16Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On turned against Moses. (Korah was the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi; Dathan and Abiram were brothers, the sons of Eliab; and On was the son of Peleth; Dathan, Abiram, and On were from the tribe of Reuben.) ²These men gathered two hundred fifty other Israelite men, well-known leaders chosen by the community, and challenged Moses. ³They came as a group to speak to Moses and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far. All the people are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. So why do you put yourselves above all the people of the Lord?”

⁴When Moses heard this, he bowed facedown. ⁵Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will bring the one who is holy near to him; he will bring to himself the person he chooses. ⁶So Korah, you and all your followers do this: Get some pans for burning incense. ⁷Tomorrow put fire and incense in them and take them before the Lord. He will choose the man who is holy. You Levites have gone too far.”

⁸Moses also said to Korah, “Listen, you Levites. ⁹The God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelites. He brought you near to himself to do the work in the Lord’s Holy Tent and to stand before all the Israelites and serve them. Isn’t that enough? ¹⁰He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near to himself, yet now you want to be priests. ¹¹You and your followers have joined together against the Lord. Your complaint is not against Aaron.”

¹²Then Moses called Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come! ¹³You have brought us out of a fertile land to this desert to kill us, and now you want to order us around. ¹⁴You haven’t brought us into a fertile land; you haven’t given us any land with fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? No! We will not come!”

¹⁵Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Don’t accept their gifts. I have not taken anything from them, not even a donkey, and I have not done wrong to any of them.”

¹⁶Then Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers must stand before the Lord tomorrow. And Aaron will stand there with you and them. ¹⁷Each of you must take your pan and put incense in it; present these two hundred fifty pans before the Lord. You and Aaron must also present your pans.” ¹⁸So each man got his pan and put burning incense in it and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. ¹⁹Korah gathered all his followers who were against Moses and Aaron, and they stood at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to everyone.

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