory of the Lord was seen. 43-44 Moses and Aaron came and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Get away from these people so that I can instantly destroy them.” But Moses and Aaron fell face downward to the earth before the Lord.

46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Quick, take a censer and place fire in it from the altar; lay incense on it, and carry it quickly among the people and make atonement for them; for God’s anger has gone out among them—the plague has already begun.”

47 Aaron did as Moses had told him to, and ran among the people, for the plague had indeed already begun; and he put on the incense and made atonement for them. 48 And he stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was stopped, 49 but not before 14,700 people had died (in addition to those who had died the previous day with Korah). 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle; and so the plague was stopped.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 16:6 whom the Lord has chosen, literally, “whom Jehovah chooses to be the holy one.”
  2. Numbers 16:13 mimicked, literally, “said.”
  3. Numbers 16:26 and be destroyed with them, implied.