Laws for Canaan

15 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When you come into the land where you are to live, which I am giving you, ³ then make an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or as a freewill offering or in your appointed feasts, to make a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord, from the herd or from the flock. ⁴ The one who presents his offering shall present to the Lord a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a ^[a]hin of oil, ⁵ and you shall prepare wine for the drink offering, a fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb. ⁶ Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil. ⁷ And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. ⁸ When you prepare a bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice, in fulfilling a special vow or peace offering to the Lord, ⁹ then you shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil; ¹⁰ and you shall bring as the drink offering one-half a hin of wine as an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.

¹¹ ‘Thus shall it be done for each bull, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the goats. ¹² According to the number that you prepare, so shall you do to everyone according to their number. ¹³ All who are native-born shall do these things in this way, in presenting an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.

Law of the Stranger

¹⁴ If a stranger lives as a resident alien with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to make an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord, just as you do, so shall he do. ¹⁵ As for the assembly, there shall be one [and the same] statute for you [of the congregation] and for the stranger who is a resident alien with you, a permanent statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. ¹⁶ There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the stranger who lives with you as a resident alien.’”

¹⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When you enter the land to which I am bringing you, ¹⁹ then, when you eat the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering (heave offering) to the Lord. ²⁰ You shall lift up a cake made of the first of your [ground grain which has been made into] dough as an offering [to the Lord]; as an offering from the threshing floor, so shall you lift it up. ²¹ From the first of your dough (ground grain) you shall give to the Lord an offering throughout your generations.

²² ‘But when you unintentionally fail and do not observe all these commandments, which the Lord has spoken to Moses, ²³ even all that the Lord has commanded you ^[b]through Moses, from the day that the Lord gave commandments and onward throughout your generations, ²⁴ then it shall be, if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat as a sin offering. ²⁵ Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven, for it was an error and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their error. ²⁶ So all the congregation of the Israelites will be forgiven as well as the stranger who lives among them as a resident alien, because all the people were involved in the error.

²⁷ ‘Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a female goat one year old as a sin offering. ²⁸ The priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who commits an error when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him so that he may be forgiven. ²⁹ You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, whether he is native-born among the Israelites or a stranger who is living among them as a resident alien. ³⁰ But the person who does [anything wrong] ^[c]willfully and defiantly, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one is blaspheming the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them]. ³¹ Because he has despised and rejected the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; [the responsibility for] his wickedness and guilt will be upon him.’”

Sabbath-breaking Punished

³² Now while the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man who was gathering wood on the Sabbath day. ³³ Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation; ³⁴ and they put him in custody, because it had not been explained [by God] what should be done to him. ³⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall certainly be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶ So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁸ “Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them to make for themselves tassels on the hems of their garments throughout their generations, and put a cord of blue on the tassel of each hem. ³⁹ It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, so that you do not follow after [the desires of] your own heart and eyes, [desires] after which you used to follow and play the prostitute, ⁴⁰ so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy (set apart) to your God. ⁴¹ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.”

Korah’s Rebellion

16 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben, took action, ² and they rose up [in rebellion] before Moses, together with some of the Israelites, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation chosen in the assembly, men of distinction. ³ They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all 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?”

⁴ And when Moses heard this, he fell face downward; ⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to Him, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; the one whom He will choose He will bring near to Himself.^{(A) 6} Do this: Take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company, ⁷ then put fire in them and place incense on them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi.”

⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi, ⁹ does it seem but 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 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 [to Him], Korah and all your brothers, sons of Levi with you? Would you seek the priesthood also? ¹¹ Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord; but as for Aaron, who is he that you murmur against him?”

¹² Then Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said [defiantly], “We will not come up. ¹³ Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land [of plenty] ^[d]flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? ¹⁴ Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Pay no attention to their offering! I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them.” ¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company are to appear before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. ¹⁷ Each of you take his censer and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer.” ¹⁸ So they each took his own censer and put fire on it and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Then Korah assembled all the congregation against Moses and Aaron at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). And the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, so that I may consume them immediately.” ²² But they fell on their faces [before the Lord], and said, “O God, God of the spirits of all flesh! When one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Say to the congregation, ‘Get away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

²⁵ Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ And he said to the congregation, “Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be swept away in all their sin.” ²⁷ So they got back from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents with their wives and their sons and their little children. ²⁸ Then Moses said, “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; for I do not act of my own accord. ²⁹ If these men die the common death of all mankind or if what happens to everyone happens to them, then [you will know for sure that] the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord creates an entirely new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up, along with all that belongs to them, and they descend alive into Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), then you will understand that these men have spurned and rejected the Lord!”

³¹ As soon as Moses finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split open; ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all the men who supported Korah, with all their possessions.^{(B) 33} So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. ³⁴ All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us also.” ³⁵ Fire also came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.

^36 [e]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, that he is to pick up the censers from the midst of the blaze for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad. ³⁸ As for the censers of these people who have sinned at the cost of their lives, have the censers made into hammered sheets as a plating for the altar [of burnt offering], for they were presented before the Lord and they are sacred. They shall be a [warning] sign to the sons of Israel.” ³⁹ So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the Levites who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out [into broad sheets] as a plating for the [bronze] altar [of burnt offering], ⁴⁰ as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that no layman—that is, one who is not of the descendants of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and as his company—just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.

Murmuring and Plague

⁴¹ But on the next day the entire congregation of the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have caused the death of the people of the Lord.” ⁴² When the congregation was assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned and looked at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), ⁴⁴ and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ⁴⁵ “Get away from among this congregation, so that I may consume them immediately.” Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces [in silence before the Lord]. ⁴⁶ Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the Lord; the plague has begun!” ⁴⁷ So Aaron took the burning censer as Moses commanded, 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. ⁴⁸ He stood between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to an end. ⁴⁹ But those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died because of Korah. ⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), for the plague had been brought to an end.