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 children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod by their kindreds, of all the princes of the tribes, twelve rods, and write the name of every man upon 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.

And the name of Aaron shall be for the tribe of Levi, and one rod 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 thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the covenant before the testimony, where I will speak to thee.

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.”

Whomsoever of these I shall choose, his rod shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, wherewith 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 children of Israel: and all the princes gave him rods one for every tribe: and there were twelve rods besides the rod of Aaron.

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

And when Moses had laid them up 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.

He returned on the following day, and found that the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, was budded: and that the buds swelling it had bloomed blossoms, which spreading the leaves, were formed into almonds.

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.

Moses therefore brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel: and they saw, and every 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, that it may be kept there for a token of the rebellious children of Israel, and that their complaints may cease from me lest they die.

11 So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.

And Moses did as the Lord had commanded.

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

And the children of Israel said to Moses: Behold we are consumed, we all perish.

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

Whosoever approacheth to the tabernacle of the Lord, he dieth. Are we all to a man to be utterly destroyed?