Numbers 16

16 ¹Korah son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, gathered men, along with Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, sons of Reuben. ²They stood before Moses with 250 Israelite leaders of the community—chosen assembly members, men of renown. ³They gathered against Moses and Aaron and said, "You have gone too far! The whole congregation is holy, all of them, and our Father is among them. Why do you set yourselves above our Father's assembly?"

⁴When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. ⁵He said to Korah and all his company, "In the morning, our Father will show who is his and who is holy, and will bring that one near to himself. Whoever he chooses, he will bring near to himself. ⁶Do this: take censers, Korah and all your company. ⁷Tomorrow put fire in them, lay incense on them before our Father. The man our Father chooses will be the holy one. You've gone too far, sons of Levi!"

⁸Moses also said to Korah, "Listen now, you sons of Levi: ⁹Is it not enough for you that the Father of Israel set you apart from the rest of Israel's congregation, to bring you near himself, to do the work of our Father's tabernacle, and stand before the congregation to serve them? ¹⁰He brought you near—you and all your brothers, sons of Levi—yet now you seek the priesthood too? ¹¹You and your whole group have gathered against our Father. Aaron—what is he, that you grumble against him?"

¹²Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab. They said, "We will not come up! ¹³Is it not enough you brought us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also rule over us? ¹⁴Also, you haven't brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us fields and vineyards as an inheritance. Will you gouge out these men's eyes? We won't come up!"

¹⁵Moses was furious and said to our Father, "Disregard their offering. I haven't taken a single donkey from them, nor wronged any of them."

¹⁶Moses told Korah, "You and your whole company, present yourselves before our Father tomorrow—you, they, and Aaron. ¹⁷Each man is to take his censer, put incense on it, and bring it before our Father—250 censers—you and Aaron, each with his own censer."

¹⁸Each took his censer, put fire in it and laid incense on it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the tent of meeting's entrance. ¹⁹Korah gathered the whole congregation against them at the tent of meeting's entrance; the glory of our Father appeared to the whole congregation.

²⁰And our Father spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

²¹"Separate yourselves from this congregation, so that I may consume them in an instant."

²²Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried, "O our Father, the Father of the spirits of all flesh—when one man sins, will you be angry with the whole congregation?" ²³Then our Father said to Moses,

²⁴"Say to the congregation: Move away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."

²⁵So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶He told the congregation, "Leave the tents of these wicked men. Touch nothing of theirs, or you'll be swept away in all their sins."

²⁷So they withdrew from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, while Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at their tent entrances with their wives, sons, and little ones.

²⁸Moses said, "This is how you'll know our Father sent me to do all these things, and that none of it was my own idea: ²⁹If these men die a normal death, sharing the fate of everyone, then our Father has not sent me. ³⁰But if our Father creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with all that is theirs, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know these men have despised our Father."

³¹As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open, ³²the earth opened its mouth, swallowing them, their households, all Korah's people, and all their possessions. ³³They and all who were theirs went down alive into the grave; the earth closed over them, and they were destroyed from the assembly. ³⁴All Israel around them fled at their cry, for they said, "The earth may swallow us too!" ³⁵Fire came out from our Father and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.