16 Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the Lord tomorrow—you and they and Aaron.n 17 Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it—250 censers in all—and present it before the Lord. You and Aaron are to present your censers also.o” 18 So each of them took his censer,p put burning coals and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 19 When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to themq at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lordr appeared to the entire assembly. 20 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 “Separate yourselvess from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.”t

22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedownu and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things,v will you be angry with the entire assemblyw when only one man sins?”x

23 Then the Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”

25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israely followed him. 26 He warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men!z Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept awaya because of all their sins.b” 27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.c Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, childrend and little ones at the entrances to their tents.e

28 Then Moses said, “This is how you will knowf that the Lord has sent meg to do all these things and that it was not my idea: 29 If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me.h 30 But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouthi and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead,j then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.k”

31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apartl 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed themm and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the realm of the dead,n with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. 34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”

35 And fire came out from the Lordo and consumedp the 250 men who were offering the incense.