Read the Bible

Korah's Rebellion

¹ Now ^(C1)Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with ^(C2)Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben, took action,² and they rose up in rebellion before Moses, together with some of the Israelites, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation ^(C1)chosen in the assembly, men of distinction.³ They assembled together ^(C1)against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "^(C2)You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and ^(C3)the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"

⁴ And when Moses heard this, ^(C1)he fell face downward;⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, "In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to Him, and ^(C1)who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; ^(C2)the one whom He will choose He will bring near to Himself. ^(VR1)6 "Do this: Take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company,⁷ then put fire in them and place incense on them in the presence of the LORD tomorrow; and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the one who is holy. ^(C1)You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi."

⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi,^9 (C1)does it seem but a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, ^(C2)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;¹⁰ and that He has brought you near to Him, Korah and all your brothers, sons of Levi with you? Would you ^(C1)seek the priesthood also?¹¹ "Therefore you and all your company are gathered together ^(C1)against the LORD; but as for Aaron, who is he that ^(C2)you murmur against him?"

¹² Then Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said defiantly, "We will not come up.¹³ "Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a ^(C1)land of plenty ^(F1)flowing with milk and honey ^(C2)to kill us in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us?¹⁴ "Indeed, you have not brought us ^(C1)into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of ^(C2)fields and vineyards. Will you ^(C3)gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!"

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "^(C1)Pay no attention to their offering! ^(C2)I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them."¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, "You and all your company are to appear before the LORD tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron.¹⁷ "Each of you take his censer and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer."¹⁸ So they each took his own censer and put fire on it and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), with Moses and Aaron.¹⁹ Then Korah assembled all the congregation against Moses and Aaron at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). And ^(C1)the glory and brilliance of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,²¹ "^(C1)Separate yourselves from among this congregation, ^(C2)so that I may consume them immediately."²² But they fell on their faces before the LORD, and said, "O God, ^(C1)God of the spirits of all flesh! ^(C2)When one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?"

²³ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,²⁴ "Say to the congregation, '^(C1)Get away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'"

²⁵ Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.²⁶ And he said to the congregation, "^(C1)Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, ^(C2)or you will be swept away in all their sin."²⁷ So they got back from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents with their wives and ^(C1)their sons and their little children.²⁸ Then Moses said, "By this you shall know that ^(C1)the LORD has sent me to do all these works; for I do not act of my own accord.²⁹ "If these men die the common death of all mankind or if ^(C1)what happens to everyone happens to them, then you will know for sure that the LORD has not sent me.³⁰ "But ^(C1)if the LORD creates an entirely new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up, along with all that belongs to them, and they ^(C2)descend alive into Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), then you will understand that these men have spurned and rejected the LORD!"

³¹ As soon as Moses finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split open;³² and ^(C1)the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and ^(C2)all the men who supported Korah, with all their possessions. ^(VR1)33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.³⁴ All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, "The earth may swallow us also."^35 (C1)Fire also came forth from the LORD and consumed the ^(C2)two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.

^36 (F1)Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,³⁷ "Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, that he is to pick up the censers from the midst of the blaze for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad.³⁸ "As for the censers of these people who have sinned at the cost of their lives, have the censers made into hammered sheets as a plating for the altar of burnt offering, for they were presented before the LORD and they are sacred. ^(C1)They shall be a warning sign to the sons of Israel."³⁹ So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the Levites who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out into broad sheets as a plating for the bronze altar of burnt offering,⁴⁰ as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that ^(C1)no layman—that is, one who is not of the descendants of Aaron should approach ^(C2)to offer incense before the LORD; so that he will not become like Korah and as his company—just as the LORD had said to him through Moses.

Murmuring and Plague

⁴¹ But on the next day the entire congregation of the Israelites ^(C1)murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have caused the death of the people of the LORD."⁴² When the congregation was assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned and looked at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and behold, the cloud covered it and ^(C1)the glory and brilliance of the LORD appeared.⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle),⁴⁴ and the LORD spoke to Moses saying,⁴⁵ "^(C1)Get away from among this congregation, so that I may consume them immediately." Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in silence before the LORD.⁴⁶ Moses said to Aaron, "Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and ^(C1)make atonement for them, for ^(C2)wrath has gone forth from the LORD; the plague has begun!"⁴⁷ So Aaron took the burning censer as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had already begun among the people; and ^(C1)he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.⁴⁸ He stood between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to an end.^49 (C1)But those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who ^(C2)died because of Korah.⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), for the plague had been brought to an end.