Numbers 16:1-35

English Standard Version Anglicised

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.