Numbers 16

Korah’s Rebellion

1 Now *ch. 27:3;Ex. 6:16,18,21;Jude 11Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and *ch. 26:9Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. 2 And 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. 3 *Ps. 106:16-18They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, *ver. 7"You have gone too far! For *See Ex. 19:6all 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?" 4 When Moses heard it, *ch. 14:5;20:6he fell on his face, 5 and he said to Korah and all his company, "In the morning the Lord will show *[2 Tim. 2:19] who is his,*16:5 Septuagint The Lord knows those who are his and who is *ver. 3holy, and will bring him near to him. The one *ch. 17:5;1 Sam. 2:28;Ps. 105:26;[Ex. 28:1] whom he chooses he will *ch. 3:10;Lev. 10:3;Ps. 65:4;Ezek. 40:46;44:15,16bring near to him. 6 Do this: take *Lev. 10:1censers, Korah and all his company; 7 put fire in them and put incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the holy one. *ver. 3You have gone too far, sons of Levi!" 8 And Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9 is it *ver. 13;1 Sam. 18:23;Isa. 7:13;[Ezek. 16:20] too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has *ch. 8:14;Deut. 10:8separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, 10 and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? 11 Therefore it is against the Lord that you and all your company have gathered together. What is *Ex. 16:8;[1 Cor. 3:5]Aaron that you grumble against him?"

12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, "We will not come up. 13 Is it *ver. 9a small thing that you have brought us up out of *See Ex. 3:8a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also *Ex. 2:14;Acts 7:27,35make yourself a prince over us? 14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up." 15 And Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, *[Gen. 4:4,5] "Do not respect their offering. *1 Sam. 12:3;[Acts 20:33;2 Cor. 7:2]I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them."

16 And Moses said to Korah, "Be present, you and all your company, *Ex. 16:9;1 Sam. 12:3,7before the Lord, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. 17 And *ver. 6, 7let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the Lord his censer, *ver. 35250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer." 18 So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19 Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. *See Lev. 9:23And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

20 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 *ver. 45;[Gen. 19:17,22;Jer. 51:6;Rev. 18:4] "Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them *Ex. 33:5;Ps. 73:19in a moment." 22 And they *ver. 45;ch. 14:5;20:6fell on their faces and said, "O God, *ch. 27:16;Job 12:10;Eccles. 12:7;Isa. 57:16;Zech. 12:1the God of the spirits of all flesh, *[Gen. 18:23-25;2 Sam. 24:17]shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?" 23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 "Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."

25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, *[Gen. 19:12-14;Isa. 52:11;2 Cor. 6:17;Rev. 18:4]"Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins." 27 So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood *[Ex. 33:8]at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. 28 And Moses said, "Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been *[Jer. 23:16;Ezek. 13:2,17]of my own accord. 29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, *[1 Kgs. 22:28]then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord creates something new, and *[Gen. 4:11] the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they *ver. 33;Ps. 55:15go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord."

31 *ch. 26:10;27:3;Deut. 11:6;Ps. 106:17And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. 32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and *[ch. 26:11;1 Chr. 6:22,27]all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and *Jude 11they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, "Lest the earth swallow us up!" 35 And *[ch. 11:1]; Lev. 10:2; Ps. 106:18fire came out from the Lord and consumed *ver. 17the 250 men offering the incense.

36 * 16:36 Ch 17:1 in Hebrew Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 37 "Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide, for they have become holy. 38 As for the censers of *Prov. 20:2;Hab. 2:10;[1 Kgs. 2:23] 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 offered them before the Lord, and they became holy. *ch. 17:10;26:10Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel." 39 So 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, 40 to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so *ch. 3:10;2 Chr. 26:18that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the Lord, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the Lord said to him through Moses.

41 But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel *See ch. 14:2grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of the Lord." 42 And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting. And behold, *Ex. 40:34the cloud covered it, and *ver. 19;See Lev. 9:23the glory of the Lord appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 *ver. 21, 24"Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." *ver. 22And they fell on their faces. 46 And 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 *ch. 8:19;11:33;Lev. 10:6;1 Chr. 27:24wrath has gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun." 47 So Aaron took it as Moses said 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. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and *ver. 50;ch. 25:8;2 Sam. 24:25;Ps. 106:30the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, *ch. 27:3besides those who died in the affair of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped.