Numbers 16:1–35

Rebellion Against Moses and Aaron

16Now ^aKorah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with ^bDathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; ²and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, ^crepresentatives of the congregation, men of renown. ^3dThey gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You ¹take too much upon yourselves, for ^eall the congregation is holy, every one of them, ^fand the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

⁴So when Moses heard it, he ^gfell on his face; ⁵and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is ^hHis and who is ⁱholy, ²and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to ^jcome near to Him. ⁶Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company; ⁷put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”

⁸Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: ⁹Is it ^ka small thing to you that the God of Israel has ^lseparated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to serve them; ¹⁰and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also? ¹¹Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. ^mAnd what is Aaron that you complain against him?”

¹²And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up! ¹³Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of ⁿa land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should ^okeep acting like a prince over us? ¹⁴Moreover ^pyou have not brought us into ^qa land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”

¹⁵Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, ^r“Do not ³respect their offering. ^sI have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”

¹⁶And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company be present ^tbefore the Lord—you and they, as well as Aaron. ¹⁷Let each take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.” ¹⁸So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then ^uthe glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ^21v“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may ^wconsume them in a moment.”

²²Then they ^xfell ⁴on their faces, and said, “O God, ^ythe God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the ^zcongregation?”

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

²⁵Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶And he spoke to the congregation, saying, ^a“Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.” ²⁷So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little ^bchildren.

²⁸And Moses said: ^c“By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them ^dof my own will. ²⁹If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are ^evisited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰But if the Lord creates ^fa new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they ^ggo down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.”

^31hNow it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, ³²and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and ⁱall the men with Korah, with all their goods. ³³So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. ³⁴Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also!”

³⁵And ^ja fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.