Numbers 16:22-50

New American Standard Bible

²² But they fell on their faces and said, “God, ^(A)the God of the spirits of ^[a]humanity, ^(B)when one person sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘^(C)Get away from the areas around the ^[b]tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

²⁵ Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, ²⁶ and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “^(D)Get away now from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that belongs to them, ^(E)or you will be swept away in all their sin!” ²⁷ So they moved away from the areas around the ^[c]tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, along with their wives, ^(F)their sons, and their little ones. ²⁸ Then Moses said, “By this you shall know that ^(G)the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for it is not ^[d]my doing. ²⁹ If these men die ^[e]the death of all mankind, or ^[f]if they suffer the ^(H)fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But ^(I)if the Lord ^[g]brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with everything that is theirs, and they ^(J)descend alive into ^[h]Sheol, then you will know that these men have been disrespectful to the Lord.”

³¹ And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; ³² and ^(K)the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, and ^(L)all the people who belonged to Korah with all their possessions. ³³ So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to ^[i]Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. ³⁴ Then all Israel who were around them fled at their ^[j]outcry, for they said, “The earth might swallow us!” ^35 (M)Fire also came out from the Lord and consumed the ^(N)250 men who were offering the incense.

^36 [k]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall pick up the censers from the midst of the burned area, because they are holy; and you are to scatter the ^[l]burning coals further away. ³⁸ As for the censers of these ^[m]men who have sinned at the cost of their own lives, have them made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and ^(O)they shall ^[n]serve as a sign to the sons of Israel.” ³⁹ So the priest Eleazar took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as plating for the altar, ⁴⁰ as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that ^(P)no ^[o]layman, anyone who was not of the ^[p]descendants of Aaron, would approach ^(Q)to burn incense before the Lord; then he would not become like Korah and his group—just as the Lord had spoken to him ^[q]through Moses.

Murmuring and Plague

⁴¹ But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel ^(R)grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the Lord’s people!” ⁴² It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and ^(S)the glory of the Lord appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ “^(T)Get away from among this congregation so that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces. ⁴⁶ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put fire in it from the altar, and place incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and ^(U)make atonement for them, for ^(V)wrath has gone out from the Lord, the plague has begun!” ⁴⁷ Then Aaron took it just as Moses had spoken, and he ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had begun among the people. ^(W)So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to a halt. ^49 (X)But those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who ^(Y)died on account of Korah. ⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been brought to a halt.