Numbers 16:16-45

¹⁶Then Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow you and all your company must go before Yahweh—you and they, and Aaron.

¹⁷Each of you must take his censer and put incense in it. Then each man must bring before Yahweh his censer, two hundred and fifty censers. You and Aaron, also, must each bring your censer.”

¹⁸So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense in it, and stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.

¹⁹Korah assembled all the community against Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and Yahweh's glory appeared to all the community.

²⁰Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron:

²¹“Separate yourselves from among this community that I may consume them immediately.”

²²Moses and Aaron lay facedown and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all humanity, if one man sins, must you be angry with all the community?”

²³Yahweh replied to Moses. He said,

²⁴“Speak to the community. Say, 'Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'”

²⁵Then Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed him.

²⁶He spoke to the community and said, “Now leave the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be consumed by all their sins.”

²⁷So the community on every side of the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram left them. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents, with their wives, sons, and their little ones.

²⁸Then Moses said, “By this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own accord.

²⁹If these men die a natural death such as normally happens, then Yahweh has not sent me.

³⁰But if Yahweh creates something new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that they possess, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you must understand that these men have despised Yahweh.”

³¹As soon as Moses finished speaking all these words, the ground opened under those men.

³²The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their families, and all the people who belonged to Korah, as well as all their possessions.

³³So they and all that they possessed went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed over them, and they perished from among the community.

³⁴All Israel around them fled from their cries. They exclaimed, “The earth may swallow us up also!”

³⁵Then fire flashed out from Yahweh and devoured the 250 men who had offered incense.

³⁶Again Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

³⁷“Speak to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest and let him take up the censers out of the flames, for the censers are set apart to me. Then let him scatter the burning coals at a distance.

³⁸Take the censers of those who lost their lives because of their sin. Let them be made into hammered plates as a covering over the altar. Those men did offer them before me, so they are set apart to me. They will be a sign of my presence to the people of Israel.”

³⁹Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that had been used by the men who were burned up, and they were hammered out into a covering for the altar,

⁴⁰to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider who was not descended from Aaron should come up to burn incense before Yahweh, so they might not become like Korah and his group—just as Yahweh had commanded through Moses.

⁴¹But the next morning all the community of the people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. They said, “You have killed Yahweh's people.”

⁴²Then it happened, when the community had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting and, behold, the cloud was covering it. Yahweh's glory appeared,

⁴³and Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting.

⁴⁴Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,

⁴⁵“Go away from in front of this community so that I may consume them immediately.” Then Moses and Aaron lay down with their faces to the ground.