1 ¶ Now 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:

2 And they rose up against Moses, with a number of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders among the people, well known in the congregation, men of renown:

3 And they gathered together in opposition to Moses and Aaron, and said to them, You take too much upon yourselves, seeing that all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: why then do you lift yourselves up above the congregation of the LORD?

4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:

5 And he said to Korah and to all his company, In the morning the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near to him: he will cause him whom he has chosen to come near to him.

6 Do this; Take censers, Korah, and all his company;

7 And tomorrow put fire in them, and put incense in them before the LORD: and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one: you take too much upon youselves, you sons of Levi.

8 And Moses said to Korah, Now listen, you sons of Levi:

9 Does it seem like a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has 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 he has brought you near to him, along with all your brethren the sons of Levi: would you seek the priesthood also?

11 Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your followers have gathered together: who is Aaron, that you complain 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 a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us?

14 Moreover you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, or given us an 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, Do not respect their offering: I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.

16 And Moses said to Korah, Tomorrow you and all your company present yourselves before the LORD, you, they, and Aaron:

17 And let each man take his censer, and put incense in it, and let every one of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty censers; both you, and Aaron, each of you with his censer.

18 So every man took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.

19 After Korah had gathered the whole congregation against them before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire congregation.

20 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.

22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, if one man sins, will you be angry with the whole congregation?

23 ¶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

24 Speak to the congregation, saying, Get away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

25 Then Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed with all their sins.

27 So they got away from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, with their wives, and their sons, and their little children.

28 And Moses said, Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them on my own accord.

29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if only what happens to all men happens to them; then the LORD has not sent me.

30 But if the LORD causes a new thing, and the earth opens her mouth, and swallows them up, with all that pertains to them, and they go down alive into the pit; then you shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.

31 And as soon as he finished speaking these words, the ground under them split apart:

32 And the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, along with their households, and all Korah’s people, and all their possessions.

33 They, and all who belonged to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

34 And all Israel that were around them fled at their cry: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.

35 ¶ And fire came forth from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who offered incense.

36 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

37 Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, to gather up the censers out of the blaze, and scatter the fire at a distance; for the censers are holy.

38 Let the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, be made into broad plates as a covering for the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are holy: and they shall be a sign to the children of Israel.

39 And Eleazar the priest took the brass censers, with which those who were burned had offered incense; and they were made into broad plates as a covering for the altar:

40 Just as the LORD commanded him by the hand of Moses. To be a reminder to the children of Israel, that no outsider, who is not a descendant of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the LORD; so that he does not wind up like Korah, and his followers.

41 ¶ But on the next day the entire congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the LORD.

42 And it came to pass, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.

43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.

44 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

45 Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And Moses and Aaron fell on their faces.

46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire from the altar in it, and lay incense on it, and go quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them: for wrath has gone forth from the LORD; the plague has begun.

47 So Aaron took the censer as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague had begun among the people: and he put on the incense, and made an atonement for the people.

48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stopped.

49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.

50 And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stopped.