Study Desk

So each man got a pan and put burning incense in it. Then they stood at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Moses and Aaron also stood there.

So the men moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram went to their tents. They stood outside of their tents with their wives, children, and little babies.

But if the Lord causes them to die in a different way, then you will know that these men have sinned against the Lord . This is the proof: The earth will open and swallow them. They will go down to their grave still alive. And everything that belongs to these men will go down with them."

It was as if the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them. All of Korah's men, their families, and everything they owned went down into the earth.

The Israelites heard the cries of the men being destroyed. So they all ran in different directions and said, "The earth will swallow us too!"

The next day all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. They said, "You killed the Lord 's people."

Moses and Aaron were standing at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. The people gathered together at that place to complain against Moses and Aaron. But when they looked toward the Meeting Tent, the cloud covered it and the Glory of the Lord appeared there.

So Moses brought out all the sticks from the Lord 's place. He showed the walking sticks to the Israelites. They all looked at the sticks, and each man took his own stick back.

These Levites will be under your control. They will do all the work that needs to be done in the Tent. But they must not go near the things in the Holy Place or the altar. If they do, they will die—and you also will die.

They will join you and work with you. They will be responsible for caring for the Meeting Tent. All the work that must be done in the Tent will be done by them. No one else may come near the place where you are.

I myself chose the Levites from among all the Israelites. They are as a gift to you. I gave them to you to serve the Lord and work in the Meeting Tent.

Then the Lord said to Aaron, "I myself gave you responsibility over all the special gifts people give to me. All the holy gifts that the Israelites give to me, I give to you. You and your sons can share in these gifts. They will always belong to you.

"And I give you all the best olive oil and all the best new wine and grain. These are the things that the Israelites give to me, the Lord . These are the first things that they gather in their harvest.

When the people gather a harvest, they bring all the first things to the Lord . So these things I will give to you. And everyone in your family who is clean may eat it.

But the Israelites will give one-tenth of everything they have to the Lord , and I will give that one-tenth to the Levites. That is why I said these words about the Levites: They will not get the land that I promised the Israelites."

"Speak to the Levites and tell them: The Israelites will give one-tenth of everything they own to the Lord . That one-tenth will belong to the Levites. But you must give one-tenth of that to the Lord as your offering.

When the Israelites give you one-tenth of everything that they own, then you must give the best and the holiest part of these things as your gift to the Lord .

They must wash themselves with the special water on the third day and again on the seventh day. If they don't do this, they will remain unclean.

Those who touch the body of someone who has died are unclean. If they stay unclean and then go to the Lord 's Holy Tent, they make it unclean. So they must be separated from the Israelites. Because the special water was not thrown on them, they remain unclean.

This rule will be for you forever. And whoever sprinkled the special water must wash their clothes because they will be unclean until evening.