Numbers 16
English Standard Version
Korah's Rebellion
16 Now (A)Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and (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 a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. 3 (C)They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, (D)“You have gone too far! For (E)all 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, (F)he fell on his face, 5 and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the Lord will show (G)who is his,[a] and who is (H)holy, and will bring him near to him. The one (I)whom he chooses he will (J)bring near to him. 6 Do this: take (K)censers, 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. (L)You have gone too far, sons of Levi!” 8 And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9 is it (M)too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has (N)separated 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 (O)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 (P)a small thing that you have brought us up out of (Q)a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also (R)make 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, (S)“Do not respect their offering. (T)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, (U)before the Lord, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. 17 And (V)let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the Lord his censer, (W)250 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. (X)And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.
20 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 (Y)“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them (Z)in a moment.” 22 And they (AA)fell on their faces and said, “O God, (AB)the God of the spirits of all flesh, (AC)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, (AD)“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 (AE)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 (AF)of my own accord. 29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, (AG)then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord creates something new, and (AH)the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they (AI)go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”
31 (AJ)And 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 (AK)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 (AL)they 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 (AM)fire came out from the Lord and consumed (AN)the 250 men offering the incense.
36 [b] 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 (AO)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. (AP)Thus 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 (AQ)that 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 (AR)grumbled 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, (AS)the cloud covered it, and (AT)the 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 (AU)“Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” (AV)And 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 (AW)wrath 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 (AX)the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, (AY)besides 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.
Footnotes
- Numbers 16:5 Septuagint The Lord knows those who are his
- Numbers 16:36 Ch 17:1 in Hebrew
Numbers 16
Common English Bible
A challenge to the priesthood
16 Korah—Izhar’s son, Kohath’s grandson, and Levi’s great-grandson—with Dathan and Abiram, Eliab’s sons, and On, Peleth’s son, descendants of Reuben, 2 rose up against Moses, along with two hundred fifty Israelite men, leaders of the community, chosen by the assembly, men of reputation. 3 They assembled against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You’ve gone too far, because the entire community is holy, every last one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”
4 When Moses heard this, he fell on his face. 5 He spoke to Korah and all his community, “In the morning the Lord will make known who is his, who is holy, and who is able to approach him. The one he chooses for himself is the one who will be able to approach him. 6 This is what must be done. Korah and your entire community: Take censers for yourselves. 7 Tomorrow put fire in them and place incense on them in the Lord’s presence. The man whom the Lord chooses, that one is holy. You Levites have gone too far!” 8 Moses said to Korah, “Listen, you Levites, 9 isn’t it enough for you that Israel’s God has separated you from the Israelite community to allow you to approach him, to perform the service of the Lord’s dwelling, and to serve before the community by ministering for them? 10 He has allowed you and all your fellow Levites with you to approach him. Yet you also seek the priesthood? 11 Thus you and your entire community have assembled against the Lord. But Aaron, what is he that you complain about him?”
Test of priesthood
12 Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, Eliab’s sons. But they said, “We won’t come up! 13 Isn’t it enough that you’ve brought us up from a land full of milk and honey to kill us in the desert so that you’d also dominate us? 14 Moreover, you haven’t brought us to a land full of milk and honey, nor given us the inheritance of field and vineyard. Would you also gouge out the eyes of these men? We won’t come up!”
15 Moses became very angry and he said to the Lord, “Pay no attention to their offering. I haven’t taken a single donkey from them, nor have I wronged any one of them.”
16 Moses said to Korah, “You and your entire community should appear before the Lord tomorrow, you, they, and Aaron. 17 Every person should take his censer, place incense on it, and present it before the Lord. Each person will carry his censer, two hundred fifty censers in all, including you and Aaron.” 18 Then every person took his censer, placed fire on it, put incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the meeting tent with Moses and Aaron. 19 Korah gathered the entire community with them to the entrance of the meeting tent.
Then the Lord’s glory appeared to the entire community. 20 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, 21 “Separate yourselves from this community so that I may consume them in a moment.”
22 They fell on their faces and said, “God, the God of all living things. If one person sins, should you become angry with the entire community?”
23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “Speak to the community and say, ‘Withdraw from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”
25 Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram. Israel’s elders followed him. 26 He spoke to the community: “Move away from the tents of these wicked men and don’t touch anything of theirs, lest you too be wiped out for all their sins.” 27 They withdrew from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance of their tents with their wives, children, and little ones. 28 Moses said, “By this you will know that the Lord sent me to do these deeds and that it wasn’t my own desire. 29 If all these people die a natural death, or if their fate be that of all humans, then the Lord hasn’t sent me. 30 But if the Lord performs an act of creation, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and everything that belongs to them, so that they descend alive to their graves, then you’ll know that these men disrespected the Lord.”
The rebels’ punishment
31 As soon as he finished speaking these words, the ground under them split open. 32 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, including every human that belonged to Korah and all their possessions. 33 They along with all their possessions descended alive to their graves, and the earth closed over them. They perished in the middle of the assembly. 34 All the Israelites who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us.” 35 Then fire went out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred fifty men offering incense.
The reminder of the censers
36 [a] The Lord spoke to Moses: 37 Tell Eleazar, Aaron the priest’s son, to raise the censers from the fire and scatter the ashes about, because they are holy. 38 Hammer the censers of those who sinned and lost their lives into thin plates for the altar. Since they presented them in the Lord’s presence, they had become holy. They will be a sign for the Israelites.
39 Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers presented by those who had been consumed by fire and hammered them into a covering for the altar, 40 just as the Lord instructed him through Moses. This was a reminder for the Israelites that no outsider who isn’t one of Aaron’s descendants should approach to burn incense in the Lord’s presence, so as not to be like Korah and his community.
41 On the next day the entire Israelite community complained to Moses and Aaron, “You killed the Lord’s people.” 42 When the community assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the meeting tent. At that moment the cloud covered it, and the Lord’s glory appeared. 43 Moses and Aaron came to the front of the meeting tent, 44 and the Lord spoke to Moses: 45 Get away from this community, so that I may consume them in an instant.
They fell on their faces, 46 and Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put fire from the altar on it, place incense on it, go quickly to the community, and seek reconciliation for them. Indeed, the Lord’s anger has gone out. The plague has begun.” 47 Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the middle of the assembly, for the plague had already begun among the people. He burned incense and sought reconciliation for the people. 48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped. 49 Those who died from the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, in addition to those who died because of Korah. 50 Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the meeting tent once the plague stopped.
Footnotes
- Numbers 16:36 17:1 in Heb
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible