16. In the camp they resented Moses,and Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest.
17. The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;it engulfed the group led by Abiram.
18. Fire burned their group;the flames scorched the wicked.
19. They made an image of a calf at Horeb,and worshiped a metal idol.
20. They traded their majestic Godfor the image of an ox that eats grass.
21. They rejected the God who delivered them,the one who performed great deeds in Egypt,
22. amazing feats in the land of Ham,mighty acts by the Red Sea.
23. He threatened to destroy them,but Moses, his chosen one, interceded with himand turned back his destructive anger.
24. They rejected the fruitful land;they did not believe his promise.
25. They grumbled in their tents;they did not obey the Lord.
26. So he made a solemn vowthat he would make them die in the desert,
27. make their descendants die among the nations,and scatter them among foreign lands.
28. They worshiped Baal of Peor,and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
29. They made the Lord angry by their actions,and a plague broke out among them.
30. Phinehas took a stand and intervened,and the plague subsided.
31. This brought him a reward,an eternal gift.
32. They made him angry by the waters of Meribah,and Moses suffered because of them,
33. for they aroused his temper,and he spoke rashly.
34. They did not destroy the nations,as the Lord had commanded them to do.