Numbers 16  Legacy Standard Bible

Korah Rises Up Against Moses

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 others, ² and they rose up before Moses, ^[a]together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, ^[b](C)those called upon by the assembly, men of renown. ³ Then 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)Yahweh is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of Yahweh?”

⁴ And Moses heard this and ^(G)fell on his face; ⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his congregation, saying, “Tomorrow morning Yahweh will show who is His, and ^(H)who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even ^(I)the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. ⁶ Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all ^[d]your congregation, ⁷ and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of Yahweh tomorrow; and the man whom Yahweh 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 ^[f]not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, ^(L)to bring you near to Himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of Yahweh, 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? And are you ^(M)seeking for the priesthood also? ¹¹ Therefore you and all your congregation are gathered together ^(N)against Yahweh; but as for Aaron, ^[g]who is he that ^(O)you grumble against him?”

¹² Then Moses sent ^[h]a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up. ¹³ Is it ^[i]not enough that you have brought us up out of a ^(P)land flowing with milk and honey ^(Q)to put us to death in the wilderness, but you would also lord it 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 ^[j](T)put out the eyes of ^[k]these men? We will not come up!”

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to Yahweh, “^(U)Do not regard their offering! ^(V)I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.” ¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your congregation be present before Yahweh tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. ¹⁷ And each of you take his firepan and put incense on ^[l]it, and each of you bring his censer near before Yahweh, 250 firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.” ¹⁸ So they each took his own censer and put fire on ^[m]it, and laid incense on ^[n]it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And ^(W)the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the congregation.

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

²³ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘^(AB)Get back from around the dwellings 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)Turn aside now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, ^(AD)lest you be swept away in all their sin.” ²⁷ So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; but Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and ^(AE)their sons and their little ones. ²⁸ And Moses said, “By this you shall know that ^(AF)Yahweh has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not from my heart. ²⁹ If these men die ^[o]the death of all men or ^[p]if they suffer the ^(AG)fate of all men, then Yahweh has not sent me. ³⁰ But ^(AH)if Yahweh creates an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they ^(AI)go down to Sheol alive, then you will know that these men have spurned Yahweh.”

³¹ And it happened that 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 up, and their households, and ^(AK)all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. ³³ So they and all that belonged to them went down to Sheol alive; 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 ^[q]outcry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” ^35 (AL)Fire also came forth from Yahweh and consumed the ^(AM)250 men who were bringing near the incense.

^36 [r]Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷ “Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the ^[s]blaze, and you scatter ^[t]the burning coals abroad; for they are holy. ³⁸ As for the censers of these ^[u]men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, make them into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they brought them near before Yahweh, and they are holy; and ^(AN)they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel.” ³⁹ So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had brought near, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar, ⁴⁰ as a ^[v]memorial to the sons of Israel that ^(AO)no ^[w]outsider who is not of the seed of Aaron should come near ^(AP)to burn incense before Yahweh; so that he will not become like Korah and his congregation—just as Yahweh had spoken to him by the hand of Moses.

Grumbling and Plague

⁴¹ But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel ^(AQ)grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the people of Yahweh.” ⁴² It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and ^(AR)the glory of Yahweh appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ “^[x](AS)Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces. ⁴⁶ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and ^(AT)make atonement for them, for ^(AU)wrath has gone forth from Yahweh, the plague has begun!” ⁴⁷ Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. ^(AV)So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked. ^49 (AW)But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who ^(AX)died on account of Korah. ⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.