Numbers 16:23-35

Expanded Bible

²³ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Tell ·everyone [the community/congregation/assembly] to ·move away from [^Lgo up from around] the ·tents [dwellings] of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

²⁵ Moses stood and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ Moses warned the people, “·Move away [Turn aside] from the tents of these evil men! Don’t touch anything of theirs, or you will be ·destroyed [swept away] because of their sins.” ²⁷ So they ·moved away [went up] from the ·tents [dwellings] of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were standing outside their tents with their wives, children, and little babies.

²⁸ Then Moses said, “Now you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things; it was not ·my idea [^Lfrom my heart/mind]. ²⁹ If these men die a normal death—·the way men usually die [if a normal fate comes on them]—then the Lord did not really send me. ³⁰ But if the Lord ·does [^Lcreates] something new, you will know they have ·insulted [despised] the Lord. The ground will open and swallow them. They will be buried alive and will go to ·the place of the dead [^LSheol; ^Cthe grave or the underworld], and everything that belongs to them will go with them.”

³¹ When Moses finished saying these things, the ground under the men split open. ³² The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and all their families. All Korah’s men and everything they owned went down. ³³ They were buried alive, going to ·the place of the dead [^LSheol ;^Cthe grave or the underworld], and everything they owned went with them. Then the earth covered them. They ·died and were gone [perished] from the ·community [assembly; crowd]. ³⁴ ·The people of [^LAll] Israel around them heard their screams and ran away, saying, “The earth will swallow us, too!”

³⁵ Then a fire came ·down [or out] from the Lord and ·destroyed [consumed] the two hundred fifty men who had presented the incense [Lev. 10:1–2].