The Wilderness Years

That's why you and your group have gathered together against ADONAI! After all, what is Aharon that you complain against him?"

Then Moshe sent to summon Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av. But they replied, "We won't come up!

Is it such a mere trifle, bringing us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that now you arrogate to yourself the role of dictator over us?

You haven't at all brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and you haven't put us in possession of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can gouge out these men's eyes and blind them? We won't come up!"

Moshe was very angry and said to ADONAI, "Don't accept their grain offering! I haven't taken one donkey from them, I've done nothing wrong to any of them."

Moshe said to Korach, "You and your group, be there before ADONAI tomorrow -you, they and Aharon.

Each of you take his fire pan and put incense in it; every one of you, bring before ADONAI his fire pan, 250 fire pans, you too, and Aharon - each one his fire pan."

Each man took his fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it and stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting with Moshe and Aharon.

Korach assembled all the group who were against them at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then the glory of ADONAI appeared to the whole assembly.

ADONAI said to Moshe and Aharon,

"Separate yourselves from this assembly; I'm going to destroy them right now!"

They fell on their faces and said, "Oh God, God of the spirits of all humankind, if one person sins, are you going to be angry with the entire assembly?"

ADONAI answered Moshe,

"Tell the assembly to move away from the homes of Korach, Datan and Aviram."

Moshe got up and went to Datan and Aviram, and the leaders of Isra'el followed him.

There he said to the assembly, "Leave the tents of these wicked men! Don't touch anything that belongs to them, or you may be swept away in all their sins."

So they moved away from all around the area where Korach, Datan and Aviram lived. Then Datan and Aviram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents with their wives, sons and little ones.

Moshe said, "Here is how you will know that ADONAI has sent me to do all these things and that I haven't done them out of my own ambition:

if these men die a natural death like other people, only sharing the fate common to all humanity, then ADONAI has not sent me.

But if ADONAI does something new - if the ground opens up and swallows them with everything they own, and they go down alive to Sh'ol - then you will understand that these men have had contempt for ADONAI."

The moment he finished speaking, the ground under them split apart -

the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all the people who had sided with Korach and everything they owned.

So they and everything they owned went down alive into Sh'ol, the earth closed over them and their existence in the community ceased.

All Isra'el around them fled at their shrieks, shouting, "The earth might swallow us too!"

Then fire came out from ADONAI and destroyed the 250 men who had offered the incense.