Numbers 16-18

New American Standard Bible

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.

^36 [w]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall pick up the censers from the midst of the burned area, because they are holy; and you are to scatter the ^[x]burning coals further away. ³⁸ As for the censers of these ^[y]men who have sinned at the cost of their own lives, have them made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and ^(AN)they shall ^[z]serve as a sign to the sons of Israel.” ³⁹ So the priest Eleazar took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as plating for the altar, ⁴⁰ as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that ^(AO)no ^[aa]layman, anyone who was not of the ^[ab]descendants of Aaron, would approach ^(AP)to burn incense before the Lord; then he would not become like Korah and his group—just as the Lord had spoken to him ^[ac]through Moses.

Murmuring 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 Lord’s people!” 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 the Lord appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ “^(AS)Get away from among this congregation so that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces. ⁴⁶ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put fire in it from the altar, and place incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and ^(AT)make atonement for them, for ^(AU)wrath has gone out from the Lord, the plague has begun!” ⁴⁷ Then Aaron took it just as Moses had spoken, and he ran into the midst of the assembly; and 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 brought to a halt. ^49 (AW)But those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who ^(AX)died on account of Korah. ⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been brought to a halt.

Aaron’s Staff Buds

17 ^[ad]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel, and obtain from them a staff for each father’s household: twelve staffs, from all their leaders for their fathers’ households. You shall write each man’s name on his staff, ³ and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for there is to be one staff for the head of each of their fathers’ households. ⁴ You shall then leave them in the tent of meeting in front of ^(AY)the testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ And it will come about that the staff of ^(AZ)the man whom I choose will sprout. So I will relieve Myself of the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.” ⁶ So Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, for their fathers’ households, twelve staffs in all, with the staff of Aaron among their staffs. ⁷ Then Moses left the staffs before the Lord in ^(BA)the tent of the testimony.

⁸ Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, ^(BB)Aaron’s staff for the house of Levi had sprouted and produced buds and bloomed with blossoms, and it yielded ripe almonds. ⁹ Moses then brought out all the staffs from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his staff. ¹⁰ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put the staff of Aaron ^(BC)back in front of the testimony ^[ae]to be kept as a sign against the ^[af](BD)rebels, so that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me and they do not die.” ¹¹ Moses did so; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

¹² Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “^(BE)Behold, we are passing away, we are perishing, we are all perishing! ^13 (BF)Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”

Duties of Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your father’s household with you shall ^(BG)bear the guilt ^[ag]in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt ^[ah]in connection with your priesthood. ² But also bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may ^(BH)join you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. ³ And they shall perform duties for you and the duties of the whole tent, but ^(BI)they shall not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and ^(BJ)the altar, or both they and you will die. ⁴ They shall join you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but ^[ai]an unauthorized person shall not come near you. ⁵ So you shall perform the ^(BK)duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, ^(BL)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. ⁶ Behold, I Myself ^(BM)have taken your ^[aj]fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are ^(BN)a gift to you, ^[ak]dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. ⁷ But you and your sons with you shall ^(BO)attend to your priesthood for everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as ^(BP)a ^[al]service that is a gift, and ^(BQ)the ^[am]unauthorized person who comes near shall be put to death.”

The Priests’ Portion

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have put you in charge of My ^[an](BR)offerings, all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given to you as a portion and to your sons as a permanent allotment. ⁹ This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, namely ^(BS)every grain offering, every ^(BT)sin offering, and every guilt offering, with which they shall make restitution to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. ¹⁰ As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you. ¹¹ This also is yours, ^(BU)the offering of their gift, that is, all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have ^(BV)given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. ^12 (BW)All the ^[ao]best of the fresh oil and all the ^[ap]best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the Lord, I have given them to you. ^13 (BX)The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. ^14 (BY)Everything banned from secular use in Israel shall be yours. ^15 [aq](BZ)Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether human or animal, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours; however you must redeem the human firstborn, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. ¹⁶ As to ^[ar]their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your assessment, five ^[as]shekels in silver by the ^[at]shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. ¹⁷ But ^(CA)the firstborn of an ox, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. ^(CB)You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁸ However, their ^[au]meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the ^(CC)breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh. ^19 (CD)All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a permanent allotment. It is ^(CE)a permanent covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your ^[av]descendants with you.” ²⁰ Then the Lord said to Aaron, “^(CF)You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; ^(CG)I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

²¹ “To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the ^(CH)tithe in Israel as an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. ²² And ^(CI)the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bring sin on themselves and die. ²³ Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall ^(CJ)bear their own guilt; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel ^(CK)they shall have no inheritance. ²⁴ For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘^(CL)They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”

²⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel ^(CM)the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a ^(CN)tithe of the tithe. ²⁷ Your offering shall be credited to you like the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat. ²⁸ So you shall also present an offering to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the Lord, from all the ^[aw]best of them, ^[ax]the sacred part from them.’ ³⁰ And you shall say to them, ‘When you have ^[ay]offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be credited to the Levites like the product of the threshing floor, and like the product of the wine vat. ³¹ You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting. ³² And you will bring on yourselves no sin by reason of it when you have ^[az]offered the ^[ba]best of it. But you shall not ^(CO)profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, so that you do not die.’”