³¹ As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart^{(A) 32} and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them^(B) and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. ³³ They went down alive into the realm of the dead,^(C) 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 Lord^(D) and consumed^(E) the 250 men who were offering the incense.

³⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar^(F) son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the censers^(G) 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.^(H) Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar,^(I) for they were presented before the Lord and have become holy. Let them be a sign^(J) to the Israelites.”

³⁹ So Eleazar the priest^(K) collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death,^(L) 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 incense^(M) before the Lord,^(N) or he would become like Korah and his followers.^(O)

⁴¹ The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the Lord’s people,” they said.

⁴² But when the assembly gathered in opposition^(P) to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the tent of meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord^(Q) appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ and the Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁵ “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end^(R) to them at once.” And they fell facedown.

⁴⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer^(S) and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly^(T) to make atonement^(U) for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord;^(V) the plague^(W) has started.” ⁴⁷ So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people,^(X) but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. ⁴⁸ He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.^{(Y) 49} But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah.^{(Z) 50} Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped.^[a]