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 rods of them, according to the houses of their families, a rod from all their princes, according to the houses of their families, twelve rods, and write the name of each 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.

And write the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi; for it is one rod [for each]: they shall give [them] according to the tribe of the house of their families.

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

And you shall put them in the tabernacle of witness, before the testimony, where I will be made known 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.”

And it shall be, the man whom I shall choose, his rod shall blossom; and I will remove from me the murmuring of the children of Israel, 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 children of Israel, and all their chiefs gave him a rod [each], for one chief a rod, according to the house of their families, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron [was] in the midst of the rods.

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

And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.

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.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi blossomed, and put forth a bud, and bloomed blossoms and produced 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.

And Moses brought forth all the rods from before the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each one took his rod.

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, Lay up the rod of Aaron before the testimonies to be kept as a sign for the children of the disobedient; and let their murmuring cease from me, and they shall not die.

11 So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.

And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.

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

And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, we are cut off, we are destroyed, we are consumed.

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

Every one that touches the tabernacle of the Lord, dies: shall we die utterly?