Numbers 16-18

New International Reader's Version

Korah, Dathan and Abiram

16 Korah was the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath. Kohath was the son of Levi. Korah and certain men from the tribe of Reuben turned against Moses. The men from Reuben were Dathan, Abiram and On. Dathan and Abiram were the sons of Eliab. On was the son of Peleth. ² All those men rose up against Moses. And 250 men of Israel joined them. All of them were known as leaders in the community. They had been appointed as members of the ruling body. ³ They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron. They said to Moses and Aaron, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy. Every one in it is holy. And the Lord is with them. So why do you put yourselves above the Lord’s people?”

⁴ When Moses heard what they said, he fell with his face to the ground. ⁵ Then he spoke to Korah and all his followers. He said, “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will show who is holy. He’ll bring that person near him. He’ll bring the man he chooses near him. ⁶ Korah, here’s what you and all your followers must do. Get some shallow cups for burning incense. ⁷ Tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them. Offer it to the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”

⁸ Moses also said to Korah, “Listen, you Levites! ⁹ The God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the community of Israel. He has brought you near him to work at the Lord’s holy tent. He has given you to the people so that you can serve them. Isn’t all that enough for you? ¹⁰ He has already brought you and all the other Levites near him. But now you want to be priests too. ¹¹ You and all your followers have joined together against the Lord. Why are you telling Aaron you aren’t happy with him?”

¹² Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We won’t come! ¹³ You have brought us up out of a land that has plenty of milk and honey. You have brought us here to kill us in this desert. Isn’t that enough? Now do you also want to act as if you were ruling over us? ¹⁴ Besides, you haven’t brought us into a land that has plenty of milk and honey. You haven’t given us fields and vineyards of our own. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No! We won’t come!”

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry. He said to the Lord, “Don’t accept their offering. I haven’t taken even a donkey from them. In fact, I haven’t done anything wrong to any of them.”

¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers must stand in front of the Lord tomorrow. You must appear there along with Aaron. ¹⁷ Each man must get his shallow cup. He must put incense in it. There will be a total of 250 incense cups. Each man must bring his cup to the Lord. You and Aaron must also bring your cups.” ¹⁸ So each of them got his cup. He put burning coals and incense in it. All the men came with Moses and Aaron. They stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹⁹ Korah gathered all his followers together at the entrance to the tent. They opposed Moses and Aaron. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community. ²⁰ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from these people. Then I can put an end to all of them at once.”

²² But Moses and Aaron fell with their faces to the ground. They cried out, “God, you are the God who gives life and breath to all living things. Will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?”

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ²⁴ “Tell the community, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”

²⁵ Moses got up. He went to Dathan and Abiram. The elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ Moses warned the community. He said, “Move away from the tents of these evil men! Don’t touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, the Lord will sweep you away because of all their sins.” ²⁷ So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had already come out. They were standing at the entrances to their tents. Their wives, children and little ones were standing there with them.

²⁸ Then Moses said, “What is about to happen wasn’t my idea. The Lord has sent me to do everything I’m doing. Here is how you will know I’m telling you the truth. ²⁹ These men won’t die a natural death. Something will happen to them that doesn’t usually happen to people. If what I’m telling you doesn’t happen, then you will know that the Lord hasn’t sent me. ³⁰ But the Lord will make something totally new happen. The ground will open its mouth and swallow them up. It will swallow up everything that belongs to them. They will be buried alive. When that happens, you will know that these men have disrespected the Lord.”

³¹ As soon as Moses finished saying all these words, what he had said came true. The ground under them broke open. ³² It opened its mouth. It swallowed up those men. In fact, it swallowed up everyone who lived in their houses. It swallowed all Korah’s men. And it swallowed up everything they owned. ³³ They went down into the grave alive. Everything they owned went down with them. The ground closed over them and they died. And so they disappeared from the community. ³⁴ All the Israelites around them heard their cries. They ran away from them. They shouted, “The ground is going to swallow us up too!”

³⁵ Then the Lord sent down fire. It burned up the 250 men offering the incense.

³⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁷ “Speak to Eleazar the priest. He is the son of Aaron. Remind him that the shallow cups are holy. He must take them out of the ashes. He must scatter the burning coals away from there. ³⁸ The men who sinned used those cups. And it cost them their lives. Hammer the cups into bronze sheets that will cover the altar. The cups were offered to the Lord. They have become holy. Let them serve as a warning to the Israelites.”

³⁹ So the priest Eleazar collected the bronze incense cups. They had been brought by the men who had been burned to death. He had them hammered out to cover the altar. ⁴⁰ He did just as the Lord had directed Moses to tell him to do. The covering would be a reminder to the Israelites. It would remind them that no one except a son of Aaron should come and burn incense to the Lord. If people other than priests did that, they would become like Korah and his followers.

⁴¹ The next day the whole community of Israel told Moses and Aaron they weren’t happy with them. “You have killed the Lord’s people,” they said.

⁴² The community gathered together to oppose Moses and Aaron. The people walked toward the tent of meeting. Suddenly the cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting. ⁴⁴ The Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁵ “Get away from these people. Then I can put an end to all of them at once.” And Moses and Aaron fell with their faces to the ground.

⁴⁶ Moses said to Aaron, “Take your incense cup. Put incense in it. And put burning coals from the altar in it. Then hurry to the people and pay for their sin. The Lord has begun to show his anger. The plague has started.” ⁴⁷ So Aaron did as Moses said. He ran in among the people. The plague had already started among them. But Aaron offered the incense and paid for their sin. ⁴⁸ He stood between those alive and those dead. And the plague stopped. ⁴⁹ But 14,700 people died from the plague. That doesn’t include those who had died because of what Korah did. ⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting. The plague had stopped.

Aaron’s Walking Stick Produces Buds

17 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites. Get 12 walking sticks from them. Get one from the leader of each of Israel’s tribes. Write the name of each man on his walking stick. ³ Write Aaron’s name on Levi’s walking stick. There must be one stick for the head of each of Israel’s tribes. ⁴ Put the walking sticks in the tent of meeting. Place them in front of the ark where the tablets of the covenant law are kept. That is where I meet with you. ⁵ The walking stick that belongs to the man I choose will begin to grow new shoots. The Israelites are never happy with what you do. I will put an end to what they are saying.”

⁶ So Moses spoke to the Israelites. Their leaders gave him 12 walking sticks. They gave one for the leader of each of Israel’s tribes. Aaron’s walking stick was among them. ⁷ Moses put the sticks in front of the Lord in the tent where the tablets of the covenant law were kept.

⁸ The next day Moses entered the tent. He looked at Aaron’s walking stick. It stood for the tribe of Levi. Moses saw that it had begun to grow new shoots. It had also produced buds and flowers and almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the walking sticks from in front of the Lord. He brought them to all the Israelites. They looked at them. And each man took his own walking stick.

¹⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s walking stick back in front of the ark where the tablets of the covenant law are kept. The stick will be kept there as a warning to those who refuse to obey. They are never happy with what I do. Aaron’s walking stick will put an end to what they are saying. Then they will not die.” ¹¹ Moses did just as the Lord commanded him.

¹² The Israelites said to Moses, “We’ll die! We are lost! All of us are lost! ¹³ Anyone who even comes near the Lord’s holy tent will die. Are all of us going to die?”

Duties of Priests and Levites

18 The Lord spoke to Aaron. He said, “You, your sons and your family are in charge of the sacred tent. You will be responsible for sins connected with the tent. And you and your sons alone will be responsible for sins connected with the office of priest. ² Bring the Levites from your tribe to join you. They will help you when you and your sons serve at the tent of meeting. That is where the tablets of the covenant law are kept. ³ The Levites will work for you. They must do everything that needs to be done at the tent. But they must not go near anything that belongs to the sacred tent. And they must not go near the altar. If they do, they and you will die. ⁴ They will help you take care of the tent of meeting. They will join you in all the work at the tent. No one else can come near you there.

