Korah’s Rebellion

16 Now ^(A)Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with ^(B)Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men, ² and they stood before Moses, ^[a]together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation ^[b](C)chosen in the assembly, men of renown. ³ They assembled together ^(D)against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “^[c](E)You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and ^(F)the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

⁴ When Moses heard this, ^(G)he fell on his face; ⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his group, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will make known who is His, and ^(H)who is holy, and will bring that one near to Himself; indeed, ^(I)the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. ⁶ Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and ^[d]your whole group, ⁷ and put fire in them, and place incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. ^[e](J)You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”

⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: ^9 (K)Is it too small an honor for you that the God of Israel has singled you out from the congregation of Israel, ^(L)to bring you near to Himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; ¹⁰ and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? But are you ^(M)seeking the priesthood as well? ¹¹ Therefore you and your whole group are the ones gathered together ^(N)against the Lord; but as for Aaron, ^[f]who is he, that ^(O)you grumble against him?”

¹² Then Moses sent ^[g]a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up. ¹³ Is it ^[h]not enough that you have brought us up out of a ^(P)land flowing with milk and honey ^(Q)to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also appoint yourself as master over us? ¹⁴ Indeed, you have not brought us ^(R)into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of ^(S)fields and vineyards. Would you ^(T)gouge out the eyes of ^[i]these men? We will not come up!”

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “^(U)Pay no attention to their offering! ^(V)I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.” ¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and all your group be present before the Lord tomorrow, you and they along with Aaron. ¹⁷ And each of you take his censer and put incense on ^[j]it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, 250 censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer.” ¹⁸ So they took, each one his own censer, and put fire on ^[k]it, and placed incense on ^[l]it; and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ So Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And ^(W)the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²¹ “^(X)Separate yourselves from among this congregation, ^(Y)so that I may consume them instantly.” ²² But they fell on their faces and said, “God, ^(Z)the God of the spirits of ^[m]humanity, ^(AA)when one person sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘^(AB)Get away from the areas around the ^[n]tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

²⁵ Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, ²⁶ and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “^(AC)Get away now from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that belongs to them, ^(AD)or you will be swept away in all their sin!” ²⁷ So they moved away from the areas around the ^[o]tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, along with their wives, ^(AE)their sons, and their little ones. ²⁸ Then Moses said, “By this you shall know that ^(AF)the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for it is not ^[p]my doing. ²⁹ If these men die ^[q]the death of all mankind, or ^[r]if they suffer the ^(AG)fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But ^(AH)if the Lord ^[s]brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with everything that is theirs, and they ^(AI)descend alive into ^[t]Sheol, then you will know that these men have been disrespectful to the Lord.”

³¹ And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; ³² and ^(AJ)the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, and ^(AK)all the people who belonged to Korah with all their possessions. ³³ So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to ^[u]Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. ³⁴ Then all Israel who were around them fled at their ^[v]outcry, for they said, “The earth might swallow us!” ^35 (AL)Fire also came out from the Lord and consumed the ^(AM)250 men who were offering the incense.