40 This was a warning to the Israelites that no one who was not a descendant of Aaron should come to the altar to burn incense for the Lord. Otherwise he would be destroyed like Korah and his men. All this was done as the Lord had commanded Eleazar through Moses.
41 The next day the whole community complained against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have killed some of the Lord's people.”
42 After they had all gathered to protest to Moses and Aaron, they turned towards the Tent and saw that the cloud was covering it and that the dazzling light of the Lord's presence had appeared.
43 Moses and Aaron went and stood in front of the Tent,
44 and the Lord said to Moses,
45 “Stand back from these people, and I will destroy them on the spot!”The two of them bowed down with their faces to the ground,
46 and Moses said to Aaron, “Take your firepan, put live coals from the altar in it, and put some incense on the coals. Then hurry with it to the people and perform the ritual of purification for them. Hurry! The Lord's anger has already broken out and an epidemic has already begun.”