Numbers 16:20–35

²⁰Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

²¹“^aSeparate yourselves from among this congregation, ^bthat I may consume them instantly.”

²²But they fell on their faces and said, “O God, ^aGod of the spirits of all flesh, ^bwhen one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

²³Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁴“Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘^aGet back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”

²⁵Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him,

²⁶and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “^aDepart now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, ^bor you will be swept away in all their sin.”

²⁷So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and ^atheir sons and their little ones.

²⁸Moses said, “By this you shall know that ^athe Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not ¹my doing.

²⁹“If these men die ¹the death of all men or ²if they suffer the ^afate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me.

³⁰“But ^aif the Lord ¹brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they ^bdescend alive into ²Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord.”

³¹As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open;

³²and ^athe earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and ^ball the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions.

³³So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to ¹Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.

³⁴All Israel who were around them fled at their ¹outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us up!”

^35aFire also came forth from the Lord and consumed the ^btwo hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.