Numbers 16
1Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
2And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the assembly, representatives of the congregation, men of renown:
3And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, You take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: why then lift you up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?
4And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:
5And he spoke unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he has chosen will he cause to come near unto him.
6This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;
7And put fire in them, and put incense in them before the LORD tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD does choose, he shall be holy: you take too much upon you, you sons of Levi.
8And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, you sons of Levi:
9Seems it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?
10And he has brought you near to him, and all your brethren the sons of Levi with you: and seek you the priesthood also?
11For which cause both you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that you murmur against him?
12And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: who said, We will not come up:
13Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you make yourself altogether a prince over us?
14Moreover you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: will you put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
15And Moses was very angry, and said unto the LORD, Respect not their offering: I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them.
16And Moses said unto Korah, Be you and all your company before the LORD, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow:
17And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.
18And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense on them, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
19And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of meeting: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.
20And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
21Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
22And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?
23And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
24Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
25And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
26And he spoke unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.
27So they got away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.
28And Moses said, Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of my own will.
29If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited with the fate of all men; then the LORD has not sent me.
30But if the LORD makes a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belongs unto them, and they go down alive into the pit; then you shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
31And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground split asunder that was under them:
32And the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that belonged unto Korah, and all their goods.
33They, and all that belonged to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
34And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
35And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
36And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
37Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the blaze, and scatter the fire some distance away; for they are hallowed.
38The censers of these sinners at the cost of their lives, let them make them hammered plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
39And Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, with which they that were burned had offered; and they were hammered out for a covering of the altar:
40To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he become not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
41But the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the LORD.
42And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of meeting: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
43And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting.
44And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
45Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment.
And they fell upon their faces.
46And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun.
47And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague had begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
48And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stopped.
49Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died in the incident of Korah.
50And Aaron returned unto Moses to the door of the tabernacle of meeting: and the plague was stopped.
Commentaries for Numbers 16:0