23. Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said,
24. "Tell the community, 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.' "
25. Moses got up. He went to Dathan and Abiram. The elders of Israel followed him.
26. Moses warned the community. He said, "Move away from the tents of those evil men! Don't touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, the Lord will sweep you away because of all of their sins."
27. So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had already come out. They were standing at the entrances to their tents. Their wives, children and little ones were standing there with them.
28. Then Moses said, "What is about to happen wasn't my idea. The Lord has sent me to do everything I'm doing. Here is how you will know I'm telling you the truth.
29. Those men won't die a natural death. Something will happen to them that doesn't usually happen to people. If what I'm telling you isn't true, then you will know that the Lord hasn't sent me.
30. "But the Lord will make something totally new happen. The ground will open its mouth and swallow them up. It will swallow up everything that belongs to them. They will go down into the grave alive. When that happens, you will know that those men have made fun of the Lord."
31. As soon as Moses finished speaking all of those words, what he had said came true. The ground under them broke open.
32. It opened its mouth. It swallowed up those men. In fact, it swallowed up everyone who lived in their houses. It swallowed all of Korah's men. And it swallowed up everything they owned.
33. They went down into the grave alive. Everything they owned went down with them. The ground closed over them. They died. And so they disappeared from the community.
34. All of the people of Israel who were around them heard their cries. They ran away from them. They shouted, "The ground is going to swallow us up too!"