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/Chapter 16
16 / 36

Numbers

ESV

Chapter 16

1Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. 2And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. 3They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” 4When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, 5and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him. 6Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company; 7put fire in them and put incense on them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, you sons of Levi!” 8And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9Is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, 10and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? 11Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?” 12And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up: 13Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? 14Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.” 15And Moses was very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.” 16And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. 17And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you present his censer before the LORD, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.” 18So every man took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation. 20And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” 22And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” 23Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24“Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the dwelling 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, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.” 27So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. 28And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. 29If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me. 30But if the LORD creates something new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised the LORD.” 31And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. 32And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” 35And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who offered the incense. 36Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 37“Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take the censers out of the blaze, for they are holy, and scatter the fire far and wide. 38As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they presented them before the LORD, and therefore they are holy. Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel.” 39So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar, 40to be a reminder to the people of Israel that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the LORD said to him through Moses. 41But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.” 42And as the congregation assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they looked toward the tent of meeting. And behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting. 44Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 45“Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. 46And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them. For wrath has gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun.” 47So Aaron took it as Moses told him, and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 49Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the affair of Korah. 50And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped.