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, the sons of Reuben, took men

And rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel,  ¹two hundred fifty leaders of the assembly, who were summoned to the meeting, well-known men.

And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take too much upon yourselves, for all the assembly are holy, every one of them, and Jehovah is among them. Why then do you  ¹exalt yourselves above the congregation of Jehovah?

And when Moses heard this, he fell on his face.

And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying,  ¹In the morning Jehovah will make known who is His and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose He will bring near to Himself.

Do this: Take censers for yourselves, Korah and all  ¹your company,

And put fire in them, and put incense on them before Jehovah tomorrow; and the man whom Jehovah chooses, he shall be holy. It is you who take too much upon yourselves, O sons of Levi!

And Moses said to Korah, Hear now, O sons of Levi:

Is it a small thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the assembly of Israel to bring you near to Himself to do the service of the tabernacle of Jehovah and to stand before the assembly to minister to them?

Or that He has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And do you seek the priesthood also?

Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against Jehovah; but Aaron, what is he that you murmur against him?

Then Moses sent word to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab; but they said, We will not come up!

Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but must you also lord it over us?

Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards.  ¹Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!

Then Moses became very angry and said to Jehovah, Do not regard their offering. I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.

And Moses said to Korah, You and all your company be present before Jehovah, both you and they along with Aaron, tomorrow.

And let each of you take his censer and put incense on them, and each of you present his censer before Jehovah, two hundred fifty censers; you also and Aaron shall each present his censer.

So each took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them, and they stood at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron.

Thus Korah gathered the whole assembly against them at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of Jehovah appeared to the whole assembly.

Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

Separate yourselves from among this assembly, so that I may consume them in a moment.

But they fell on their faces and said, O God, the God of the  ¹spirits of all flesh, will one man sin and You be angry with the whole assembly?

Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Speak to the assembly, saying, Get away from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

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

And he spoke to the assembly, saying, Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing which belongs to them, or you will be swept away with all their sins.

So they got away from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and their children and their little ones.

And Moses said, By this you shall know that Jehovah has sent me to do all these works, for it is not of myself.

If these people die as all human beings die, or if what befalls all human beings befalls them, then Jehovah has not sent me.

But if Jehovah brings about a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they descend alive into  ¹Sheol, then you will understand that these men have despised Jehovah.

And as soon as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them was split open.

So the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households and everyone who belonged to Korah and all their possessions.

So they and all that belonged to them  ¹descended alive into Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the congregation.

And all Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, The earth may swallow us up too!

And fire came forth from Jehovah and  ¹consumed the two hundred fifty men who presented the incense.

Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take the censers up out of the burning and scatter the fire about; for they are holy.

The censers of those who have sinned against their own lives, let them be made into beaten plates for a covering of the  ¹altar, for they presented them before Jehovah and they became holy. So they shall be a sign to the children of Israel.

And Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which those who were burned had offered; and they beat them out as a covering of the altar,

As a reminder to the children of Israel that no stranger who is not of the seed of Aaron may come near to burn incense before Jehovah, so that he does not become like Korah and his company, just as Jehovah had spoken to him through Moses.

But on the next day the whole assembly of the children of Israel  ¹murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have caused the people of Jehovah to die.

But when the assembly gathered against Moses and against Aaron, they looked toward the Tent of Meeting, and there the cloud was, covering it; and the glory of Jehovah appeared.

And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting.

Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Get away from the midst of this assembly that I might consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.

And Moses said to Aaron, Take the censer and put fire in it from the altar, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the assembly, and make  ¹expiation for them. For wrath has gone forth from Jehovah; the plague has begun.

And Aaron took it as Moses had said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And indeed the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made expiation for the people.

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

Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died on account of Korah.

So Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting when the plague had been stopped.

Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Speak to the children of Israel, and take from them  ¹rods, one for each father's house, twelve rods from all their leaders according to their fathers' houses; you shall write everyone's name upon his rod.

And you shall write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi, for there shall be one rod for the head of each of their fathers' houses.

And you shall place them in the Tent of Meeting before the  ¹Testimony, where I meet with you.

