22. But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You vent Your wrath on the whole community? ”
23. The Lord replied to Moses,
24. “Tell the community: Get away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25. Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
26. He 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.”
27. So 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.
28. Then 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:
29. If these men die naturally as all people would, and suffer the fate of all, then the Lord has not sent me.
30. But 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.”
31. Just as he finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath them split open.
32. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, all Korah’s people, and all their possessions.
33. They went down alive into Sheol with all that belonged to them. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.
34. At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled because they thought, “The earth may swallow us too! ”
35. Fire also came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were presenting the incense.
36. Then 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.
38. As 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.”
39. So Eleazar the priest took the bronze firepans that those who were burned had presented, and they were hammered into plating for the altar,
40. just 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.
41. The next day the entire Israelite community complained about Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people! ”