1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with 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 sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown.
3 They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and Jehovah is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of Jehovah?
4 And when Moses heard it, he fell on his face;
5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, Tomorrow morning Jehovah will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. The one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him.
6 Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company;
7 put fire in them and put incense in them before Jehovah tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom Jehovah chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!
8 And Moses said to Korah, Hear now, you sons of Levi:
9 Is it 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 the work of the tabernacle of Jehovah, and to stand before the congregation to serve them;
10 and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also?
11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against Jehovah. And what is Aaron that you grumble against him?
12 And Moses sent to summon Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but 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 rule to lord it 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 Jehovah, Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I done evil to any of them.
16 And Moses said to Korah, Tomorrow, you and all your company be before Jehovah; you and they, as well as Aaron.
17 Each one take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before Jehovah, two hundred and fifty censers; you and Aaron, each with his censer.
18 And each man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tent of meeting. And the glory of Jehovah appeared to all the congregation.
20 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
22 And they fell on their faces, and said, O Mighty God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will You be angry with all the congregation?
23 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
24 Speak to the congregation, saying, Get away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
25 And Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, 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 children.
28 And Moses said: By this you shall know that Jehovah has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them from my own heart.
29 If these men die the death of all men, or if they are visited according to the visitation of all men, then Jehovah has not sent me.
30 But if Jehovah creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall understand that these men have rejected Jehovah.
31 And 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 houses and all the men with Korah, with all their possessions.
33 So they and all those with them went down alive into Sheol; the earth covered over them, and they perished from among the assembly.
34 And all Israel who were around them fled at the sound, for they thought, Lest the earth swallow us up also!
35 And a fire came forth from Jehovah and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.
36 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying:
37 Speak to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he pick up the censers out of the burning, for they are holy, and scatter the fire away.
38 The censers of these men who sinned against their own souls, let them be made into broad plates as a covering for the altar; because they presented them before Jehovah, therefore they are holy; and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had presented, and they were beaten out as a covering for the altar,
40 as a memorial to the children of Israel; that no strange man, who is not a seed of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before Jehovah, that he might not become like Korah and his company, as Jehovah had spoken by the hand of Moses.
41 And the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of Jehovah.
42 And it happened, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting; and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Jehovah appeared.
43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tent of meeting.
44 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
45 Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell on their faces.
46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from Jehovah; the plague has begun.
47 And Aaron took as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.
48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was restrained.
49 Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the matter of Korah.
50 And Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been restrained.