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.

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

²² Then they ^(C)fell^[a] on their faces, and said, “O God, ^(D)the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the ^(E)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, ^(F)“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 ^(G)children.

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

^31 (M)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 ^(N)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 ^(O)a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.