Numbers 16:1–18:32

The Rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram

16 1–2 Korah son of Izhar, from the Levite clan of Kohath, rebelled against the leadership of Moses. He was joined by three members of the tribe of Reuben—Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—and by 250 other Israelites, well-known leaders chosen by the community. 3They assembled before Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! All the members of the community belong to the Lord, and the Lord is with all of us. Why, then, Moses, do you set yourself above the Lord’s community?”

4 When Moses heard this, he threw himself on the ground and prayed. 5Then he said to Korah and his followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to him; he will let the one who belongs to him, that is, the one he has chosen, approach him at the altar. 6–7Tomorrow morning you and your followers take firepans, put live coals and incense on them, and take them to the altar. Then we will see which of us the Lord has chosen. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!”

8 Moses continued to speak to Korah. “Listen, you Levites! 9Do you consider it a small matter that the God of Israel has set you apart from the rest of the community, so that you can approach him, perform your service in the Lord’s Tent, and minister to the community and serve them? 10He has let you and all the other Levites have this honour—and now you are trying to get the priesthood too! 11When you complain against Aaron, it is really against the Lord that you and your followers are rebelling.”

12 Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, but they said, “We will not come! 13Isn’t it enough that you have brought us out of the fertile land of Egypt to kill us here in the wilderness? Do you also have to lord it over us? 14You certainly have not brought us into a fertile land or given us fields and vineyards as our possession, and now you are trying to deceive us. We will not come!”

15 Moses was angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept any offerings these men bring. I have not wronged any of them; I have not even taken one of their donkeys.”

16 Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow you and your 250 followers must come to the Tent of the Lord’s presence; Aaron will also be there. 17Each of you will take his firepan, put incense on it, and then present it at the altar.” 18So every man took his firepan, put live coals and incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the Tent with Moses and Aaron. 19Then Korah gathered the whole community, and they stood facing Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent. Suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord’s presence appeared to the whole community, 20and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21“Stand back from these people, and I will destroy them immediately.”

22 But Moses and Aaron bowed down with their faces to the ground and said, “O God, you are the source of all life. When one person sins, do you get angry with the whole community?”

23 The Lord said to Moses, 24“Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

25 Then Moses, accompanied by the leaders of Israel, went to Dathan and Abiram. 26He said to the people, “Stand away from the tents of these wicked men and don’t touch anything that belongs to them. Otherwise, you will be wiped out with them for all their sins.” 27So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and children. 28Moses said to the people, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it is not by my own choice that I have done them. 29If these men die a natural death without some punishment from God, then the Lord did not send me. 30But if the Lord does something unheard of, and the earth opens up and swallows them with all they own, so that they go down alive to the world of the dead, you will know that these men have rejected the Lord.”

31 As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground under Dathan and Abiram split open 32and swallowed them and their families, together with all of Korah’s followers and their possessions. 33So they went down alive to the world of the dead, with their possessions. The earth closed over them, and they vanished. 34All the people of Israel who were there fled when they heard their cry. They shouted, “Run! The earth might swallow us too!”

35 Then the Lord sent a fire that blazed out and burnt up the 250 men who had presented the incense.

The Firepans

36 Then the Lord said to Moses, 37“Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the bronze firepans from the remains of the men who have been burnt, and scatter the coals from the firepans somewhere else, because the firepans are holy. 38They became holy when they were presented at the Lord’s altar. So take the firepans of these men who were put to death for their sin, beat them into thin plates, and make a covering for the altar. It will be a warning to the people of Israel.” 39So Eleazar the priest took the firepans and had them beaten into thin plates to make a covering for the altar. 40This was a warning to the Israelites that no one who was not a descendant of Aaron should come to the altar to burn incense for the Lord. Otherwise he would be destroyed like Korah and his men. All this was done as the Lord had commanded Eleazar through Moses.

Aaron Saves the People

41 The next day the whole community complained against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have killed some of the Lord’s people.” 42After they had all gathered to protest to Moses and Aaron, they turned towards the Tent and saw that the cloud was covering it and that the dazzling light of the Lord’s presence had appeared. 43Moses and Aaron went and stood in front of the Tent, 44and the Lord said to Moses, 45“Stand back from these people, and I will destroy them on the spot!”

The two of them bowed down with their faces to the ground, 46and Moses said to Aaron, “Take your firepan, put live coals from the altar in it, and put some incense on the coals. Then hurry with it to the people and perform the ritual of purification for them. Hurry! The Lord’s anger has already broken out and an epidemic has already begun.” 47Aaron obeyed, took his firepan and ran into the middle of the assembled people. When he saw that the plague had already begun, he put the incense on the coals and performed the ritual of purification for the people. 48This stopped the plague, and he was left standing between the living and the dead. 49The number of people who died was 14,700, not counting those who died in Korah’s rebellion. 50When the plague had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent.

Aaron’s Stick

17 The Lord said to Moses, 2“Tell the people of Israel to give you twelve sticks, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man’s name on his stick 3and then write Aaron’s name on the stick representing Levi. There will be one stick for each tribal leader. 4Take them to the Tent of my presence and put them in front of the Covenant Box, where I meet you. 5Then the stick of the man I have chosen will sprout. In this way I will put a stop to the constant complaining of these Israelites against you.”

6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a stick, one for each tribe, twelve in all, and Aaron’s stick was put with them. 7Moses then put all the sticks in the Tent in front of the Lord’s Covenant Box.

8 *The next day, when Moses went into the Tent, he saw that Aaron’s stick, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted. It had budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds! 9*Moses took all the sticks and showed them to the Israelites. They saw what had happened, and each leader took his own stick back. 10*The Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s stick back in front of the Covenant Box. It is to be kept as a warning to the rebel Israelites that they will die unless their complaining stops.” 11Moses did as the Lord commanded.

12 The people of Israel said to Moses, “Then that’s the end of us! 13If anyone who even comes near the Tent must die, then we are all as good as dead!”

Duties of Priests and Levites

18 The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and the Levites must suffer the consequences of any guilt connected with serving in the Tent of my presence; but only you and your sons will suffer the consequences of service in the priesthood. 2Bring in your relatives, the tribe of Levi, to work with you and help you while you and your sons are serving at the Tent. 3They are to fulfil their duties to you and their responsibilities for the Tent, but they must not have any contact with sacred objects in the Holy Place or with the altar. If they do, both they and you will be put to death. 4They are to work with you and fulfil their responsibilities for all the service in the Tent, but no unqualified person may work with you. 5You and your sons alone must fulfil the responsibilities for the Holy Place and the altar, so that my anger will not again break out against the people of Israel. 6I am the one who has chosen your relatives the Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you. They are dedicated to me, so that they can carry out their duties in the Tent. 7But you and your sons alone shall fulfil all the responsibilities of the priesthood that concern the altar and what is in the Most Holy Place. These things are your responsibility, because I have given you the gift of the priesthood. Any unqualified person who comes near the sacred objects shall be put to death.”

The Share of the Priests

8 The Lord said to Aaron, “Remember that I am giving you all the special contributions made to me that are not burnt as sacrifices. I am giving them to you and to your descendants as the part assigned to you for ever. 9Of the most sacred offerings not burnt on the altar, the following belong to you: the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the repayment offerings. Everything that is presented to me as a sacred offering…