⁵ “You will be responsible for taking care of the sacred tent and the altar. Then I will not be angry with the Israelites again. ⁶ I myself have chosen the Levites. I have chosen them from among the Israelites. They are a gift to you. I have set them apart to do the work at the tent of meeting. ⁷ But only you and your sons can serve as priests. Only you and your sons can work with everything at the altar and behind the curtain. I am letting you serve as priests. It is a gift from me. Anyone else who comes near the sacred tent must be put to death.”

Offerings for Priests and Levites

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Aaron. He said, “I have put you in charge of the offerings brought to me. The Israelites will give me holy offerings. I will give all their offerings to you and your sons. They are the part that belongs to you. They are your share for all time to come. ⁹ You will have a part of the very holy offerings. It is the part not burned in the fire. That part belongs to you and your sons. You will have a part of all the gifts the people bring me as very holy offerings. It does not matter whether they are grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings. ¹⁰ Eat your part as something that is very holy. Every male will eat it. You must consider it holy.

¹¹ “Part of the gifts the Israelites bring as wave offerings will be set aside. That part will also belong to you. I will give it to you and your sons and daughters. It is your share for all time to come. Everyone in your home who is ‘clean’ can eat it.

¹² “I will give you all the finest olive oil and grain the people give me. And I will give you all the finest fresh wine they give me. They give all those things as the first share of their harvest. ¹³ All the first shares of the harvest they bring me will belong to you. Everyone in your home who is ‘clean’ can eat it.

¹⁴ “Everything in Israel that is set apart to me belongs to you. ¹⁵ Offer to me every male born first to its mother. It belongs to you. That includes humans and animals alike. But you must buy back every oldest son. Suppose certain animals are ‘unclean.’ Then you must buy back every male born first to its mother. ¹⁶ When they are a month old, you must buy them back. You must pay the price to buy them back. The price is set at two ounces of silver. It must be weighed out according to the standard weights used in the sacred tent.

¹⁷ “But you must not buy back any male calf, sheep or goat born first. They are holy. Splash their blood against the altar. And burn their fat as a food offering. Its smell pleases me. ¹⁸ The meat will belong to you. It is just like the breast and the right thigh of the wave offering. Those parts belong to you. ¹⁹ Part of the holy offerings the Israelites bring to me will be set aside. No matter what it is, I will give it to you and your sons and daughters. It is your share for all time to come. It is a covenant of salt from me. The salt means that the covenant will last for all time to come for you and your children.”

²⁰ The Lord spoke to Aaron. He said, “You will not receive any part of the land I am giving to Israel. You will not have any share among them. I am your share. I am what you will receive among the Israelites.

²¹ “The Israelites will give me a tenth of everything they produce. And I will give it to the Levites. They serve at the tent of meeting. I will give them the tenth for the work they do there. ²² From now on the Israelites must not go near the tent of meeting. If they do, they will be punished for their sin. They will die. ²³ The Levites will do the work at the tent of meeting. They will be responsible for any sins connected with the tent. This is a law that will last for all time to come. The Levites will not receive any share among the Israelites. ²⁴ Instead, I will give the Levites the tenth as their share. It is the tenth that the Israelites bring me as an offering. That is why I said the Levites would not have any share of land among the Israelites.”

²⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶ “Speak to the Levites. Say to them, ‘You will receive the tenth from the Israelites. I will give it to you as your share. When I do, you must give a tenth of that tenth as an offering to the Lord. ²⁷ Your offering will be considered as if you gave grain from a threshing floor. It will be considered as juice from a winepress. ²⁸ In that way, you also will bring an offering to the Lord. You will bring it from the tenth you receive from the Israelites. You must give the Lord’s part to the priest Aaron. You must bring it from the tenth you receive. ²⁹ You must bring to the Lord a part of everything given to you. It must be the best and holiest part.’

³⁰ “Say to the Levites, ‘You must bring the best part. Then it will be considered as if you gave grain from a threshing floor. It will be considered as juice from a winepress. ³¹ You and your families can eat the rest of it anywhere. It is your pay for your work at the tent of meeting. ³² Bring the best part of what you receive. Then you will not be guilty of holding anything back. You will not make the holy offerings of the Israelites “unclean.” You will not die.’ ”