³⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ³⁷ “Tell Aaron's son Eleazar to take the fire pans from the smoldering fire and scatter the coals. The pans are now sacred, ³⁸ because they were used for offering incense to me. Have them hammered into a thin layer of bronze as a covering for the altar. Those men died because of their sin, and now their fire pans will become a warning for the rest of the community.”

³⁹ Eleazar collected the pans and had them hammered into a thin layer of bronze as a covering for the altar, ⁴⁰ just as the Lord had told Moses. The pans were a warning to the Israelites that only Aaron's descendants would be allowed to offer incense to the Lord. Anyone else who tried to would be punished like Korah and his followers.

The Israelites Rebel and Are Punished

⁴¹ The next day the people of Israel again complained against Moses and Aaron, “The two of you killed some of the Lord's people!”

⁴² As the people crowded around them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the sacred tent, and the Lord appeared in his glory in the cloud covering the tent. ⁴³ So Moses and Aaron walked to the front of the tent, ^44 (A) where the Lord said to them, ⁴⁵ “Stand back! I am going to wipe out these Israelites once and for all.”

They immediately bowed down and prayed. ⁴⁶ Then Moses told Aaron, “Grab your fire pan and fill it with hot coals from the altar. Put incense in it, then quickly take it to where the people are and offer it to the Lord, so they can be forgiven. The Lord is very angry, and people have already started dying!”

^47-48 Aaron did exactly what he had been told. He ran over to the crowd of people and stood between the dead bodies and the people who were still alive. He placed the incense on the pan, then offered it to the Lord and asked him to forgive the people's sin. The disease immediately stopped spreading, and no one else died from it. ⁴⁹ But 14,700 Israelites were dead, not counting those who had died with Korah and his followers.

⁵⁰ Aaron walked back and stood with Moses at the sacred tent.