And the rod of the man whom I choose shall bud, and I will put a stop to the murmurings of the children of Israel against Me, which they murmur against you.

So Moses spoke to the children of Israel. And every one of their leaders gave him a rod, one rod for each leader according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods.

And Moses placed the rods before Jehovah in the Tent of the Testimony.

And on the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and there was the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi: it had  ¹budded; it even put forth buds and produced blossoms and bore ripe almonds.

And Moses brought out all the rods from before Jehovah to all the children of Israel, and they looked; and each one took his rod.

Then Jehovah said to Moses,  ¹Put back the rod of Aaron before the Testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels, so that you may put an end to their murmurings against Me, and they not die.

And Moses did so; just as Jehovah commanded him, so he did.

And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Alas, we  ¹die out; we perish; all of us perish.

Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of Jehovah, dies. Are we to completely die out?

Then Jehovah  ¹said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father's household with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the  ²iniquity of your priesthood.

And your brothers also, the tribe of  ¹Levi, the tribe of your father, bring near with you, so that they may be joined to you and minister to you, while you and your sons with you are before the Tent of the Testimony.

And they shall keep your charge and the charge of all the tent, but they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and to the altar, so that they do not die, neither they nor you.

And they shall be joined to you and keep the charge of the Tent of Meeting for all the service of the tent, but a stranger shall not come near to you.

And you shall keep the charge of the  ¹sanctuary and the charge of the  ¹altar, so that there may be no more wrath upon the children of Israel.

And I Myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel. They are a  ¹gift to you, given to Jehovah, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting.

But you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and within the veil, and you shall carry out your service. I give you the priesthood as a service of  ¹gift, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.

Then Jehovah spoke to Aaron, And I Myself have given you charge of My heave offerings, even all the holy things of the children of Israel; I have given them to you because of the anointing, and to your sons, as a perpetual statute.

This shall be yours of the most holy things,  ¹kept from the fire. Every offering of theirs, even every meal  ²offering of theirs and every sin offering of theirs and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to Me, shall be  ³most holy for you and for your sons.

As the most holy things you shall eat it; every  ¹male shall eat it; it shall be holy to you.

This also is yours, the heave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them to you and to your  ¹sons and to your  ¹daughters with you, as a perpetual statute; everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.

All the  ¹best of the oil, and all the  ¹best of the new wine and of the grain, their firstfruits that they give to Jehovah, I have given to you.

The firstfruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Jehovah, shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.

Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours.

Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, which they present to Jehovah, whether human or animal, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of human beings you shall surely  ¹redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.

And those who are to be redeemed from a month old you shall redeem, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

But the firstborn of a cow or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood upon the altar and burn their fat as an offering by fire for a satisfying fragrance to Jehovah.

But their flesh shall be yours; like the breast of the wave offering and like the right thigh, it shall be yours.

All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to Jehovah, I have given to you and to your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual statute. It is a  ¹covenant of salt forever before Jehovah for you and for your descendants with you.

And Jehovah said to Aaron, You shall have  ¹no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

And to the children of Levi I have now given every  ¹tithe in Israel for an inheritance in return for their service which they carry out, the service of the Tent of Meeting.

From now on the children of Israel shall not come near the Tent of Meeting, so that they do not incur sin and die.

But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. And among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a heave offering to Jehovah, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Moreover you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, When you take from the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up a  ¹heave offering from it for Jehovah, a tithe of the tithe.

And your heave offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor and the fullness of the wine press.

Thus you shall also offer a heave offering to Jehovah from all your tithes, which you receive from the children of Israel; and from it you shall give Jehovah's heave offering to  ¹Aaron the priest.

Out of all your gifts you shall offer every heave offering of Jehovah, from all the best of it, the sanctified portion of it from them.

Therefore you shall say to them, When you heave from it the best of it, then it shall be reckoned to the Levites as though it were the produce of the threshing floor and the produce of the wine press.

And you may eat it in every place, you and your households, for it is your  ¹reward in return for your service in the Tent of Meeting.

And you shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, so that you do not die.