Numbers 16:16–35

¹⁶And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow— you and they and Aaron. ¹⁷Each man is to take his censer, place incense in it, and present it before the LORD— 250 censers. You and Aaron are to present your censers as well.”

¹⁸So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁹When Korah had gathered his whole assembly against them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole congregation.

²⁰And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ²¹“Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.”

²²But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”

²³Then the LORD said to Moses, ²⁴“Tell the congregation to move away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

²⁵So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”

²⁷So they moved away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Meanwhile, Dathan and Abiram had come out and stood at the entrances to their tents with their wives and children and infants.

²⁸Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things, for it was not my own doing: ²⁹If these men die a natural death, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. ³⁰But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.”

³¹As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open, ³²and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households — all Korah’s men and all their possessions. ³³They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.

³⁴At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!” ³⁵And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.