Numbers 16:29-50

29If these men die a natural death, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. 30But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.”

31As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open, 32and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions. 33They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.

34At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!” 35And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

36Then the LORD said to Moses, 37“Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the censers from the flames and to scatter the coals far away, because the censers are holy. 38As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.”

39So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, 40just as the LORD commanded him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his followers.

41The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!” 42But when the congregation gathered against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the Tent of Meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.

43Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting, 44and the LORD said to Moses, 45“Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown.

46Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.”

47So Aaron took the censer as Moses had ordered and ran into the midst of the assembly. And seeing that the plague had begun among the people, he offered the incense and made atonement for the people. 48He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted. 49But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who had died on account of Korah.

50Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, since the plague had been halted.