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.

36 The Lord said to Moses, 37 “Tell Eleazarq son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the censersr from the charred remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy—38 the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives.s Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar,t for they were presented before the Lord and have become holy. Let them be a signu to the Israelites.”

39 So Eleazar the priestv collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death,w and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, 40 as the Lord directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incensex before the Lord,y or he would become like Korah and his followers.z