Numbers 16-18

Tree of Life Version

Parashat Korach

Rebellion of Korah

16 Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, and sons of Reuben—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth— ² rose up against Moses and took 250 men from Bnei-Yisrael, men of renown who had been appointed to the council. ³ They assembled against Moses and Aaron. They said to them, “You’ve gone too far! All the community is holy—all of them—and Adonai is with them! Then why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of Adonai?”

⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell on his face.

⁵ Then he said to Korah and all his following saying, “In the morning Adonai will reveal who is His and who is holy. The one whom He will let come near to Him will be the one He chooses to come near to Him. ⁶ Do this, Korah and your whole following! Take for yourselves censers. ⁷ Put fire and incense into them in the presence of Adonai. Tomorrow the man that Adonai chooses will be the holy one! You sons of Levi are the ones who have gone too far!”

⁸ Moses also said to Korah, “Listen now, sons of Levi! ⁹ Isn’t it enough that the God of Israel has set you apart from the community of Israel to bring you near to Him to do the work of the Tabernacle of Adonai and to stand before the community to minister to them? ¹⁰ So He brought you close, along with all your fellow sons of Levi. But you are seeking the priesthood, too! ¹¹ Therefore you and all your following are banding together against Adonai! Who then is Aaron—that you are grumbling against him?”

¹² Then Moses sent word to call Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come! ¹³ Isn’t it enough that you brought us from a land flowing with milk and honey, only to kill us in the wilderness? And now you would lord it over us? ¹⁴ What’s more, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you now gouge out the eyes of those men? We won’t come!”

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to Adonai, “Do not accept their offering. I haven’t taken from them a single donkey, nor have I wronged one of them!”

¹⁶ So Moses said to Korah, “You and your whole following are to appear before Adonai—you, they and Aaron—tomorrow! ¹⁷ Each man will take his censer and you are to put incense into them—250 censers total. You are to present it before Adonai, you and Aaron each presenting his censer.”

¹⁸ So each man took his censer, put fire and incense into it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁹ When Korah and all his following had assembled in opposition to them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, then the glory of Adonai appeared to the entire assembly.

²⁰ Then Adonai spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from among this assembly, so that I may consume them at once!”

²² But they fell on their faces and cried out, “O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, if one man sins, will you be angry with the entire community?”

²³ Then Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the assembly saying, ‘Move away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan and Abiram!’”

²⁵ Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram. The elders of Israel followed after him. ²⁶ He warned the assembly saying, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men! Don’t touch anything that is theirs, or you will be swept away because of all their sins!”

²⁷ So they moved away from near the dwelling of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram came outside and were standing at the entrance of their tents with their wives, their children, and their little ones.

²⁸ Moses said, “By this you will know that Adonai has sent me to do all these works, that they are not from my own heart. ²⁹ If every one of these men die a common death and experience what happens to all people, then Adonai has not sent me. ³⁰ But if Adonai brings about a new thing, and the earth opens her mouth and swallows them and everything that is theirs, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised Adonai.”

³¹ As soon as he finished saying all these things, the ground split under them. ³² The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with all their households, all of Korah’s people and all their possessions. ³³ They went down alive into Sheol, they and everything that was theirs. The earth closed over them and they were gone from among the community.

³⁴ All Israel around them fled at their outcry, for they shouted, “Perhaps the earth will swallow us!”

³⁵ Fire also came out from Adonai and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.

³⁶ Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the kohen, to take the censers from the burning, because they are holy, and scatter the coals at a distance. ³⁸ As for the censers of these men who sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be taken and hammered into sheets as a covering for the altar. For they were presented before Adonai, so they are holy. They are to be a sign to Bnei-Yisrael.”

³⁹ So Eleazar the kohen collected the bronze censers brought by the ones who were burned and hammered them into an overlay for the altar, ⁴⁰ just as Adonai had spoken to him by Moses’ hand, so that it would be as a reminder to Bnei-Yisrael that no one who was not a descendant of Aaron should burn incense before Adonai, and so no one would become like Korah and his following.

⁴¹ The next day, the entire community of Bnei-Yisrael grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You killed Adonai’s people!”

⁴² But when they gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, behold, the cloud covered it and the glory appeared! ⁴³ Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting.

⁴⁴ Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ⁴⁵ “Get away from among this assembly so that I may immediately consume them!” So they fell on their faces.

⁴⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put into it fire from the altar and put in incense. Get going and hurry to the assembly and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from Adonai and the plague has started.”

⁴⁷ Aaron did just as Moses had said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. Behold, the plague had already started among the people. But he offered the incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ He stood between the dead and the living and the plague stopped. ⁴⁹ However, there were 14,700 dead from the plague, besides those who died because of Korah.

⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, when the plague had been halted.

Sprouting of Aaron’s Rod

17 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ² “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael and get a rod from each ancestral house, twelve staffs in all, from each prince according to his ancestral household. Write each man’s name on his staff. ³ Write Aaron’s name on Levi’s staff, for there is to be one staff for the prince of each tribe. ⁴ Then you are to place them in the Tent of Meeting, before the Testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ It will come about that the staff of the man I choose will sprout. I will then rid Myself of the grumblings of Bnei-Yisrael, who are grumbling against you.”

