Study Desk

They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"

"Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and your whole group,

Is it too small an honor for you that the God of Israel has singled you out 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;

"Therefore you and your whole group are the ones gathered together against the LORD; but as for Aaron, who is he, that you grumble against him?"

Then Moses said, "By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these deeds; for it is not my doing.

Then all Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, "The earth might swallow us!"

"As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their own lives, have them made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar, since they did present them before the LORD and they are holy; and they shall serve as a sign to the sons of Israel."

So the priest Eleazar took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as plating for the altar,

And Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and put fire in it from the altar, and place incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD, the plague has begun!"

Then Aaron took it just as Moses had spoken, and he ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.

Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been brought to a halt.

"Speak to the sons of Israel, and obtain from them a staff for each father's household: twelve staffs, from all their leaders for their fathers' households. You shall write each man's name on his staff,

and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi; for there is to be one staff for the head of each of their fathers' households.

So Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, for their fathers' households, twelve staffs in all, with the staff of Aaron among their staffs.

Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, Aaron's staff for the house of Levi had sprouted and produced buds and bloomed with blossoms, and it yielded ripe almonds.

"And they shall perform duties for you and the duties of the whole tent, but they shall not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

"They shall join you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an unauthorized person shall not come near you.

"Behold, I Myself have taken your fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD, to perform the service for the tent of meeting.

"But you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as a service that is a gift, and the unauthorized person who comes near shall be put to death."

"This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, namely every grain offering, every sin offering, and every guilt offering, with which they shall make restitution to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.