Numbers 16:21-45

21“Separate yourselves from this community so I may consume them instantly.”

22But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “God, God who gives breath to all, when one man sins, will you vent your wrath on the whole community?”

23The Lord replied to Moses,

24“Tell the community: Get away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

25Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.

26He warned the community, “Get away now from the tents of these wicked men. Don’t touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”

27So they got away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Meanwhile, Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance of their tents with their wives, children, and infants.

28Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord sent me to do all these things and that it was not of my own will:

29If these men die naturally as all people would, and suffer the fate of all, then the Lord has not sent me.

30But if the Lord brings about something unprecedented, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them along with all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord.”

31Just as he finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath them split open.

32The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, all Korah’s people, and all their possessions.

33They went down alive into Sheol with all that belonged to them. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.

34At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled because they thought, “The earth may swallow us too!”

35Fire also came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were presenting the incense.

36Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

37“Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the firepans from the burning debris, because they are holy, and scatter the fire far away.

38As for the firepans of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, make them into hammered sheets as plating for the altar, for they presented them before the Lord, and the firepans are holy. They will be a sign to the Israelites.”

39So the priest Eleazar took the bronze firepans that those who were burned had presented, and they were hammered into plating for the altar,

40just as the Lord commanded him through Moses. It was to be a reminder for the Israelites that no unauthorized person outside the lineage of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the Lord and become like Korah and his followers.

41The next day the entire Israelite community complained about Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!”

42When the community assembled against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the tent of meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the Lord’s glory appeared.

43Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting,

44and the Lord said to Moses,

45“Get away from this community so that I may consume them instantly.” But they fell facedown.