But they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp.

Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land where you are to live, which I am giving you,

then make an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or as a freewill offering or in your appointed times, to make a soothing aroma to the Lord, from the herd or from the flock.

The one who presents his offering shall present to the Lord a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil,

Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil;

and for the drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine as a soothing aroma to the Lord.

When you prepare a bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a special vow, or for peace offerings to the Lord,

and you shall offer as the drink offering one-half a hin of wine as an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the Lord.

According to the number that you prepare, so you shall do for everyone according to their number.

All who are native shall do these things in this manner, in presenting an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the Lord.

If an alien sojourns with you, or one who may be among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to make an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the Lord, just as you do so he shall do.

There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you.’”

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land where I bring you,

then it shall be, that when you eat of the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the Lord.

Of the first of your dough you shall lift up a cake as an offering; as the offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up.

From the first of your dough you shall give to the Lord an offering throughout your generations.

‘But when you unwittingly fail and do not observe all these commandments, which the Lord has spoken to Moses,

even all that the Lord has commanded you through Moses, from the day when the Lord gave commandment and onward throughout your generations,

then it shall be, if it is done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull for a burnt offering, as a soothing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering.

Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their error.

So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven, with the alien who sojourns among them, for it happened to all the people through error.

Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day.

Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation;

and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”

So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue.

It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot,

so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God.

I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord your God.”

and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown.

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?”

and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself.

Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company,

Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi,

is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;

Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up.

Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us?

Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not regard their offering! I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.”

Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be present before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron.

Each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.”

Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”

Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him,

and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, or you will be swept away in all their sin.”

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

If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me.

and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions.

So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.

Fire also came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

“Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad.

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

as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman who is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and his company—just as the Lord had spoken to him through Moses.

But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the Lord’s people.”

Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting,

and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the Lord, the plague has begun!”

Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father’s household: twelve rods, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households. You shall write each name on his rod,

Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods.

Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.

Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.

But the Lord said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die.”

Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish, we are dying, we are all dying!

Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”

So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood.

And they shall thus attend to your obligation and the obligation of all the tent, but they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

They shall be joined with you and attend to the obligations of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an outsider may not come near you.

So you shall attend to the obligations of the sanctuary and the obligations of the altar, so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel.

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 concerning the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as a bestowed service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have given you charge of My offerings, even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual allotment.

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

As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.

This also is yours, the offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it.

All the best of the fresh oil and all the best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to the Lord, I give them to you.

The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it.

Every first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.

As to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

But the firstborn of an ox or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the Lord.

All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your descendants with you.”

Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

“To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.

The sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bear sin and die.

For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

“Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe.

Your offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat.

So you shall also present an offering to the Lord from your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest.

Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the Lord, from all the best of them, the sacred part from them.’

You shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor, and as the product of the wine vat.

You will bear no sin by reason of it when you have offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, or you will die.’”

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,