¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone in the way ^(A)of Cain, ^(B)have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished ^(C)in the rebellion of Korah.

¹⁵ They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of ^(A)Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

¹² not as ^(A)Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

¹⁴ But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of ^(A)Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, ^(B)to eat things sacrificed to idols, ^(C)and to commit sexual immorality.

³ And ^[a]in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit ^(A)of the ground to the Lord. ⁴ Abel also brought of ^(B)the firstborn of his flock and of ^(C)their fat. And the Lord ^(D)respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶ So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is ^[b]for you, but you should rule over it.”

⁸ Now Cain ^[c]talked with Abel his ^[d]brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and ^(E)killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”

He said, ^(F)“I do not know. Am I ^(G)my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^(H)cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ So now ^(I)you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

¹³ And Cain said to the Lord, “My ^[e]punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴ Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; ^(J)I shall be ^(K)hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that ^(L)anyone who finds me will kill me.”

Faith at the Dawn of History^(A)

⁴ By faith ^(B)Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still ^(C)speaks.

⁹ The sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram, ^(A)representatives of the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the Lord; ^10 (B)and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men; ^(C)and they became a sign.

Rebellion Against Moses and Aaron

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 rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, ^(C)representatives of the congregation, men of renown. ^3 (D)They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You ^[a]take too much upon yourselves, for ^(E)all the congregation is holy, every one of them, ^(F)and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

⁴ So when Moses heard it, he ^(G)fell on his face; ⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is ^(H)His and who is ^(I)holy,^[b] and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to ^(J)come near to Him. ⁶ Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company; ⁷ put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”

⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: ⁹ Is it ^(K)a small thing to you that the God of Israel has ^(L)separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to serve them; ¹⁰ and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also? ¹¹ Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. ^(M)And what is Aaron that you complain against him?”

¹² And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up! ¹³ Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of ^(N)a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should ^(O)keep acting like a prince over us? ¹⁴ Moreover ^(P)you have not brought us into ^(Q)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 Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, ^(R)“Do not ^[c]respect their offering. ^(S)I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”

¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company be present ^(T)before the Lord—you and they, as well as Aaron. ¹⁷ Let each take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.” ¹⁸ So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then ^(U)the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ^21 (V)“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may ^(W)consume them in a moment.”

²² Then they ^(X)fell^[d] on their faces, and said, “O God, ^(Y)the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the ^(Z)congregation?”

²³ So the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the tents 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, ^(AA)“Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.” ²⁷ So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little ^(AB)children.

²⁸ And Moses said: ^(AC)“By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them ^(AD)of my own will. ²⁹ If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are ^(AE)visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord creates ^(AF)a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they ^(AG)go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.”

^31 (AH)Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and ^(AI)all the men with Korah, with all their goods. ³³ So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. ³⁴ Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also!”

³⁵ And ^(AJ)a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.

²¹ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago ^(A)in sackcloth and ashes.