Numbers 17

1 And the LORD said to Moses,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 “Speak to the Israelites and take from them twelve staffs, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man’s name on his staff,

“Speak to the sons of Israel, and receive from each of them a rod by their kinships, from all the leaders of the tribes, twelve rods, and write the name of each one on his rod.

3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe.

But the name of Aaron shall be for the tribe of Levi, and one rod separately shall contain all their families.

4 Place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you.

And you shall place these in the tabernacle of the covenant before the testimony, where I will speak to you.

5 The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.”

Whomever of these I will choose, his rod will germinate, and so shall I restrain the complaints of the sons of Israel before me, by which they murmur against you.”

6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff—one for each of the leaders of their tribes, twelve staffs in all. And Aaron’s staff was among them.

And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel. And all the leaders gave him rods, one for each tribe. And there were twelve rods, aside from the rod of Aaron.

7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.

And when Moses had placed these before the Lord, in the tabernacle of the testimony,

8 The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds.

returning on the following day, he found that the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, had germinated, and that the swelling buds had opened into flowers, which, spreading their petals, were formed into those of an almond tree.

9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff.

Therefore, Moses brought out all the rods, from the sight of the Lord, to all the sons of Israel. And they saw, and each one received their rods.

10 The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.”

And the Lord said to Moses: “Carry back the rod of Aaron into the tabernacle of the testimony, so that it may be kept there as a sign of the rebellion of the sons of Israel, and so that their complaints may be quieted before me, lest they die.”

11 So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.

And Moses did just as the Lord had instructed.

12 Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!

Then the sons of Israel said to Moses: “Behold, we have been consumed; we have been ruined.

13 Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?”

Whoever approaches to the tabernacle of the Lord dies. Will we all be wiped away, even to total annihilation?”