29. If these men die like all other people—if they die a natural death—then the Lord hasn’t sent me.
30. But if the Lord does something totally new—if the ground opens up, swallows them and everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive to their graves—then you’ll know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.”
31. As soon as he had finished saying all this, the ground under them split,
32. and the earth opened up to swallow them, their families, the followers of Korah, and all their property.
33. They went down alive to their graves with everything that belonged to them. The ground covered them, and so they disappeared from the assembly.
34. All the Israelites around them ran away when they heard their screams. They thought the ground would swallow them, too.
35. Fire came from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering incense.
36. Then the Lord said to Moses,
37. “Tell Eleazar, son of the priest Aaron, to take the incense burners out of the fire and scatter the coals and incense somewhere else, because the incense burners have become holy.
38. The incense burners of these men who sinned and lost their lives are holy, because they were offered to the Lord. Hammer them into thin metal sheets to cover the altar. This will be a sign to the Israelites.”
39. So the priest Eleazar took the bronze incense burners which had been brought by those who had been burned to death. The incense burners were then hammered into thin metal sheets to cover the altar,
40. following the command that the Lord had given through Moses. The bronze-covered altar will remind Israel that no one but a descendant of Aaron can come near to burn incense to the Lord. Everyone else will die like Korah and his followers.
41. The next day the whole community of Israel complained to Moses and Aaron. They said, “You have killed the Lord’s people.”
42. The community came together to confront Moses and Aaron. When they turned toward the tent of meeting, they saw the smoke covering it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.
43. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting.
44. The Lord said to Moses,
45. “Get away from these people, and let me destroy them in an instant!” Immediately, they bowed with their faces touching the ground.
46. Moses said to Aaron, “Take your incense burner, put burning coals from the altar and incense in it, and go quickly into the community to make peace with the Lord for the people. The Lord is showing his anger; a plague has started.”
47. Aaron took his incense burner, as Moses told him, and ran into the middle of the assembly, because the plague had already begun among the people. He put incense on the incense burner to make peace with the Lord for the people.
48. He stood between those who had died and those who were still alive, and the plague stopped.