1Korah son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth sons of Reuben took action.2They rose before Moses with men from the sons of Israel—two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen of the meeting, men of name.3They gathered against Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"4When Moses heard this, he fell on his face.5He spoke to Korah and to all his congregation, saying, "In the morning the LORD will make known who belongs to him and who is holy; he will bring that one near to himself, and the one he chooses he will bring near to himself."6Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your congregation.7Put fire in them and place incense on them before the LORD tomorrow; then the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi.8Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, sons of Levi."9Is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to bring you near to himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them?10He has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you; yet you also seek the priesthood.11Therefore you and all your congregation are assembled against the LORD; and Aaron, what is he that you grumble against him?12Moses sent to summon Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come up."13Is it too small a thing that you brought us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, that you also lord it over us?14You have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us fields and vineyards as inheritance; will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.15Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not regard their offering; I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I wronged any one of them."16Moses said to Korah, "You and all your congregation, present yourselves before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron."17Each man shall take his censer, put incense on it, and present his censer before the LORD—two hundred and fifty censers; you and Aaron shall each take his censer.18Each man took his censer, put fire on it, placed incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.19Korah assembled the whole congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.20The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,21"Separate yourselves from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment."22They fell on their faces and said, "O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin and you be angry with the whole congregation?"23The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,24"Speak to the congregation, saying, Withdraw from around the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."25Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.26He spoke to the congregation, saying, "Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that belongs to them, lest you be swept away in all their sins."27They withdrew from around the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance of their tents with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.28Moses said, "By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that they are not from my own heart."29If these men die the common death of all mankind, and if their punishment is like that of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me.30But if the LORD creates something new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD.31As soon as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split apart.32The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their property.33They and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.34All Israel around them fled at their cry, for they said, "Lest the earth swallow us."35Fire came out from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.36The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,37"Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the censers from the burned remains and scatter the fire farther away, for the censers are holy."38The censers of these men who sinned at the cost of their lives—make them into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, because they presented them before the LORD and they became holy; they shall be a sign to the sons of Israel.39Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that the burned men had presented and hammered them into a covering for the altar.40This was a memorial to the sons of Israel, that no outsider who is not of the seed of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his congregation—as the LORD had spoken to him through Moses.41On the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of the LORD."42When the congregation gathered against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.43Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting.44The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,45"Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." They fell on their faces.46Moses said to Aaron, "Take the censer, put fire from the altar on it, place incense on it, and go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun."47Aaron did as Moses said; he ran into the midst of the assembly, and behold, the plague had begun among the people. He put on the incense and made atonement for the people.48He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.49Those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died on account of Korah.50Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped.