From among all the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons to do the work at the tent of meeting on behalf of the Israelites and to make atonement for them so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary.”

But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague.

I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”

these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord.

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.”

So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them.

He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.

But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah.

Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped.

and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;

but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.

They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident involving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of that incident.”

The Second Census

After the plague the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest,

“They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident, so that a plague struck the Lord’s people.