⁴⁹ Those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the affair of Korah.^(A)

⁹ Nevertheless those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.^(A)

²⁵ See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking, for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!^(A)

²⁸ Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”^{(A) 29} How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?^(B)

Warning to Pay Attention

2 Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. ² For if the message declared through angels proved valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty,^{(A) 3} how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was confirmed for us by those who heard him,^(B)

¹⁴ So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and seventy thousand persons fell in Israel.^(A)

³² The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households—everyone who belonged to Korah and all their goods.^{(A) 33} So they with all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol; the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. ³⁴ All Israel around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth will swallow us, too!” ³⁵ And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred fifty men offering the incense.^(B)