Tanakh & Talmud. Various Authors

ground did cleave asunder that was under them. ³²And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. ³³So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit; and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the assembly. ³⁴And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them; for they said: 'Lest the earth swallow us up.' ³⁵And fire came forth from the Lord, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense.

      17And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: ²'Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the fire-pans out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are become holy; ³even the fire-pans of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar—for they are become holy, because they were offered before the Lord—that they may be a sign unto the children of Israel.' ⁴And Eleazar the priest took the brazen fire-pans, which they that were burnt had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar, ⁵to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, to the end that no common man, that is not of the seed of Aaron, draw near to burn incense before the Lord; that he fare not as Korah, and as his company; as the Lord spoke unto him by the hand of Moses.

      ⁶But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying: 'Ye have killed the people of the Lord.' ⁷And it came to pass, when the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting; and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. ⁸And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting. ⁹And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: ¹⁰'Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.' And they fell upon their faces. ¹¹And Moses said unto Aaron: 'Take thy fire-pan, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense thereon, and carry it quickly unto the congregation, and make atonement for them; for there is wrath gone out from the Lord: the plague is begun.' ¹²And Aaron took as Moses spoke, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people; and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. ¹³And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. ¹⁴Now they that died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died about the matter of Korah. ¹⁵And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stayed.

      ¹⁶And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: ¹⁷'Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods; thou shalt write every man's name upon his rod. ¹⁸And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi, for there shall be one rod for the head of their fathers' houses. ¹⁹And thou shalt lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. ²⁰And it shall come to pass, that the man whom I shall choose, his rod shall bud; and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.' ²¹And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. ²²And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tent of the testimony. ²³And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. ²⁴And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel; and they looked, and took every man his rod.

      ²⁵And the Lord said unto Moses: 'Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept there, for a token against the rebellious children; that there may be made an end of their murmurings against Me, that they die not.' ²⁶Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so did he.

      ²⁷And the children of Israel spoke unto Moses, saying: 'Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. ²⁸Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the tabernacle of the Lord, is to die; shall we wholly perish?'

      18And the Lord said unto Aaron: 'Thou and thy sons and thy fathers' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. ²And thy brethren also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou near with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee, thou and thy sons with thee being before the tent of the testimony. ³And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent; only they shall not come nigh unto the holy furniture and unto the altar, that they die not, neither they, nor ye. ⁴And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, whatsoever the service of the Tent may be; but a common man shall not draw nigh unto you. ⁵And ye shall keep the charge of the holy things, and the charge of the altar, that there be wrath no more upon the children of Israel. ⁶And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; for you they are given as a gift unto the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. ⁷And thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priesthood in everything that pertaineth to the altar, and to that within the veil; and ye shall serve; I give you the priesthood as a service of gift; and the common man that draweth nigh shall be put to death.'

      ⁸And the Lord spoke unto Aaron: 'And I, behold, I have given thee the charge of My heave-offerings; even of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel unto thee have I given them for a consecrated portion, and to thy sons, as a due for ever. ⁹This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every meal-offering of theirs, and every sin-offering of theirs, and every guilt-offering of theirs, which they may render unto Me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons. ¹⁰In a most holy place shalt thou eat thereof; every male may eat thereof; it shall be holy unto thee. ¹¹And this is thine: the heave-offering of their gift, even all the wave-offerings of the children of Israel; I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, as a due for ever; every one that is clean in thy house may eat thereof. ¹²All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the corn, the first part of them which they give unto the Lord, to thee have I given them. ¹³The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring unto the Lord, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thy house may eat thereof. ¹⁴Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine. ¹⁵Every thing that openeth the womb, of all flesh which they offer unto the Lord, both of man and beast, shall be thine; howbeit the first-born of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. ¹⁶And their redemption-money—from a month old shalt thou redeem them—shall be, according to thy valuation, five shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary—the same is twenty gerahs. ¹⁷But the firstling of an ox, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt dash their blood against the altar, and shalt make their fat smoke for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the Lord. ¹⁸And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave-breast and as the right thigh, it shall be thine. ¹⁹All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, as a due for ever; it is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee.'

      ²⁰And the Lord said unto Aaron: 'Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any portion among them; I am thy portion and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. ²¹And unto the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting. ²²And henceforth the children of Israel shall not come nigh the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin, and die. ²³But the Levites alone shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, and among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. ²⁴For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they set apart as a gift