Numbers 16:32–50

³²and the earth opened up to swallow them, their families, the followers of Korah, and all their property. ³³They went down alive to their graves with everything that belonged to them. The ground covered them, and so they disappeared from the assembly. ³⁴All the Israelites around them ran away when they heard their screams. They thought the ground would swallow them, too. 

³⁵Fire came from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering incense.^b

³⁶Then 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. ³⁸The 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.” 

³⁹So 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, ⁴⁰following 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. 

⁴¹The next day the whole community of Israel complained to Moses and Aaron. They said, “You have killed the Lord’s people.” ⁴²The 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. 

⁴³Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting. ⁴⁴The 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. 

⁴⁶Moses 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.” 

⁴⁷Aaron 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. ⁴⁸He stood between those who had died and those who were still alive, and the plague stopped. ⁴⁹Still, 14,700 died from the plague in addition to those who had died because of Korah. ⁵⁰By the time Aaron came back to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the plague had stopped.