24. “Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25. Moses stood and went to Dathan and Abiram. All the elders of Israel followed him.
26. Moses warned the people, “Move away from the tents of these evil men. Don’t touch anything that belongs to them! If you do, you will be destroyed because of their sins.”
27. So the men moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram went to their tents. They stood outside of their tents with their wives, children, and little babies.
28. Then Moses said, “I will show you proof that the Lord sent me to do all the things I told you. I will show you that all these things were not my own idea.
29. These men will die, but if they die in a normal way—the way people always die—then that will show that the Lord did not really send me.
30. But if the Lord causes them to die in a different way, then you will know that these men have sinned against the Lord. This is the proof: The earth will open and swallow them. They will go down to their grave still alive. And everything that belongs to these men will go down with them.”
31. When Moses finished saying these things, the ground under the men opened.
32. It was as if the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them. All of Korah’s men, their families, and everything they owned went down into the earth.
33. They went down into their grave alive. Everything they owned went with them. Then the earth closed over them. They were finished—gone from the camp!
34. The Israelites heard the cries of the men being destroyed. So they all ran in different directions and said, “The earth will swallow us too!”
35. Then a fire came from the Lord and destroyed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
36. The Lord said to Moses,
37-38. “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to get all the incense pans from the fire. Tell him to scatter the coals and ashes. These men sinned against me, and their sin cost them their lives. But the incense pans are still holy. The pans became holy when people gave them to the Lord. Hammer the pans into flat sheets. Use the metal sheets to cover the altar. This will be a warning to all the Israelites.”
39. So Eleazar the priest gathered together all the bronze pans that the men had brought. These men were all burned up, but the pans were still there. Then Eleazar told some men to hammer the pans into flat metal. Then he put the metal sheets on the altar.
40. He did this the way the Lord commanded him through Moses. This was a sign to help the Israelites remember that only someone from the family of Aaron should burn incense before the Lord. Any other person who burns incense before the Lord will die like Korah and his followers.
41. The next day all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. They said, “You killed the Lord’S people.”