Numbers 16:1–19

Korah, Dathan and Abiram

16Korah^e son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram^f, sons of Eliab,^g and On son of Peleth—became insolent^{a 2}and rose up against Moses.^h With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.^{i 3}They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron^j and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy,^k every one of them, and the Lord is with them.^l Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”^m

⁴When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.^{n 5}Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy,^o and he will have that person come near him.^p The man he chooses^q he will cause to come near him. ⁶You, Korah, and all your followers^r are to do this: Take censers^{s 7}and tomorrow put burning coals^t and incense^u in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses^v will be the one who is holy.^w You Levites have gone too far!”

⁸Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! ⁹Isn’t it enough^x for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them?^{y 10}He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too.^{z 11}It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble^a against him?^b”

¹²Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram,^c the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come!^{d 13}Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey^e to kill us in the wilderness?^f And now you also want to lord it over us!^{g 14}Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey^h or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards.ⁱ Do you want to treat these men like slaves^b?^j No, we will not come!^k”

¹⁵Then Moses became very angry^l and said to the Lord, “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey^m from them, nor have I wronged any of them.”

¹⁶Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the Lord tomorrow—you and they and Aaron.^{n 17}Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it—250 censers in all—and present it before the Lord. You and Aaron are to present your censers also.^o” ¹⁸So each of them took his censer,^p put burning coals and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹⁹When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them^q at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord^r appeared to the entire assembly.