16:1¹ Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, Reubenites, took men² 16:2 and they rose up against Moses, with some of the Israelites, 250 princes of the community, chosen from the assembly,³ famous men.⁴ 16:3 And they assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves,⁵ seeing all the community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you lift yourselves above the community of the LORD?”

16:4 When Moses heard it he fell on his face. 16:5 Then he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, “In the morning the LORD will make known who are his, and who is holy; and he will cause that person⁶ to come near to him, even him whom he has chosen will he cause to come near him. 16:6 Do this Korah, you and all your⁷ company: take censors, 16:7 And put fire in them, and set incense on them before the LORD tomorrow; and it will be that the man whom the LORD chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi.” 16:8 And Moses said to Korah, “Listen now you sons of Levi! 16:9 Does it seem too small a thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the community to minister to them? 16:10 And he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you. Do you now seek⁸ the priesthood also? 16:11 Therefore you and all your company have assembled together against the LORD; and Aaron—what is he, that you murmur against him?⁹

16:12 And Moses sent to summon¹⁰ Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up.¹¹ 16:13 Is it a small thing¹² that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey,¹³ to kill us in the wilderness? Now you want to make yourself a prince¹⁴ over us? 16:14 Moreover,¹⁵ you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind¹⁶ these men? We will not come up.”

16:15 And Moses was very angry; and he said to the LORD, “Have no respect¹⁷ for their offering. I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, neither have I harmed any one of them.”

16:16 Then Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be present before the LORD , you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. 16:17 And each of you¹⁸ take his censor, and put¹⁹ incense in them, and then each of you present his censor before the LORD—250 censors; along with you, and Aaron—each of you with his censor. 16:18 So everyone took his censor, and put fire in it, and set incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and with Aaron. 16:19 When²⁰ Korah assembled the whole community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, then the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole community.

16:20 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 16:21 Separate yourselves²¹ from among this community,²² that I may consume them in an instant. 16:22 Then they fell on their faces,²³ and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all people,²⁴ will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?²⁵

16:23 So the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 16:24 “Speak to the community, saying, ‘Get away²⁶ from around the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’” 16:25 Then Moses got up²⁷ and went to Dothan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him. 16:26 And he spoke to the community, saying, “Turn away from the tents of these wicked²⁸ men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because²⁹ of all their sins.”³⁰ 16:27 So they got away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stationed themselves³¹ in the entrances of their tents, with their wives and their children, and their toddlers. 16:28 Then Moses said, “This is how³² you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will.³³ 16:29 If these men die a natural death,³⁴ or if they share the fate³⁵ of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. 16:30 But if the LORD does something entirely new,³⁶ and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up,³⁷ with all that they have, and they³⁸ go down alive to the grave,³⁹ then you will know that these men have despised the LORD.

16:31 And when he had finished⁴⁰ speaking⁴¹ all these words, the ground that was under them split open, 16:32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their houses, and all Korah’s men, and all their goods. 16:33 They and all that they had, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from the midst of the community. 16:34 And all the Israelites⁴² that were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “What if⁴³ the earth swallows us too.” 16:35 Then a fire⁴⁴ went out from the LORD and devoured the 250 men that offered incense.

16:36 (17:1)⁴⁵ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 16:37 “Tell⁴⁶ Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to pick up⁴⁷ the censors out of the flame, for they are holy, and then scatter the coals of fire⁴⁸ at a distance. 16:38 As for the censors of these who sinned at the cost of their lives,⁴⁹ they must be made into⁵⁰ into hammered sheets for covering the altar, for they presented them before the LORD and sanctified them; and they will become a sign to the Israelites. 16:39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censors, which those who had been burned had presented, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar. 16:40 It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not of a descendant of Aaron come near to burn incense before the LORD; that he might not become like Korah and as his company, just as the LORD had spoken by the authority of Moses.

16:41 But on the next day the whole community of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.”⁵¹ 16:42 When the community assembled⁵² against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting—and⁵³ the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 16:43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tent of meeting.

16:44 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 16:45 “Get away from this community that I may consume them in an instant.” 16:46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censor and put fire in it from off the altar, and lay incense on it, and go quickly into the community and make an atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD—the plague has begun.” 16:47 So Aaron did⁵⁴ as Moses had commanded, and ran into the middle of the assembly—now the plague was just beginning among the people. And he placed incense, and made atonement for the people. 16:48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 16:49 Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died over the matter of Korah. 16:50 Then Aaron returned to Moses to the entrance of the tent of meeting; and the plague was stopped.