Numbers 16:36–50

³⁶¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

³⁷“Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the ¹blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the ²burning coals abroad.

³⁸“As for the censers of these ¹men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and ^athey shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel.”

³⁹So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar,

⁴⁰as a ¹reminder to the sons of Israel that ^ano ²layman who is not of the ³descendants of Aaron should come near ^bto burn incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and his company—just as the Lord had spoken to him ⁴through Moses.

Murmuring and Plague

⁴¹But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel ^agrumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the Lord’s people.”

⁴²It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and ^athe glory of the Lord appeared.

⁴³Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting,

⁴⁴and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴⁵“^1aGet away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces.

⁴⁶Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and ^amake atonement for them, for ^bwrath has gone forth from the Lord, the plague has begun!”

⁴⁷Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. ^aSo he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.

⁴⁸He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.

^49aBut those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who ^bdied on account of Korah.

⁵⁰Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.