⁶ So Moses spoke to Bnei-Yisrael. Each of their princes gave him a staff, one staff for each prince according to their ancestral houses, twelve staffs in all, and Aaron’s staff was among them. ⁷ Moses placed the staffs before Adonai in the Tent of Testimony.

⁸ The next day, Moses entered the Tent of Testimony and behold, Aaron’s staff, from the house of Levi, had sprouted, blossomed, and produced almonds! ⁹ Moses then brought all the staffs from Adonai’s Presence to all Bnei-Yisrael. They looked and each man took his staff.

¹⁰ Adonai said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony to keep as a sign to the sons of rebellion, so that it may put an end to their grumblings against Me, and so they will not die.” ¹¹ Moses did just as Adonai had commanded him.

¹² But Bnei-Yisrael said to Moses saying, “Look! We will die! We are all lost! We are lost! ¹³ Anyone approaching the Tabernacle of Adonai will die! Must all of us die?”

Kohen Duties and Portions

18 Adonai said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and the house of your father with you will bear the guilt for the Sanctuary, and you and your sons will bear the guilt for your priesthood. ² Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join you and assist you, both you and your sons with you, before the Tent of the Testimony. ³ They are to perform their duties for you and for all matters related to the Tent. They must not approach the implements of the Sanctuary or the altar—otherwise, both you and they will die. ⁴ They are to team with you and attend to the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent. But no unauthorized person may intrude upon you. ⁵ So you are to attend to the Sanctuary and the care of the altar, so no further wrath will fall on Bnei-Yisrael.

⁶ “See, I have personally taken your kinsmen, the Levites, from among Bnei-Yisrael as a gift for you and your sons with you, dedicated to Adonai to serve in the work of the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ But you and your sons with you are to maintain your priesthood for everything pertaining to the altar and inside the parokhet. I am giving you the ministry of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone unauthorized who approaches will die.”

⁸ Adonai then said to Aaron, “See, I have given you charge over all My offerings. All the sacred things from Bnei-Yisrael I have given to you as set aside for you and your sons as a permanent share. ⁹ You are to have the part of the most holy things that is kept from the fire. Whether grain, sin or guilt offerings that they bring to Me as most holy—they are for you and your sons. ¹⁰ You are to eat it as most holy. Every male may eat it—it is set apart for you. ¹¹ This also is yours: the gift of the wave offerings of Bnei-Yisrael. I have given all the wave offerings as a permanent share to you, your sons and your daughters. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. ¹² All the finest olive oil, the finest new wine and grain they give to Adonai from their firstfruits, I have given them to you. ¹³ All the firstfruits of the land that they bring to Adonai will be for yours. Anyone who is clean in your house may eat it.

¹⁴ Every devoted thing in Israel is yours. ¹⁵ The first offspring of the womb from all flesh, whether human or animal, offered to Adonai, is yours. However, you are to redeem the firstborn of man and the firstborn of unclean animals. ¹⁶ When they are a month old, you are to redeem them at the redemption price of five shekels of silver by the Sanctuary shekel, or 20 gerahs. ¹⁷ But the firstborn of the ox, sheep or goat you are not to redeem. They are holy. You are to sprinkle their blood on the altar, and their fat you are to burn as a fire offering, a pleasing aroma to Adonai. ¹⁸ Their meat—the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh—is yours. ¹⁹ Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings which Bnei-Yisrael present to Adonai, I have given to you, your sons and your daughters with you as a permanent share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before Adonai for you and your offspring.”

²⁰ Adonai said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land nor share among them. I am your portion and your share among Bnei-Yisrael. ²¹ See, I have given all the tithes in Israel to the sons of Levi as an inheritance in return for all the work of the service they are doing in the Tent of Meeting. ²² From now on, Bnei-Yisrael must never trespass the Tent of Meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and die. ²³ The Levites will perform the service of the Tent of Meeting. They will bear the responsibility for their iniquity. It is a permanent ordinance throughout your generations. So among Bnei-Yisrael they are to receive no inheritance.

²⁴ For I have given the tithes that Bnei-Yisrael present to Adonai as an offering to the Levites as an inheritance. That is why I said they would receive no inheritance among Bnei-Yisrael.”

²⁵ Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ²⁶ “Speak now to the Levites and say to them: When you receive from Bnei-Yisrael the tithe which I have given to you as your inheritance, you are then to offer to Adonai a tithe of that tithe. ²⁷ Your offering will be reckoned as grain from the threshing floor or the fullness of the winepress. ²⁸ Thus you will also present an offering to Adonai from all your tithes that you receive from Bnei-Yisrael, and from that you are to give Adonai’s portion to Aaron the kohen. ²⁹ From all your gifts that you receive, you are to present the best and holiest from them as Adonai’s portion.

³⁰ “Say to them: When you present the best part, it will be reckoned to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor and of the winepress. ³¹ You and your household may eat it in any place. It is your wage for your service in the Tent of Meeting.

³² “In presenting the best part in this manner, you will bear no guilt in these matters. You will not defile the holy things of Bnei-Yisrael, so you will not die.”