33 They were buried alive, going to the place of the dead, and everything they owned went with them. Then the earth covered them. They died and were gone from the community.
34 The people of Israel around them heard their screams and ran away, saying, “The earth will swallow us, too!”
35 Then a fire came down from the Lord and destroyed the two hundred fifty men who had presented the incense.
36 The Lord said to Moses,
37 “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take all the incense pans out of the fire. Have him scatter the coals a long distance away. But the incense pans are still holy.
38 Take the pans of these men who sinned and lost their lives, and hammer them into flat sheets that will be used to cover the altar. They are holy, because they were presented to the Lord, and they will be a sign to the Israelites.”
39 So Eleazar the priest gathered all the bronze pans that had been brought by the men who were burned up. He had the pans hammered into flat sheets to put on the altar,