Numbers 16

Korah & His Crew Start Trouble

1 Korah, son of Izhar (from the tribe of Levi), along with Dathan and Abiram (sons of Eliab from the tribe of Reuben) and On (son of Peleth from Reuben), decided to start some drama.

2 They gathered 250 well-known leaders from Israel and confronted Moses.

3 They told Moses and Aaron, “You all taking too much power for yourselves! The whole community is holy, and the Lord is with all of us! Why are you all acting like you are better than everybody else?”

4 When Moses heard this, he dropped to the ground, face down.

5 Then he told Korah and his crew, “Tomorrow, the Lord will show who really belongs to Him and who is holy enough to serve Him.”

6 “Here is what you all need to do, get some incense burners.”

7 “Put burning coals and incense in them tomorrow before the Lord. Then we will see who the Lord picks. You all are the ones tripping, not me.”

Moses Calls Out Korah’s Disrespect

8 Moses said to Korah, “Listen up, you Levites.”

9 “Is it not enough that the Lord has set you apart to serve Him in the Tabernacle, That He lets you come near Him and do the work for the community?”

10 “He brought you close, along with all your fellow Levites, and now you all want the priesthood too,”

11 “This is not just about Aaron. You are rebelling against the Lord. Who is Aaron that you are mad at him?”

Dathan & Abiram Disrespect Moses

12 Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, but they said, “We are not coming!”

13 They said, “You took us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, just to let us die in this wilderness. Now you tryna act like a king over us,”

14 “You have not brought us into a good land. You have not given us any fields or vineyards. Now you tryna fool us, We are not coming!”

15 Moses got mad and told the Lord, “Do not accept their offering! I am not taken anything from them, not even a donkey! I have not done them wrong!”

Moses Sets Up the Showdown

16 Moses told Korah, “You and your crew better show up tomorrow before the Lord, along with Aaron.”

17 “Each of you all needs to bring an incense burner with incense in it and stand before the Lord. You and your 250 men, plus Aaron.”

18 So the next day, they all came with their incense burners, lit their fires, and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron.

19 Korah gathered the whole community against Moses and Aaron at the Tabernacle entrance. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to everyone.

God Is Ready to Wipe Them Out

20 The Lord told Moses and Aaron.

21 “Move away from these fools so I can destroy them instantly.”

22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and begged, “Lord, will You be angry at the whole community because of one man’s sin?”

God Tells Everyone to Back Up

23 The Lord told Moses.

24 “Tell everyone to back away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him.

26 He told the people, “Move away from these wicked men! Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away in their sins.”

27 So everyone moved away from Korah, Dathan, and Abiram’s tents. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at their tent entrances with their wives, kids, and babies.

28 Moses said, “If these men die a normal death, then the Lord did not send me.”

29 “But if the Lord does something new, if the earth opens up and swallows them alive into the grave, then you will know they have disrespected the Lord.”

The Ground Opens Up & Swallows Them

30 The moment Moses finished speaking, the ground split open beneath them.

31 The earth opened up.

32 It swallowed them, their families, all of Korah’s followers, and everything they owned.

33 They went down alive into the grave, the earth closed over them, and they were gone.

34 The Israelites ran screaming, “The earth might swallow us too!”

God Burns Up the 250 Men

35 Then fire came down from the Lord and burned up the 250 men offering incense.

God Tells Eleazar to Handle the Incense Burners

36 The Lord told Moses.

37 “Tell Eleazar, Aaron’s son, to collect the incense burners from the burned-up men and scatter the ashes far away, because the burners are holy."

38 “The burners were offered before the Lord and became holy. Hammer them into a covering for the altar to remind Israel that no outsider should try to be a priest like Korah did, or they will die.”

39 So Eleazar took the bronze incense burners and hammered them into a covering for the altar.

40 This was to remind the Israelites that only Aaron’s descendants could burn incense before the Lord, so they would not end up like Korah.

The People Still Complain, So God Sends a Plague

41 The next day, the Israelites started complaining again, saying, “Moses and Aaron, you all killed the Lord’s people!”

42 The people gathered against Moses and Aaron at the Tabernacle. The cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

43 Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tabernacle.

44 The Lord told Moses.

45 “Move away from these people so I can destroy them instantly.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown.

46 Moses told Aaron, “Hurry! Take an incense burner, put fire from the altar in it, and burn incense to make atonement for the people. The Lord’s wrath has already started, the plague has begun!”

47 Aaron did as Moses said and ran into the middle of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but he burned the incense and made atonement for them.

48 He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.

49 But 14,700 people died from the plague, not counting the ones who died with Korah.

50 After the plague stopped, Aaron went back to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle.