Numbers 16:36–17:13
36 1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
37 “Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the 1blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the 2burning coals abroad.
38 “As for the censers of these 1men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and athey shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel.”
39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar,
40 as a 1reminder to the sons of Israel that ano 2layman who is not of the 3descendants of Aaron should come near bto burn incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and his company—just as the Lord had spoken to him 4through Moses.
41 But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel agrumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the Lord’s 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 athe 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 “1aGet away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces.
46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and amake atonement for them, for bwrath has gone forth from the Lord, the plague has begun!”
47 Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. aSo he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.
48 He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.
49 aBut those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who bdied on account of Korah.
50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.
1 1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father’s household: twelve rods, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households. You shall write each name on his rod,
3 and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households.
4 “You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of athe testimony, where I meet with you.
5 “It will come about that the rod of athe man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.”
6 Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods.
7 So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in athe tent of the testimony.
8 Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, athe rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.
9 Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.
10 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron abefore the testimony 1to be kept as a sign against the 2brebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die.”
11 Thus Moses did; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.
12 Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “aBehold, we perish, we are dying, we are all dying!
13 “aEveryone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”