Korah’s Rebellion

16 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, descendants of Reuben, took action, ² and they rose up [in rebellion] before Moses, together with some of the Israelites, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation chosen in the assembly, men of distinction. ³ They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

⁴ And when Moses heard this, he fell face downward; ⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to Him, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; the one whom He will choose He will bring near to Himself.^{(A) 6} Do this: Take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company, ⁷ then put fire in them and place incense on them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi.”

¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company are to appear before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. ¹⁷ Each of you take his censer and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer.” ¹⁸ So they each took his own censer and put fire on it and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Then Korah assembled all the congregation against Moses and Aaron at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). And the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, so that I may consume them immediately.” ²² But they fell on their faces [before the Lord], and said, “O God, God of the spirits of all flesh! When one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Say to the congregation, ‘Get away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

²⁵ Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ And he said to the congregation, “Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be swept away in all their sin.” ²⁷ So they got back from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents with their wives and their sons and their little children. ²⁸ Then Moses said, “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; for I do not act of my own accord. ²⁹ If these men die the common death of all mankind or if what happens to everyone happens to them, then [you will know for sure that] the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord creates an entirely new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up, along with all that belongs to them, and they descend alive into Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), then you will understand that these men have spurned and rejected the Lord!”

³¹ As soon as Moses finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split open; ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all the men who supported Korah, with all their possessions.^{(A) 33} So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.