Numbers 16:36 – 18:7

Numbers 16

³⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses: ^{[1] 37} “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to remove the censers from the burning debris and scatter the fire far away, for the censers are holy. ³⁸ Make the censers belonging to those who sinned at the cost of their own lives into hammered sheets for plating the altar, because they presented them before the Lord, and the censers are holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.”

³⁹ Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which had been presented by those who had been burned up by fire. They hammered them into plating for the altar ⁴⁰ as a reminder to the Israelites that no unauthorized person, who is not from the descendants of Aaron, should come near to burn incense before the Lord and become like Korah and his followers. Eleazar the priest did just as the Lord said to him through Moses.

⁴¹ But on the next day the entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. They said, “You have killed the people of the Lord!”

⁴² When the community assembled together against Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, the cloud covered it, and the Glory of the Lord appeared. ⁴³ Moses and Aaron went in front of the Tent of Meeting. ⁴⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses: ⁴⁵ “Get away from this community so that I may put an end to them instantly!” Moses and Aaron fell facedown to the ground.

⁴⁶ Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, put fire from the altar in it, place incense on it, go quickly to the community, and make atonement for them, because wrath has gone out from the Lord! The plague has begun.”

⁴⁷ Aaron did as Moses said and ran into the middle of the assembly. The plague had already begun among the people. He put the incense on his censer and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. ⁴⁹ Now those who died by the plague totaled 14,700, besides those who died because of the offense of Korah. ⁵⁰ Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and the plague was stopped.

Aaron’s Staff Is Chosen

Numbers 17

¹ The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Speak to the Israelites, and collect staffs from them, one from each father’s house, from all their tribal chiefs according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs in all. Write each man’s name on his staff. ³ Write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there will be one staff for each head of their fathers’ houses. ⁴ You are to place them in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ The staff of the man whom I will choose will sprout. I will rid myself of the Israelites’ constant grumbling against you.”

⁶ So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each one of their tribal chiefs gave him a staff, one staff for each tribal chief according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs in all. Aaron’s staff was among their staffs. ⁷ Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony.

⁸ On the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony and discovered that Aaron’s staff representing the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced almonds. ⁹ Moses brought out all the staffs from the Lord’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked, and each man took his staff.

¹⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebellious. ^[2] In this way you will put an end to their grumblings against me, so that they do not die.” ¹¹ That is what Moses did. He did just as the Lord commanded him.

¹² The Israelites said to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost! We are all lost! ¹³ Everyone who approaches the Lord’s Dwelling dies! Must we all perish?”

Duties of the Priests and Levites

Numbers 18

¹ The Lord gave these directions to Aaron:

You, your sons, and your father’s house with you will bear the guilt for any sins in connection with the sanctuary. You and your sons with you will bear the guilt for any sins in connection with your priesthood. ² Also have your brothers from the tribe of Levi, your father’s tribe, come forward with you so that they may join you and assist you when you and your sons along with you are on duty in front of the Tent of the Testimony. ³ They will perform the duties for you and for the entire tent. However, they are not to go close to the furnishings in the sanctuary or to the altar, so that they and you will not die. ⁴ They are to join you and perform the duties for the Tent of Meeting, to do all the work at the tent. No unauthorized person is to go near you.

⁵ You are to perform the duties for the sanctuary and for the altar so that there will not be any more wrath on the Israelites. ⁶ See, I myself have taken your brothers, the Levites, from among the Israelites. They are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ But you and your sons with you will keep watch over your priesthood in connection with everything at the altar and inside the veil. You are to do this work. I am giving you your priesthood as a gift. Any unauthorized person who comes near must be put to death.